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How much?
Want to know how much I paid for my most recent flights? Here is a list along with the airport I flew from (all flights are return flights)
- Milan £11 - Manchester - January
- Lisbon £15 - Manchester - February
- Zagreb £20 - Manchester - March
- Ibiza £20 - Manchester - April
- Marrakech £28 - Manchester - June
- Albania £49 - Liverpool - September
- Sibiu £20 - Liverpool - October
- Vienna £20 - Liverpool - November
- Oslo £18 - Manchester - February
- Rejyjavik £66 - Manchester - March
- Copenhagen £30 - Manchester - March
- Kaunas £38 - Liverpool - April
What is Skyscanner?
Think of it as a 'google' for flights.
It is a tool that helps you find flights for your trip by finding the best prices. Once you have selected a journey, your reservation can be made directly with the airline or travel agent of your choice.
The best thing about Skyscanner in my opinion is that instead of having to choose a destination you can instead choose 'everywhere' and therefore it opens up a whole variety of places that you might not have considered before.
On Skyscanner you also don't have to choose set dates, you can choose an entire month or even choose 'anytime' and use that as a way of finding the cheapest flights possible.
If you're flexible with dates the amount of cheap flights you will be able to find will increase dramatically.
How do I use it?
- Step 1: Download the skyscanner app or visit the Skyscanner website.
- Step 2: Click the 'explore everywhere' button on the home screen.
- Step 3: Select your local airport (you will find that the larger airports such as Manchester, Heathrow, Gatwick and Birmingham have the cheapest flights)
- Step 4: Choose 'Everywhere' and in the 'Date of Travel' you can either select specific dates or set this to 'anytime' or 'select whole month'
- Step 5: You will now see a list of countries with a £ value in the right corner, this price is the cheapest price available to that country.
- Step 6: When you have chosen a country it will then give you a list of airports that you can travel to along with prices.
- Step 7: When you have found a city you would like to travel to then simply click the image and it will give you a list of dates to choose from, it also tells you how many nights it is for underneath the dates.
- Step 8: At this stage you might want to spend a little time going through all of the different flight options to find one that is suitable for your availability
- Step 9: Once you have found a flight you can click onto it to check the flight times and make sure they are suitable.
- Step 10: Once you have done all of the above and found a flight you can then move onto looking at hotels (see hotel info)
- Step 11: Once you've done all your other research and you're ready to book a flight scroll to the bottom to see some helpful info on how to book.
Things to remember when searching
Airports
Some cities have more than one airport, so when booking a flight make sure you know exactly which airport you are going to. For example, if you look on Skyscanner for a flight it might say 'PARIS' however the airport is actually Paris-Beauvais airport and is in fact 80 minutes outside of Paris. Another example is Oslo Torp, you would be forgiven for thinking that this airport will take you into Oslo however Olso Torp is 110km from Oslo City.
Why does this happen? The low cost airlines tend to fly into the airports that are further from the main cities as its cheaper!
Best time to book
I have personally found that the sweet spot for getting the best prices on flights is booking approximately 4-6 weeks before a flight.
Don't restrict yourself to visiting the place you're flying to
As I mentioned above, some cities have more than one airport and can be quite far from the main city, use this to your advantage and look around to see where else you can visit. For example in January I flew into Milan Malpensa airport but I got the train to Lake Como instead of spending my time actually in Milan.
Should I pay to choose my own seat?
If you're travelling solo then there is absolutely no reason to pay to choose your own seat unless you're really desperate for a window or aisle seat (nobody wants a middle do they!) However if you're travelling with someone and want to sit together then I recommend letting the system allocate you seats first, there is a chance you could be together anyway but if you're not then it's cheaper to move one seat next to the person whose already been allocated that you want to sit next to rather than pay for two chosen seats. I have used this tactic every time I have flown with someone and have not yet had an issue and not been able to sit next to someone. However this is not fool proof.
Don't be afraid of the unknown
When searching for flights you will stumble across loads of airports you have never heard of however do not dismiss these. I recently found a flight to a town called Sibiu and had no idea where it was. After a bit of research I discovered that Sibiu was in fact in Transylvania in Romania and was only a 2 hour drive from Bran Castle (Dracula's Castle)
After reading up on the area I was completely sold and spent 4 nights having the best time exploring Transylvania, somewhere that I would never have even thought of going.
So be brave, in my experience my favourite places have always been the places you wouldn't even think of going.
Found a flight & ready to book?
Once you have done all of your due diligence such as looking for affordable hotels, public transport etc and you're ready to book your flight you just need to hop back on Skyscanner and follow these simple steps.
- Step 1: Go back onto your app and find the flight you wanted to book, there will be a button that says 'choose a provider' click this button
- Step 2: You will see a list of providers that you're able to book your flight with, some of these may include trip.com or budgetair among others. You will note that these prices are usually the cheapest, I have used these in the past and not had any real issues however these are a 3rd party travel agency and it's not as straight forward as booking with the airline direct, the cost to book direct is usually only a few pounds extra and I would always suggest booking direct with the airline for ease.
- Step 3: Once you have chosen which provider to book with you can click the 'go to site' button which will take you to the site to book which in most cases for my trips is always Ryanair. (you can see from the two images above that the lowest price I found was £18 to Palma however to book direct with Ryanair it is showing as £22, I always choose to book direct with Ryanair)
- Step 4: If you haven't already got it, download the app for the airline, it makes it a lot easier and you can easily save your boarding passes to your phone.
Booking continued...
- Step 5: If you want to travel as cheap as possible then select the 'value' travel fair, this means that you will only be able to take a rucksack with you that fits under the seat in front of you, see the 'how to pack' page for more info.
- Step 6: Continue through the app (if booking direct) and add all of your details, you can save all of your passport details so next time you book a flight it is a little quicker and easier.
- step 7: Add your payment details and you are ready to go!
- One last thing, before confirming your flight, check, check and check it again. Mistakes can be costly. Another reason to book direct with Ryanair is if you make a mistake you have a 24 hour grace period to fix it!
Top tips and things to remember when flying
Follow instructions for packing your bags carefully
Nobody likes long security queues and you can do your bit to make sure that the queues flow quickly by making sure you follow the rules for cabin bags. When you get to security ensure that you have no liquids in your bag, they must be in a clear plastic resealable bag and must be outside of your rucksack while going through security. Also make sure all electronics are out of your bag too.
Travelling with liquids
You can take 10 x 100ml bottles of liquid with you however don't buy travel sized toiletries, they are double the price of normal sized products, instead when you get to the airport buy your full size normal deodorant , shower gel, sun cream etc in the duty free area, this is always cheaper than getting the travel size, if you don't use it all simply leave it behind.
Checking in
If you want to keep your flight prices as cheap as possible you won't be able to check-in until 48 hours before your flight, the process is very easy and only takes a few minutes on the app.
Food on board
The food on board is often expensive and not usually the best so save some pennies and pick yourself up some food in the airport, whether it's a meal deal from W H Smith or just some snacks from Boots.
Noise cancelling earphones
Flights can be quite noisy, from constant flight announcements (none safety related, especially on low cost airlines) to small children or even just the sound of the engine, if you invest in a good pair of noise cancelling earphones you will not regret it.
