Ravi Always Finds the Cheapest Flights to Europe
I met Ravi through a friend who travels as much as he does and cancels flights less than most. They were arguing about whether Europe flights are actually cheap or just cheap for some people. Ravi ended the argument by showing a spreadsheet of what he pays and how often. He now pays less for flights than most people pay for the trains to get to the airport. This is not magic and it is not luck. It is a set of habits and a willingness to be flexible about things that most people treat as fixed.
The fundamental thing to understand about flight pricing in Europe is that it is dynamic, which means it changes constantly based on demand, time of booking, day of week, and a range of other factors that airlines do not publish and will not explain. The price you see today is not the price you will see tomorrow and is almost certainly not the lowest price that will ever exist for that route. Working with this rather than against it is where the savings come from.
Be flexible about when you fly
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday departures are consistently cheaper than Friday and Sunday departures across almost all European routes. If you have any flexibility at all, search across a range of days rather than a fixed date.
Early morning and late evening flights are cheaper than midday flights on the same day. Ravi takes a lot of six in the morning departures and a lot of ten at night arrivals and considers the inconvenience a reasonable trade for the savings.
Think about secondary airports
Europe has an enormous number of airports that most travellers never consider because they are not the main international hub. Flying into Girona rather than Barcelona, Beauvais rather than Paris, Bergamo rather than Milan, Stansted rather than Heathrow.
Ravi also thinks about routing more creatively than most people do. Flying from London to Dubrovnik with a connection through a hub is sometimes significantly cheaper than the direct flight, depending on when you book and how far in advance.
When to book
For peak summer travel, booking three to four months ahead is sensible because prices rise steadily as those dates approach. For shoulder season and off-peak travel, airlines sometimes release discounted seats close to the departure date to fill aircraft that are not selling.
Set price alerts for any route you are serious about. When the price drops to a level you are happy with, you book.
The things that wipe out your savings
Checked luggage. Ravi travels with carry-on only wherever possible and the savings over a year of frequent flying are considerable.
Seat selection fees on budget airlines are, in Ravi's view, optional. For short hops he takes the allocated seat and keeps the money.
The Best in Travels,
Your Friend Fushia