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Book your ferry tickets. Book now. All year around. Contact us. Airline tickets. Ferry tickets. Travel packages. If you're not using a travel agent, your first step is to research your options. Rather than checking each airline's website, I begin my search with a site that compiles my choices.
Flight search websites compare fares available at multiple airlines, online travel agencies, or both, then sort them by price. I've tested a number of them on a variety of journeys, both transatlantic and within Europe. Overall, Kayak has the best results for both intercontinental and intra-European flights on a combination of mainstream and budget carriers.
An alternative is Google Flights , which has an easy-to-use system to track prices and lets you see how much you'd save by departing a day earlier or later. A couple of sites are better for flights to Europe than flights within Europe, and some nice features make their results easier to navigate. Expedia is easy to use and consistent at finding good fares. CheapoAir offers pricing tables for mixed-airline flights to and from Europe. For cheap flights within Europe , I prefer Skyscanner.
Look around. No single flight search engine includes every possible airline — and some airlines deliberately limit where their airfares appear. It's always smart to check more than one search site, and to look directly on airlines' websites as well. Think flexibly about airports and dates. If you are flying into a city with several airports, select either "all airports" or simply the city name "LON" for London rather than a specific airport name "LHR" for London Heathrow.
If offered, select "include nearby airports" — doing so will return more flight options for example, Pisa for Florence or Bratislava for Vienna. Choosing "flexible dates" lets you see what you might save by flying a few days before or after your ideal time frame.
Consider flying into one city and out of another. Since it rarely makes sense to spend time and money returning to your starting point, this strategy can be very efficient. For most "multicity" flights, the fare is figured simply by taking half of the round-trip cost for each of those airports.
Wipe your browser's memory. If you repeatedly search for the same itinerary, it may help to regularly delete your search history and "cookies" identifying data stored on your computer by the websites you visit.
Cookies remember what you've searched in the past. If you look again and again for the same flights on the same website, the site may become aware of your search habits…and increase the prices the industry claims this is myth.
To delete your browser's search history and cookies, look in your browser's privacy settings. One option is to use your browser's "incognito" or "private" mode when searching for fares. In the Google Chrome web browser, select the three vertical dots in the upper right corner and then select "new incognito window.
Firefox and Safari have similar features. While it's possible to book your flights on most search sites they certainly hope you will, to garner their commission , I typically use these sites only as a first step. Once I've zeroed in on which airline has the best deal for my trip, I check the airline's own site to compare fares. You can often avoid added costs by booking direct the commissions are charged either as higher prices or in the form of fees for booking through a third party.
And airlines may offer bonuses such as extra frequent-flier miles to those who book direct. Search sites occasionally beat the fares on the airline's official site, sometimes by using "mix and match" journeys to connect the legs of a single trip on multiple airlines. However, these trips can be difficult to rebook in case of a delay or missed leg — review the schedule carefully, watching out for very tight connections or extremely long layovers.
For maximum peace of mind, it's usually best to book directly with the airline, which can more easily address unexpected problems or deal with rescheduled flights. If you do buy tickets through a third-party site, make sure you carry their phone number with you — you'll need to speak to a person if you have a problem. There's no such thing as a free lunch in the airline industry. In fact, there's usually no lunch at all.
Before grabbing the cheapest ticket you can find, make sure it meets your travel needs with the best combination of schedule, economy, and convenience — without being too restrictive.
Buy your tickets at the right time to the extent possible. Airfares flex like crazy, but in general it's wise to start looking for international flights at least four to six months before your trip, especially for travel in spring, summer, or fall. Good deals on winter travel November through March can usually be purchased a month or so in advance, with the exception of winter breaks and holidays, which require even earlier booking.
Year-round, it's generally cheaper to book midweek. All that said, knowing the best time to buy is still a guessing game, though you can improve your chances by taking advantage of Google's Flight Explorer , which shows the best prices to your destination in an easy-to-read graph and can be tailored to your time frame.
And several search sites, including Kayak and Expedia , offer price-trend graphs. Be ready to buy. Given how erratic airline pricing can be, you want to be ready to pounce on a good fare when you see it. As you delay, dates sell out and prices generally go up.
Figure out in advance what constitutes a good fare, then grab it when you find it. A few airlines will let you pay a small fee to hold a fare for three days. US Department of Transportation regulations state that you're entitled to cancel or change a flight within 24 hours of purchase without a fee, but if you're changing flights, you may have to pay the fare difference. Read the fine print before buying to make sure you understand cancellation and change fees.
Pick a seat as early as possible.
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