How To Save On Your Flights

Between everyone wanting to get the hell outta dodge and the crazy fuel prices, it’s getting pretty spenno to take yourself on a holiday. But don’t blow out your budget just yet - we have a few ace tips to save your cash while getting where you need to go.

Inconvenient flights = huge savings

You know when you’ve had a big night out, and you contemplate whether you’ll get public transport home, only to shell out some extra cash for a taxi or Uber because you can’t hack the wait times?

When you’re bargain-hunting for flights, you basically want to do the opposite of that. Most people hate inconveniences like long layover times or lots of stops, and they’re willing to pay extra money to take a direct flight or ensure an easy transfer. Being the economical traveller you are, you should keep an eye out for flights with layovers and stops. If you have the time, why not spend a day in your layover country of choice? Just make sure you sort out any visas if you need to, and don’t spend too much on airport accommodation, or you’ll lose your hard-earned savings!

Avoid ideal days and times for travel

In the same vein, most people who work 9-5, Monday to Friday jobs are usually pretty reluctant to spend their annual leave on flying mid-week, or doing a half-day at work. 

However, if you’re working a casual job (or better yet, you’re not working at all), take advantage of the reduced demand for mid-week flights for some huge savings. For even more money off, pick an awkward time to fly, such as an overnight flight or an early morning departure time.

Price-comparison sites are your best friend!

Price comparison sites such as Webjet, Skyscanner and Google Flights crawl the web to get prices from different airlines and put them all in front of you. This saves you the trouble of having to go from site to site, recording all of the cheapest times to fly and then comparing them at the end. Some of the services also show you the best dates to fly in general, so you can grab some extra savings by leaving a day earlier or later than you’d originally planned.

There are a couple of things to be wary of though. Often the prices displayed on these sites are the most bare-bones versions of the ticket, excluding costs such as check-in luggage, mandatory seat selection or meals - where the price can often jump easily.

Plus, if you’re booking flights through the comparison service, getting refunds, changes or cancellations can be a headache, as some bookings are managed by the airline, while others are handled by the website. My personal preference is to look up the flights using the comparison site, and then visit the airline site to make the actual booking.

Time may be on your side

Prices on airfares don’t always get more expensive the more you wait to buy. While it can be a gamble, if you’re flying on a more uncommon route it’s not totally out of the question for a flight to become cheaper as you approach your destination date. There are also other factors such as staffing, fuel costs or special events that can change the price as well. Some flight trackers even have a system where you can set an alert that will notify you if the price drops on a certain flight - so if you’re not in a rush to get out of town, you could save yourself some cash.

If you’re looking for some more ways to get some extra mileage out of your travel budget, why not take a look at our Academy FinLit? It’s a free short course that gives you tips and tricks about how to manage money through those big life moments.

The following content has been created by Year 13 in conjunction with Westpac as part of a paid partnership. The information is general advice only, does not take into account your personal circumstances and you should do your own research and seek advice before acting on this content.