Flight prices tend to vary greatly from one company to another, but also according to the period in which you leave.
However, there are other elements that can significantly vary the price of your plane tickets, and it's a safe bet that there are some that will surprise you.
By following our five tips, you should be able to book your flights with peace of mind and benefit from good prices.
Our selection of the 3 best tips
Air France: €40 reduction per passenger for a round trip with no minimum purchase
Travel with Transavia from €29 for a one-way ticket
Flight + hotel in Barcelona from 113 euros over a weekend
5 tips for booking your plane ticket
Compare airline fares
You may have preferences for one company over another, but if you can save several hundred euros by choosing another airline for a similar service, why deprive yourself of it?
Before booking, make sure that the proposal is complete: if you need checked baggage, check that this option is included and if not, calculate how much the plane ticket costs you if you add it.
This allows you to be sure to get the best deal.
Book in advance
Depending on the chosen airline, you can book your flight up to a year before your departure date.
It also happens that reservations open six months before take-off.
Inquire to book as soon as possible
, and thus take advantage of the best available rate: the prices of plane tickets tend to increase as the date of departure approaches, not to mention that you have less choice in terms of places offered in the different classes.
Choose the day and time to book
We are not talking here about your day and time of departure, but about when you have to go to the airline's website to buy your tickets.
Avoid booking your flights at the weekend at all costs
: that's when they are the most expensive!
Instead, prefer Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
As for the hours,
the prices are lower in the morning before 6 am, and in the evening after midnight
.
In summary, it is absolutely necessary to avoid peak hours when everyone is trying to book a flight: the airlines take advantage of this to speculate on demand and temporarily raise prices.
Browse privately or use a VPN
When you search for flight times and fares on airline sites, the airlines remember your searches using cookies installed on your computer.
Result, when you do the search again to finally buy your tickets, you often find that the prices have increased!
To avoid this,
the solution is to use your browser's private browsing.
The other even more effective solution is to use a VPN
, to locate you in a country where flights are cheaper.
This manipulation can save you a lot of money, but it requires that you subscribe to a VPN service.
Sign up for the airline's loyalty program
The vast majority of airlines have
a loyalty program
: this allows you to earn points for each flight made.
These points can then be used to pay for your next cheaper tickets.
When you accumulate a large number of them, you can even manage to travel almost for free: only the airport taxes must be paid.
Enough to save hundreds of euros regularly if you tend to fly a lot.
Read also
: All our promo codes for stays at Center Parcs