To travel or not to travel - airfares part 1

Much like my approach to accommodation my approach to flying is the same, don't pay over the top just because you are familiar with the name Qantas, Emirates or Singapore.


I have friends who only fly certain airlines. That is their decision but in the end the money is better spent on the ground experiencing something new in a new country.

We have flown to Europe on 4 different Airlines Garuda Indonesia, Emirates, KLM and Finnair and I can tell you they all deliver the same product.  A seat to sleep in and food and drink to consume on the way.

If you do decide to go to a Travel Agent to book your international flight, don't think that they are giving you the best price available. They are only giving you the prices for the major airlines that show up on her system.

I have a travel agent in Western Australia who works for Flight Centre that I bounce prices off at times to check out if they are competitive. When I researched our upcoming trip I took the price that I had found to her. As Flight Centre have to beat an advertised price I got it cheaper again.

What days you fly can also be a big factor in pricing, so be flexible if you can and give yourself a weeks worth of days where you could fly out and fly home. If you are researching prices yourself put in a range of days for departure over a week and check the difference.

Also where you are flying into and out of (if you are visiting multiple destinations) can also save you money. For the trip we are going on in May we are flying back to Australia out of Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona was not my first choice as our departure city, London was. When I priced these tickets out of Barcelona they where about $500 cheaper than flying out of London. Spain's airport tax and departure taxes are much lower than England's hence a way cheaper price. Always have multiple plans and lots of options of where you can fly home from as it can really save you dollars. We had intended to go Barcelona anyway but originally planned for the middle of our upcoming trip not at the end.

Always keep searching! Flight prices change daily and be ready jump and buy when the price is right. DON'T WAIT TOO LONG! He who snoozes looses. When we went to Europe in 2013 we payed around $6600 for tickets when they came up. This time for $5900 I bought straight away and when I checked that flight again a few days later that price was gone. SO GET IN QUICK!!

mark