The cheapest flight on the screen is often not the cheapest trip.
A €30 Ryanair ticket from an airport two hours away can require a €20 bus, a hotel, a bag fee and a very early departure. Once those costs are included, it may be more expensive than the higher fare.
Here is how I compare the complete cost rather than only the first fare shown.
Build the trip in the right direction
Before searching flights, decide whether the route is a loop or a line.
For Morocco, a return flight to Marrakesh forces you to cross the country twice. Flying into Marrakesh and home from Tangier may cost more on the airline page and less once you remove the return train, hotel and wasted day.
This is called an open-jaw ticket. The name sounds medical; the concept is just flying home from somewhere else.
Check three versions:
- a normal return;
- two one-way tickets;
- a multi-city or open-jaw ticket.
Then add the internal transport and travel time each version creates. A cheaper fare may not be worthwhile if it consumes the final day of the trip.
Google Flights first, airline website second
I use Google Flights or Skyscanner to find dates, airports and combinations. I use the airline website to check whether the fare actually exists.
Search engines sometimes show stale inventory. A €240 flight may become €410 after clicking through or disappear when baggage is selected. This is usually old availability rather than personalised pricing based on repeated searches.
You can repeat the search in a private window to compare the result, but deleting cookies repeatedly is unlikely to reveal a substantially different fare.
Booking directly with the airline removes one organisation from the inevitable argument when a schedule changes. A third-party agent can still be worthwhile when:
- the airline rejects foreign cards;
- the local website is unusable;
- the agent has domestic inventory you cannot access;
- the saving is large enough to pay for the risk.
Avoid eDreams and similar intermediaries for ordinary airline tickets when the saving is small. Schedule changes, refunds and name corrections then have to pass through the agent, and mixed itineraries may apply different supplier rules to each segment.
For domestic flights in China, Trip.com is often easier than using airline websites with a foreign card. For an ordinary European ticket, a €7 saving through an intermediary may not justify the additional layer of customer service.
Compare the complete price
Bring every option to the same conditions:
- the bag you will actually carry;
- the seat, only if you care about it;
- transport to both airports;
- a hotel required by a very early or late departure;
- card and currency fees;
- food during a long connection;
- the cost of losing a day;
- protection—or lack of it—between flights.
Low-cost airlines can still be the best option. The important comparison is between equivalent fares: €19 without a cabin bag and €49 with one are different products.
Nearby airports: draw the journey to the airport
At 05:00, reaching Beauvais from Paris may be difficult. The same applies to Charleroi from Brussels. Girona can work well for Barcelona when the bus timetable matches the flight, but an ill-timed arrival may require an expensive taxi.
A secondary airport works when the ground connection is direct, cheap and running at your arrival time. It fails when it adds:
- a night in a hotel;
- the last bus leaving before the flight lands;
- a taxi through an entire metropolitan area;
- a fragile train connection;
- another border crossing;
- an airport change during a self-transfer.
Always check the first and last public transport of the day. Average daytime travel time is irrelevant when your plane lands after the final train.
Separate tickets: you are the connection insurance
Two separate tickets can unlock excellent routes. They can also leave you watching the second plane depart while the first airline explains that your next booking is none of its concern.
I would use separate tickets when the saving is substantial and there is an overnight buffer. I would not use them for a same-afternoon transfer with checked luggage, an airport change, or the final flight into a non-refundable safari, cruise or tour.
If the first flight is late, the second airline normally owes you nothing. European passenger rights may cover the delayed flight itself, but they generally do not protect a separate onward booking. See the EU passenger-rights guide.
Before booking a self-transfer, ask whether you could afford a replacement ticket the following day. If not, the financial risk is too high.
Change the date before changing the continent
Moving departure by one day often saves more than comparing twelve booking sites. Friday and Sunday evenings are expensive on many city routes. School holidays, festivals and major events destroy otherwise normal fares.
Use the date grid and check the days before and after your initial choice. On a long trip, compare a full week if the dates are flexible.
The day flown usually matters more than the day you searched.
Early or last minute?
There is no universal magic number of weeks.
For Christmas, school holidays, a fixed wedding or a flight connecting with an expensive tour, buy when the fare becomes acceptable. Waiting for a large drop is risky when the route and date are fixed.
Last minute works when both the destination and dates are flexible. Charter routes and leisure destinations sometimes dump seats. A domestic route controlled by one airline usually has no reason to reward your procrastination.
Set an alert, learn the normal range and buy when the fare fits the trip. Stop checking afterward unless ruining your mood is a hobby.
Currency and country versions
Some airlines charge different fares by sales market or currency. This matters most for domestic and regional airlines abroad.
Compare the airline’s home-country site with the version shown to you, but include card exchange fees. A cheaper fare that rejects your card three times or requires support in a language you cannot read may not be cheaper in any meaningful way.
Never use a VPN or false residency to buy a fare whose rules require local residence. A discount that collapses at check-in is merely an expensive story.
Student and youth fares
Student fares often hide outside Google Flights. Check the airline’s own youth or student page, especially for long-haul trips.
The headline discount may be small. The real value can be an extra checked bag or cheaper date changes. For somebody moving abroad, one included suitcase can beat a lower public fare immediately.
Read the eligibility rules. “I still feel young” is not documentation.
Fuel, capacity and fare conditions
Fuel prices do not predict tomorrow’s fare, but they affect the background conditions. High fuel costs combined with strong demand and limited capacity make large promotions less likely, especially on long routes. Stable fuel costs, weaker demand and more available seats create better conditions for discounts.
Price alerts
Track a small number of realistic options: the preferred route, one nearby-airport alternative and an open-jaw version for a linear trip. Once the price fits the budget and the itinerary works, waiting for a minor reduction can cost more through rising accommodation, visa or onward-transport prices.
Points: free flights with surprisingly expensive cash attached
Before transferring points, check the taxes and carrier surcharge. Some redemptions demand so much cash that buying the ticket would be less insulting.
Also check what happens if award availability disappears between finding the seat and moving the points. Transfers are often irreversible. Your points can end up marooned in an airline programme you never planned to use again.
The final five-minute check
Before payment, verify:
- your name matches the passport;
- the airport is the airport you think it is;
- the flight is on the date you think it is, especially after midnight;
- baggage is included in both directions;
- separate tickets have enough buffer;
- transit rules permit the connection;
- the card is charging the expected currency;
- change and cancellation conditions are not imaginary.
After payment, open the booking on the airline’s website. If the airline cannot find the reservation, you do not yet have a reassuringly real ticket—only an email and a future customer-service problem.
