After living through the last two years, we’re all in need of a well-deserved break.
In fact, research shows that the average UK family is set to travel abroad twice in 2022. It seems we’ve all got some making up to do.
And with travel restrictions easing off across the UK, and the announcement that covid testing for fully-vaccinated people traveling to England will be dropped from February 11, now is the time to think about booking.
It’s wise to move quickly – as the demand for holidays this year is set to rocket.
Simon Cooper, chief executive of online travel firm On the Beach, has said he thinks the coming days will be ‘the busiest in our history’ since the company launched launched in 2004.
He believes the number of people going on holiday abroad this summer will be ‘as big, if not bigger’ than before the pandemic.
But, don’t fret – we’ve got half term, which takes place mid-February across the UK, to think about first.
Here, budget airline Wizz Air reveals some handy hacks to land cheap flights and get yourself an upgrade when going abroad this year.
Switch up currencies
Depending on the ‘strength’ of the currencies at the time, it may be worth booking your flight in the currency of your destination rather than your current one.
Open two online tabs, one with the location set in your current destination and one with in the location set to the destination that you are travelling to.
Comparing prices (for instance, GBP vs. Euros), can provide a substantial saving, especially if the airline is based and operates overseas.
Fly with flexibility
It’s no secret that flying at peak times can be financially costly.
Being prepared to fly on an array of days is likely to save you money. However, it’s not just showing flexibility on the day you are prepared to fly that will save you money, but the time in the day as well.
Night flights are often cheaper than the day and changing up which airport you fly to (perhaps looking at a lesser known one, a bit further out of the centre) can also work to save the pennies.
Think about a one-way ticket
Making two separate bookings instead of one return trip can save a traveller some money.
Of course, this may not be the case 100% of the time, so its worth searching one return and two bookings across two search tabs when looking for the best deals.
Plan ahead
It’s a common myth that waiting until the last minute to book a flight serves as a money saving exercise.
Flights tend to increase in price the closer it gets to take off, especially if it’s receiving a lot of bookings.
Booking up to eight weeks in advance is most likely to be the cheapest time to book.
Three’s a crowd – book seats separately
When several people are travelling together, searching flights as a group booking is likely to become expensive as the airline’s algorithm will automatically seat the party together.
Booking seats separately may be time consuming, but its probable that it will serve as the most cost-effective method.
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