Tips and tricks for flying

Look for promotions - Most airlines have promotions almost all the time. These promotions are usually valid only for specific destinations and on specific dates (days of week). If you are flexible on dates, check "what is in promotion now", to get the best price! If there is no discount on your desired route and time is not an issue for you, you can wait for 2 to 4 weeks for a promotion on that particular route.

Avoid school holidays - Many cheap airlines take advantage of school holidays to increase their prices, as they expect to have a larger number of passengers than usual. During these periods a late booking (1 week before departure) may even result in paying a larger amount than the price of a regular airline ticket. It is therefore advisable to avoid these periods, if possible.

Fly during working days - As many passengers prefer to fly on week-ends, week-end tickets sell first. If you don't book your trip well in advance (2-3 months before) you may notice, for example, that Thursday flights are cheaper than Sunday flights. Some low cost carriers have special promotions on the flights during the week.

Book well in advance - The cheapest tickets sell first. The policy of low cost airlines is to sell cheap tickets at the beginning and to gradually increase prices as tickets are bought. Usually, buying your ticket 2-3 months in advance, allows you to get the best price.

Compare prices - On LowCostRoutes.com you can find the list of all the airlines flying from an airport/city to another. This way, you will know for sure which are the low cost airlines offering cheap flights on your route and you will be able to compare their prices and schedules in order to choose the flights that suit you best.

Consider secondary airports - Usually, secondary airports (smaller airports or airports that are further away from the city center) have lower airport taxes, which translate into lower ticket prices. When comparing the prices of flights departing from 2 different airports, also take into account the price you pay for transportation to the airport (shuttle bus or train ticket, gas, etc).

An indirect flight - If there is no direct flight on your desired route and you have to change planes in order to reach your destination, you should take into consideration three very important "details".

• The first one is that you should buy your flight tickets separately, as if there were two different journeys. It may therefore happen that the sum you must pay for the tickets of your indirect flight, especially if you buy them shortly before the flight date, be almost equal to the price you would pay for a direct flight with a regular line. Check and compare prices well before buying!
• Moreover, when arriving at the airport where need to change flights, you must collect your luggage yourself - as if your journey were over. Afterwards, you need to leave the airport security area, check-in for the second flight and go through the security check once again, before you board the second plane. Be extremely careful, this could sometimes take more than 3 hours!
• Last but not least, if your first flight is late, the next one will not wait for you, even if it is operated by the same airline. That is due to the low cost companies' policy stating that flights are independent from one another. They are not responsible for your losing the onward flights, no matter what.

Escort for unaccompanied minors - Some low cost airlines offer escort services for unaccompanied minors - usually aged more than 6 - for a 50 E fee per flight. Children are entrusted to a specially trained adult who deals with the border crossing formalities and takes care of the children during the flight. Obviously, it is not possible for under-age children to travel on indirect low cost flights, because it is not the escort's job to collect the child's luggage and check him/her in for the onward flight. However, the escort will collect the luggage and entrust it to you together with the child after a direct flight. In order to know what the requirements for minors to travel alone are, inquire with the Border Police.

Check the real ticket price - During flight search, some airlines show the ticket's price without the taxes (like fuel fee, airport taxes, government taxes). Before choosing a flight, check the full price (inclusive of all taxes) that has to be displayed in one of the next steps (before entering your card details).

Should I buy the ticket online or with a travel agent? - Most of the travel agents sell lowcost airline tickets. A travel agent buy a lot of tickets, so he may have some discount on their prices. But a travel agent also ads commissions on their selling price, and this may end up with a bigger final price for your plane ticket. It's always a good idea to compare the prices before buying. Keep in mind that the cheapest tickets sell first, so don't waste too much time comparing!

Travel insurance required? - Some low cost carriers offer you travel insurance by default. This insurance covers you for the duration of your flight/trip. If you already have a comprehensive health insurance policy, it probably covers you much better then the travel insurance offered by the airline. In this case, there is no point in buying travel insurance together with the flight ticket.

Reserved seats? - Lately, some bargain airlines started selling "reserved seats" on the plane. As the seats are all quite similar, and if you don't reserve a seat, you will still be able to choose or be assigned one, paying extra money in order to reserve your seat can be easily avoided.

Pay by debit card - All cheap airlines charge customers a payment handling fee (covering their cost of accepting payment by Credit Card). The fee may vary depending on the card circuit(Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Diners, etc) or the card type (Credit Card or Debit Card). Usually, if you pay by debit card you will be charged no payment handling fee or at least a lower one than when paying by credit card.

Check cancellation policy - Usually, if you choose the lowest fare you will not be allowed to freely modify you flight details (change dates or passengers names, etc). If you think that you might need this in the future, you may consider getting a more flexible (but also more expensive) ticket.

Estimate your luggage well - As they are trying to minimize their costs, the cheap airlines have a restrictive luggage policy. - You can take one piece of hand luggage (usually not heavier than 10kg and with maximum dimensions of 55x40x20cm). For detailed information about hand luggage, check the website of the carrier. - If you plan to also take hold baggage with you, you will need to pay for it online (when booking) or at the airport. It is cheaper to pay online then it is at the airport.

Use online check-in - Some airlines have recently started offering passengers the possibility to check-in online. This is possible only if you have no hold baggage. By checking in online, you will avoid queuing in order to check-in at the airport (and you will probably also save some money).

"Group" tickets - The price of the tickets increases as more tickets are sold. So, it may happen that there is only one ticket left with the lowest price (e.g. 30Euro), and the others cost more (e.g. 40Euro). If you buy two tickets together, you will be paying the highest price multiplied by the number of persons (in our example 40*2=80Euro, instead of 30+40=70Euro). Always check that the price for the group is not higher than the initial price per person multiplied by the number of people in your group.

Re-check your flight details - Low-cost airlines may (rarely) decide to change the departure/arrival airport (to another airport in the same city) or to reschedule flights. You are usually informed of these changes in advance, via e-mail. However, it is recommended that you re-check your flight details a couple of days before departure.

Weigh your luggage at home - Avoid excess baggage charges by weighing your luggage at home and trying to stay under the weight limit (up to 15 or 25 kilos, depending on the airline). If you exceed the weight limit, you may be asked to pay 10-15E per extra kilo. If you are over the limit and you can't leave anything else at home, it may be a good idea to take a hand baggage. But, be careful: check the weight limits for your hand baggage too!

Verify delays online - Usually, a delay of a low-cost flight causes the following flights made by that particular airplane to also be delayed. This is due to the policy of low-cost airlines that prefer to have short waiting times (from 25 minutes up to 2 hours) between flights. So, if the flight before yours is late, your flight may even have a 1 or 2-hour delay. You can check the estimated departure/arrival time online, either on the site of the airport (for most of the airports) or on the site of the airline (for all major airlines).

Food and drinks on the plane - One of the most important "features" of all low cost flights is that the airline does not offer free food and drinks on the plane. They are sold on board, but everything is quite expensive. If you travel on low budget, you can take some sandwiches from home. But remember that you cannot carry any liquids in your hand luggage past the security check!

Get to the airport earlier - Plan to arrive at the airport at least two hours before your flight is scheduled to depart. Low-cost airlines will not wait for a late passenger, as regular airlines do. Check-in opens 2 hours before departure and closes strictly 40 minutes before departure.

Need more leg room? - Many low cost airlines have a free seating policy, which means you can choose your seat when boarding the plane. The seats situated near the emergency exists have more leg room then the others, so if you are tall or have long legs, you will probably prefer to seat there!