Saving money on flights...

Here's a tip I learned from an insider in the airline industry. It's probably one of those things that everyone knows about, but which they keep a secret from me in order to get a cheap laugh when I finally find out...

If you have to book a single flight, don't. Book a return, but make it a long way in the future.

I went to book a single from Southampton to Glasgow with BA, this week. Price: £226, including all taxes.

Then I looked at that flight as the first leg, returning back to Southampton any time in June (letting BA's system pick the cheapest flight it could).

The return flight showed up as... wait for it... £2. On BA. Fantastic!

Unfortunately, I then changed the date, as I might actually need to come back down south at the end of April, but even so I got the return flight for £33.

But the best bit is... the total return cost dropped to £98.... return... both flights... for less than half the cost of the single....can't breath.. must go now...


... oh, just one more thing...

You have to take the first leg, otherwise the airline will cancel the second. So if the single that you want is from the other end back to your home airport, you'll need to book it back to front, as though you were then going to travel back to the destination at some point in the future.

My brain is telling me that might be a cheap way to get tickets for overseas football matches (book two returns as though flying FROM the overseas place). But A) I can't be bothered to work it out, and B) the brain power will be beyond the capabilities of most football supporters anyway!

Not counting Lisa of course, if you're reading this, as I know you're the brightest button in the bunch. But you're a girl, so obviously you would be :-) xxx

UPDATE:
Got it!

Let's say England (not Scotland) are playing in Barcelona. You book a return from UK to Spain, to get back to the UK the day before the match. You have to take the UK->Spain leg, so you get a nice break before the match. Then you book a return from Spain to the UK, after the match, and only take the first leg.

Given that I saved more than 50% by buying a return, compared to the same flight on a single, if that same 50%+ holds true during football days, you'll save money by buying 4 flights instead of just the two.

Must try that someday...

posted by Blakey UK @ 9:50 am