The biggest phenomenon to hit the UK travel industry in several decades has been low-cost flights. They have transformed our travel patterns for both business and leisure, and cheap flights have opened the door to weekends in Europe for pretty much everyone.
No-frills airlines are now established at 16 UK airports, so wherever you live, be it Aberdeen or Southampton, there's a low-cost centre near you, with direct flights to a range of British and European destinations.
The benefits are wonderful, but it's not all plain sailing. There's no local, friendly travel agent going to help you for nothing. Some websites are not particularly user-friendly, and trying to contact the airlines by phone is a recipe for disaster. You can easily waste an entire evening flitting between one airline's website and another, and that's before you locate a car and a bed. The whole experience can leave you wondering if it is really worth wasting all that valuable leisure time to save a few miserable quid.
So what are your options? Well you could use a one-stop discount travel website such as Expedia or Opodo to source for you.
Working the system
There is an art to getting the cheap fares so widely advertised by budget airlines, and it's an art worth learning given how often you get online to book that £9.99 flight and find nothing under £50 available. That's because people in the know got there first. So, what do they know that you don't? Here are some top tips:
Book early: Pretty much all the budget airlines work on a first come, first served basis. Basically, they sell all the low fares first and don't release any more closer to the date of departure.
Be flexible: Flights midweek are generally cheaper than those at the weekend. Also, bear in mind the time of day that you fly. If you're willing to get out of bed before dawn, or happy to arrive at your destination late at night, the price will be considerably lower. The most expensive times are mid-morning and late afternoon, so avoid them if you can.
To give you an example, here are the fares flying with easyJet from Luton to Paris Charles de Gaulle. Booking on the day of departure at the end of July, a single to Paris leaving at 6.40pm costs £70.40 before added taxes. Flying at a less convenient time, arriving in Paris at 11pm, et voila, the cost drops to £40.40. These prices are for a Wednesday - midweek, and therefore a cheaper time to travel. If you choose to fly on the following Friday, the price jumps to £90.40 for an 11am flight, but still remains cheaper for the horribly early 5.40am flight from Luton, which will cost just £30.40.
Compare these prices with those for the same flight booked four months in advance for mid-November. This far in advance, and for an off-peak season, you can secure flights for as little as £5.40 before extras.
Don't dither: If you've found a low price, but are still unsure if you can make the dates, just book it anyway. You can almost guarantee that by the time you've secured the time off work, or managed to co-ordinate your fellow travellers, the bargain you found will have already gone, so it may be worth risking that tenner.
Changes to name, time and date can be made with some of the airlines, although not all. Such changes can usually be made up until the day of departure and tend to incur fees of around £10 or £15. Remember that you will also have to pay any difference in price between the original flight and the one you choose to take, but the money you have already spent will be transferred over.
Use the net: Booking online cuts costs even more. Most of the airlines have call centres for technophobes, but the wait times are generally horrendous, so your call can cost almost as much as your flight. Booking online is easy and will often reduce the fare by about £5 return.
Be aware of the extras: Once you've paid for the flight itself, there are always some nasty little extras that will creep on to your bill.
Credit-card users face supplementary charges of up to £4 per transaction, both over the phone and on the net. If you really want to keep costs to a minimum, use Switch cards. Although these aren't quite as secure to use on the web, they will save you a couple of extra pounds.
You will also be charged airport tax plus a now obligatory security fee of around £1.60. The budget airlines have fought hard against this and make it clear that they stand to make no profit from the post-September 11 tax.
Fares displayed on the websites do not always include all these extra costs, and it is worth bearing in mind that until you've tapped in all your details, you may not be given the full price.
Keep in touch with airlines: Fares change all the time, with promotional offers for the openings of new routes, seasonal specials and so forth. To make sure you don't miss any bargains, you can sign up to be emailed with any promotions from all the budget websites. It's also well worth keeping an eye out for adverts in the press.
Be careful: The big risk you take with budget airlines arises if you book connecting flights. All of the budget airlines are point-to-point only. This means that they offer no transfer of luggage from one flight to another, so for every flight you take, you have to go through the whole check-in process again.
If you've booked a flight from Glasgow to Stansted, for example, and then another on to a European city a couple of hours later, you are going to be pushed if there is a delay (and there often is). All budget airlines operate such a quick turnaround procedure that a half-hour delay on one flight can mean huge delays down the line as planes wait for take-off and landing slots at busy airports. This will have an effect on any connecting flights, and if you miss the check-in time for your next flight, it is entirely your responsibility. Even if you're carrying on with the same airline, they will offer you no refunds. For this reason, it is vital to get yourself some travel insurance. Other than that, you should safeguard yourself from problems by leaving large gaps between connecting flights.
Which website?
If you're still stuck, and you're not quite sure which website to log on to for a flight to a specific destination, take a look at whichbudget.com. Simply punch in where you want to go, and they'll link you straight up to the appropriate web page so you can book your flight in a matter of minutes - providing, of course, that the price is right.
Another good one is skyscanner.net - a natty site that not only allows you to select a destination but will also help you with information on when it is cheapest to travel. Also good value, though a little more tricky to negotiate your way around, is easyvalue.com, which is owned by the same company as easyJet. It searches a seemingly endless number of destinations and airlines in Europe and lets you be as general or specific as you like kelkoo.co.uk is also worth a shot - good for non-European destinations.
Due to the Iraq crisis, many charter and scheduled air lines are offering great deals - and flexible booking dates. For example, consider British Airways' newly introduced "fly when you're ready" option, which applies to all new long-haul bookings made before May 31. This allows you to change your destination or alter your travel date up to 72 hours before departure, free of charge, and applies to any fare type. Travel must be completed by the end of December this year. Virgin Atlantic and Continental Airlines have a similar temporary scheme in place. Some Middle Eastern airlines are allowing passengers to change reservations or offering a full refund if they already have bookings to or through their hub airports.
Iraq aside, many scheduled airlines are offering deals that rival the no-frills operators. bmi, BA, Aer Lingus and KLM are all worth a look. For example, while Ryanair flies from Dublin to Edinburgh and Glasgow from €50 return, the full-service Aer Lingus fare on the same routes starts at €51. Equally, Ryanair flies from Stansted to Gerona from £58 return, while BA (operated by GB Airways) flies from Gatwick from £69 return.
· Katie Wood is the author of Fly Europe: The Complete Guide To Budget Airline Destinations, published by Aurum Press at £12.99.
Not convinced yet?
Well, let's take a budget of roughly £70 and look at where this can get you to in the next month. (All prices correct at time of going to press but they do vary by the day).
· bmi baby is offering East Midlands to Dublin for £71 return including taxes, flying out on April 22, and returning April 25.
· flybe.com can get you from Gatwick to Guernsey from April 24 to 26 for £77.09 inc tax.
· Germanwings can fly you from Stansted to Cologne for £66 before tax on April 25-30.
· easyJet has some great deals on flights around Easter - Venice and Brussels from Stansted, from £56 return; Paris from Luton from £35; Munich from Stansted from £51; Barcelona from Luton, Stansted, Gatwick, Birmingham, East Midlands and Liverpool from £50; Munich from Stansted from £51. All including taxes.
· Meridiana can fly you from Gatwick to Florence any date from now until May 30 for £29 one way before tax.
· Out of Ryanair's 56 routes, 47 can currently be bought as return flights with tax for under £50. Some examples are: Stansted to Milan Bergamo £29.98; Luton to Milan Bergamo £19.98; Stansted to Dublin £19.98; Teesside to Dublin £19.98.
Operators offering budget flights
Aer Arann Express 003531 814 52 50, aerarann.ie
Aer Lingus 0845 0844444, aerlingus.com
Air Berlin 0870 73 88880, airberlin.com
Air Europa 0870 2401501, aireuropa.co.uk
Air France 0845 0820162, airfrance.co.uk
Air Scotland 0141-222 2363, air-scotland.com
Air Wales 0870 7773131, airwales.co.uk
Alitalia 0870 5448259, alitalia.co.uk
BMI 0870 6070555, flybmi.com
BMI Baby 0870 2642229, bmibaby.com
British Airways 0845 7733377, ba.com
CSA Czech Airlines 0870 4443747, czechairlines.co.uk
easyJet 0870 6000000, easyjet.com
Flybe 0870 5676676, flybe.com
FlyGlobespan.com 0870 5561522, flyglobespan.com
Germanwings 020-8321 7255, germanwings.com
Hapag-Lloyd Express 0870 6060519, hlx.com
Jet2 Airways 0870 737 8282, jet2.com
KLM 0870 5074074, klm.com/uk
Lufthansa 0845 7737747, lufthansa.co.uk
Meridiana 020-7839 2222, meridiana.it
MyTravelLite 0870 1564564, mytravellite.com
Planet Air 0845 0606666, planetair.co.uk
Ryanair 0871 2460000,ryanair.com
SAS 0870 6072772, scandinavian.net
Scot Airways 0870 6060707, scotairways.co.uk
SN Brussels Airlines 0870 7352345, flysn.com
Swiss 0845 6010956, swiss.com
Volare 01293 562266, volare-airlines.com
