Novice booking flights - where do I look?

[Guest]

Hi all,

From reading the forum I think I have got my head round that if I am planning a holiday in August most flights will be released around October and this is likely to be when most deals are around. Possible later deals may be Christmas period. I have also read that reasonable prices to look for seem to be around £650 direct and £450 indirect. My question is do I need to check each individual Company or can I see all different ones offered on a particular site - thinking Thomas Cook, Virgin, American Airlines - any others? Also, are there any specific indirect flights that I should be looking for? I know I am probably asking this question 8 months too early but I like to plan! I intend to book my accommodation through Disney in May when my husbands holiday allocation is confirmed (we are anticipating 2 weeks in August this year) so I guess I would also check flight prices with them (has anyone found Disney to be on a par with direct)
Thanks in advance

[sotagals]

The first thing is to sign up to the 2018 glitch watch on here for July/August school holidays when it gets going. I've had my best school holiday deals by picking up on postings from there. Have a look at this year's thread to get the idea.

Skyscanner Kayak and Google flights will allow you to search plenty of options.
Netflights is another good one to check and you could check airlines directly - BA had some great flydrive deals this year. I've deliberately left out expedia because I am right off them lol

For indirects it is useful to make a list of airports you could fly from in the UK , what airlines fly from there and where to. Also a list of airports and their codes that you could check at the Florida end. Sometimes it's cheaper to fly into places like Daytona or Melbourne so you need to check them as well.

If you are outside the London area don't discount 2 stop flights from your local airport with KLM / Delta via Amsterdam - we've done a couple of these very successfully and they also cut down on airport travel and possibly parking.

It's a full time job but the pay off is (hopefully) cheap prices

[Crazydragon]

Well TC flights are already out for August 2018 and I have contacted Thomson and their flights for August are due to be released in April this year. at least these give you an idea before the other airlines release their flights

[coinneach]

The last couple of years we've got great flydrive deals with BA booking direct when they had their sale on.
We use Netflights and also Momondo app for price checking.
We've used Netflights for accommodation via Quidco and saved about 6% with cashback.

[ali-s]

I use Momondo and itamatrix to search for best price , routes and times , then go direct to the airlines site to book. Some of the third party agents are ok , some I wouldn't touch with a bargepole even if saving a few hundred.
For the charters like Thomas Cook and Thomson you'll have a go direct to their website. Play around with different days and airports , it can make a huge difference to price.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by sotagals

The first thing is to sign up to the 2018 glitch watch on here for July/August school holidays when it gets going. I've had my best school holiday deals by picking up on postings from there. Have a look at this year's thread to get the idea.

Skyscanner Kayak and Google flights will allow you to search plenty of options.
Netflights is another good one to check and you could check airlines directly - BA had some great flydrive deals this year. I've deliberately left out expedia because I am right off them lol

For indirects it is useful to make a list of airports you could fly from in the UK , what airlines fly from there and where to. Also a list of airports and their codes that you could check at the Florida end. Sometimes it's cheaper to fly into places like Daytona or Melbourne so you need to check them as well.

If you are outside the London area don't discount 2 stop flights from your local airport with KLM / Delta via Amsterdam - we've done a couple of these very successfully and they also cut down on airport travel and possibly parking.

It's a full time job but the pay off is (hopefully) cheap prices

See more...

Thankyou very much for the info. How do I sign up to the glitch watch? Thanks

[cornishfrogboy]

Yes, Thomas Cook have released. The only snag is that they are not in competition with the big players such as Delta, TUI and others. Therefore they can price generously in their own favour.

As regards how, where etc etc, we like both Skyscanner and Kayak. We start looking at 11 months out, aware that again, the early offers are often not as good as when all the major players have entered the market. Generally, we book at around 9.5 to 10 months before our return flight.

When researching, we consider indirects, particularly via hubs such as Atlanta, where with a 3 hour layover, you can clear immigration and customs thus getting back the advantage of a direct flight when you walk straight out at your destination airport. We look for short layovers of around an hour on the return.

We look at any departure airport that is less than 6 hrs away as from Falmouth, we have Bristol (expensive and 3 hrs), Heathrow (our favourite, nearest practical option, offering loads of indirects, dual centre options and 4.75 hrs) Gatwick (difficult for us to get to as we hate the M25, 6hrs), Birmingham (4.5). Manchester.

Our arrival we calculate our timings from Davenport area, so it is MCO (.5), Tampa (1.25), Sanford (1.2), Daytona (1.75)Miami (3.5-4). We also consider dual centre holidays as can be seen from my signature. You can for instance, arrive in Miami and drive a ribbon up the Gulf to Tampa, across to Orlando and out via KSC to Daytona. You are thus saving many hours of driving time.

Imho the key to great deals is lateral thinking and looking at wider options than the obvious.

Hope it helps.