Cheap flights???

[wen-tom]

Hi,
We have just signed up to DVC as we feel it WILL save us a lot of money in the future.
I was wondering if any other UK DVC members have any tips for getting cheap(ish) comfortable flights? is it best to book early or late? are any airlines better than others?

so far we have been to disney twice but only on package deals so we have never had to look at flights before.

Are all flights as uncomfortable as those package airline airbuses???

Any help would be appreciated

 

[carolfoy]

The problem you've got is that if you leave it til the last minute to get cheap charter flights you would have already commited to your DVC, look at the average price of the Virgin/BA flights before you set your DVC in stone, that way you'll have a yardstick to measure everything else against. A lot of the charter flights now are getting more comfortable, for instance First Choice airlines have better leg room than BA economy but you'll only have a choice of 2 or 3 days of the week when you can use them and they probably won't sell durations outside equivalents of 7, ie 7, 14, 21 days.

 

[Miffy2003]

We book as soon as scheduled flights are released (11 months before the date of the return flight) as we like to know we are getting the exact date we want - important for DVC members.


We prefer scheduled over charter as it gives us more flexibility over how long we go over for - I don't like being tied to 14 days.

Other the ways to obtain cheaper flights:
Fly indirect
Fly midweek
At all costs avoid school holidays (if you can)

I hear you can often pick up a bargain last minute if you have the nerve to wait - but I never have the nerve

 

[wen-tom]

thanks for the info, i am not planning my trip until 2008 but having looked at flight prices for late bookings, they seem a lot cheaper than booking early. looks like you save £100's . we joined DVC with the hope of saving at least a little bit of money so dont want to have to spend £700+ on a flight

 

[jdybnsn]

I just thought I would add the comment that I have been monitoring flight prices for a few months, even though we are not going till 2008 ...from what I have noticed flights have been much more expensive for 2007 than for 2006 even allowing for the increased fuel surcharges.

We normally do DIY, but I have to say that package prices were looking better for once - there have been a few exceptions though...Virgin have been offering some cracking deals from time to time which incredibly, made them cheaper than some of the so called cheap charters, such as TCD... and secondly Globespan have had some great prices but they only fly from Glasgow.

However, over the last few weeks I have noticed that fly drive / flight only prices for 2007, are beginning to come back down again ..so I am hopeful that this trend will continue as I couldn't see how they were going to sell many seats at the prices they were asking anyhow.

I think it is important that if you are considering doing a DIY / flydrive that if you want to get a good deal you need to be monitoring the market and be able to recognise the peaks and troughs and therefore recognise a good deal when you see one (and this does not imply booking last minute because that is a different ball game altogether)...... even if like me you are not planning to go till 2008 !

Hope this is of some help to you and others.

 

[Minniespal]

We stay in Glasgow ~ We are going in March and October next year and I have booked flights with Fly Globespan. The prices were so good that we are going Business Class instead of Economy or Premium Economy. I'm not sure of your location but I know of people here on the Boards that are travelling from England to Scotland, to take advantage of the cheaper flights. Here is the link

 

[mikki.young]

Over the years we have used Trailfinders travel agents as they can help get the best price. Both BA and Virgin sometimes do deals with adding car hire which brings the overall price down. Also BA and Virgin have sales every so often and this brings the per head price down by £100 or so which is well worth having. I tend to book DVC and then get the flights because I know DVC is more flexible and I can take off a night or add (usually) if I want to.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We have looked into DVC too, to be honest I am not sure if it is necessarily something that will save you money, perhaps in the long term but with the yearly maintainence payments to consider I think the advantage is having quality accomodation on-site rather than saving £ or $

 

[Hilary]

... you need to be monitoring the market and be able to recognise the peaks and troughs and therefore recognise a good deal when you see one

I absolutely agree (unless you have to travel in school holidays and the flights are likely to sell out a long time in advance).

If you know there's plenty of availability and you have a rough idea of dates, being on top of the current prices allows you to step in as soon as you see a good price on the horizon - often these will sell out/disappear almost as soon as they're offered, so you need to be in a position to make a quick decision.

 

[jools]

If you want to make sure you get the holiday you want you need to book early.

In the past we have always flown Virgin, but recently I have not been so impressed with their service. Last time we used US Airways and found them to be really good, have booked to fly with them again this December. Flights for 5 adults and 1 child cost $3199.60 = current exchange rate about £296 pp.

Generally we book fligths at around the 11 month window when scheduled flights are released. This also ties in nicely with securing a booking at our DVC home resort. We find that scheduled airlines will often give special rates on fares just after the 11 month window, may be to get the bookings rolling!. Then we find the flight prices start to increase as the date of the flight gets nearer.

We tend to book scheduled flights either flying direct or indirect depending on the price we can get at the time and this gives much more flexability then booking with a charter. I have very rarely seen prices with scheduled airlines drop for last minute flights, but charter can be a different story. We picked up some very cheap last minute flights earlier this year with Thomson (charter flight), we got flights £29 pp from Manchester 3 days before departure.

However booking flights so late would be a big gamble if you were hoping of booking DVC accommodation. Unless you are travelling in the low season you would be very unlikely to get your DVC accommodation.