The words ‘cheap’ and ‘flight’ go together about as well as oil and water but for UK and US travellers there are some good offers to be found this Winter. Flexibility on departure dates definitely helps and for international routes, US east coast destinations such as New York, Boston and Washington DC are usually where the best deals are to be found.
Getting a good price on connecting and internal flights is another hurdle to overcome. Competition is rife as airlines struggle to convince passengers not only to choose them but to fly at all.
Travel never seems cheap even if the flights are but many airline websites now encourage customers to book flight and accommodation packages and this can often be a big money saver. Keep a close eye on airline websites, especially low cost UK carriers Easyjet and Ryanair as they have short run sales that offer massive discounts on some or all of their destinations.
Special Offers for Flights to the USA
British Airways flies from London City, Heathrow and Gatwick airports and regularly run sales to worldwide destinations. They often have good deals for flights to North America and further savings can be made to some destinations by booking a hotel and flight package.
For frequent travellers, British Airways offers an American Express card. Customers receive free air miles and other benefits such as a free companion ticket (dependent on expenditure).
Virgin Atlantic flies from Gatwick and Heathrow to thirty destinations, including ten cities in the USA. Current sales running from November to March include flights to Boston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orlando, San Francisco and Washington DC.
Virgin Atlantic also runs an American Express Card scheme with customer benefits.
US Airline Discounts on Travel to the UK and Europe
Both United and Continental Airlines websites state that if you find a fare for the same flight in the same class, they will make up the difference and pay out an additional $100 so as tedious as it can be, it’s worth shopping around.
United Airlines has a European savings sale for travel on Monday to Thursday completed before the end of March 2010. Tickets must be purchased in November and a Saturday night stay is required. To avoid connecting in London, United also flies to other European destinations such as Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris, Brussels, Geneva and Moscow.
Continental Airlines flies to over 20 European cities including London. They are currently offering deals from Houston and Cleveland to London Heathrow and from Newark to Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland. Fares start at $568 round trip (subject to availability).
Savings on Fares Within the USA
SouthWest Airlines has tickets starting at $59 (one-way) for purchases in November with travel between December and March. The majority of routes are $100 or more so keep an eye out for better deals on other airlines. Southwest are not charging for checking bags though which may be a deciding factor for some.
One-way fares on JetBlue start at $29. They fly to over 50 destinations throughout the USA, Caribbean, Central and South America and customers can subscribe to an email service that send out fare sale alerts.
JetBlue also offer an American Express Card allowing customers to earn 10,000 air miles upon their first purchase, which could come in very useful to regular US air commuters. They also offer deals on cruises and holiday packages to resorts including Cancun. Orlando and St. Lucia.
Cheap Flights from the UK to Europe
Easyjet fly all over Europe and to a few destinations in North Africa. They recently had a 30% off sale on all their routes and regularly run such heavily discounted promotions. Easyjet also offer deals on hotels, car rentals and insurance. It is worth comparing services such as car rental independently as prices, especially in big cities, can be competitive.
Ryanair fly out of Gatwick, Luton and Stansted in the UK to 145 European destinations and 5 cities in Morocco. They also run regular promotions, some of which seem too good to be true. Such deals have included selling 1 million one-way seats at 2.99 euro (about $4.47) but beware of taxes and other fees, which quickly increase the overall ticket price.
For information on getting into London from the airport:
How to get to London from the Five Airports
By Coach and Taxi from London's Airports
 |
