An Insider’s Guide on How to Save Money on Flights

Tips and tricks of the trade

Although we give you the best flight offers for the dates that you choose, there are always ways in which you can get an even lower price. Here are some insider tips on how to save money on flights.

Change your departure and return date

All airlines raise the prices of fares to coincide with popular travel dates, for example carnivals and holidays. That means if you book flights within a couple of weeks of Christmas, Easter, even the school Summer holidays, the flights will be quite a bit more than if you were able to travel a bit earlier.

The opposite of this is also true when you’re looking at your return date, for a time after carnival, or for a week or so after the school holidays end, the fares will again be higher.

The solution? Stay longer, or avoid these dates altogether.

Book a trip with a connecting flight

Whenever you take a long haul flight, you are paying not only for the flight, but for the popularity of the flight. The prices for direct flights from the UK to the Caribbean are largely based on how how much demand there is for flights to the Caribbean is at a particular time of year.

If you can, try to look for flights that have a connection and see whether you save a substantial amount of money. You might just be amazed. Plus, you’ll get an extra stop on your holiday – win, win!

Try flights to Guyana, Jamaica even Trinidad via the US and Canada to see the difference in price.

Go niche

Location-specific travel agents (like us!) can save you money in that specific area due to their community links. For example, we specialise in Caribbean flights, hotels and package holidays, and we receive exclusive deals because of this. More general Travel Agents don’t have these types of connections and are therefore not always the best choice. Shop small, save big.

Travel off-peak

We understand that you all know this one, but we want to show you just how much you could save by travelling at off peak times.

For example, on our website, a quick search for a 2 week return flight to Barbados in July is about £660pp. By contrast, the same airport (Gatwick) with the very same flight options in June is available at just £470pp. That is an enormous amount of money saved just by going a couple of weeks earlier - it’s almost a third cheaper!

Try a different airport

Even though you might live on the doorstep of a major airport, that one might not give you the best rates. Consider travelling to the next airport over, or even planning a short trip to another city to take advantage of their cheaper air fares.

Flying to Guyana for two weeks in August from Heathrow can cost almost £2000, but if you can fly from Gatwick you’re looking at a fare of just under £900. That’s less than half the price, so whatever you would pay in taxi fare or parking is definitely going to be worth the transit.

Clear your cache

A trick that not many of you may know: some airlines store your browsing data and use it to pump up the prices of pages that you visit regularly. This means that every time you go back to the site, the prices will most likely be higher than before because the airline knows you’re interested. In order to combat this, clear your browsing data before you go looking for flights, or even browse incognito.

Be flexible

Unless you are 100% set on one specific location, why not shop around? Certain countries, cities and even continents have busy times where travel will be more expensive, but if you remain flexible on the specifics, you can save a ton of money. Try and avoid places where there are huge festivals or events at the time of your visit because this will automatically raise flight prices.

Think travelling to East Asia during the New Year, or to Paris for Valentine’s Day… the prices are insane. On the other hand, visiting cold countries in the warm months (or vice versa) or visiting countries at their quiet times will ensure that you save money.

You’ll still have an amazing experience, trust us.

Weigh your luggage before you leave

Airlines will charge you extra if your luggage exceeds the amount stated on your ticket or booking. To avoid this, weigh your luggage before you go to make sure that it falls under the acceptable weight. You can weigh your bags and suitcases by either putting them on your bathroom scales (less recommended) or by purchasing a baggage weighing device (better).

Unexpected baggage fees are a sure fire way to start your holiday off the wrong way, which is why we offer one free piece of hold luggage per customer on all of our flights with British Airways and Virgin Atlantic to the Caribbean. That means less stress for you, and more money to spend on your holidays. Our website also tells you how many pieces of Hold Luggage are included in the price.

Look out for offers

We know the urge to buy a seemingly cheap flight can be super tempting, but if you look out for special offers, you can almost always save on flight and hotel prices. Sometimes airlines and hotels will offer last-minute deals on plane seats or hotel rooms that they can’t seem to sell, and that’s where you’ll grab an amazing deal.

However, if you see a deal that you just can’t resist on our website, we can actually reserve a place for you. You don’t need to pay in full until 8 weeks before your trip and we offer low deposits, plus options to pay in instalments so that you can take full advantage of our low fares.

Sign up for our travel club

Travel clubs are a great way to save time and money. They reward you for being a frequent flyer, plus they give you deals that are only available to members.

Our travel club membership takes the stress out of looking for Caribbean holiday deals by sending you the best ones! Membership is free, and when you sign up, we’ll send you advance notification of special offers, as well as member-exclusive deals. Join the club!

And with that, we hope that you have all the information you need to snag yourself a great deal on flights. If you’re looking for some cheap flights to the Caribbean, give our flights a look over and see how you could benefit from flying with us.

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