long haul flights - how do you get a good deal?

tunstallhill said:
will it make a difference if i book 12 months in advance, or say 6 months?

by the end of august all the flights i want should show up on skyscanner search engine, i might just search the same flghts every week and note down the cost and see if they start getting cheaper or more expensive
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I really don't know ... It would depend on uptake I think, the release at full price, if they sell well they stay high, if they don't then they'll reduce then raise again as they sell. Same as anything where they can decide on supply to demand.
 


I flew with KLM multi city for Scotland's games in Peru and Mexico ,out from Manchester Amsterdam Lima the local airline up to Mexico ,returned via Amsterdam ,£350 cheaper than BA .booked direct with the airline.
 
tunstallhill said:
dunno, its just what all of the posters on there say, in no uncertain terms. calling people idiots and that for using ebookers and stuff. suppose you only ever hear of the horror stories, probably 99% of the bookings go through no problem



is there a way to get notifications on this? like i say, i've got time on my hands so willing to wait it out to save a few hundred quid
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Skyscanner do notifications
 
safcforever said:
Where in Canada you going? If you’re going to Toronto you might as well do your whole trip in the states. The real Canada is west of there
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visiting mates there

Beery said:
surprised you can book 13 months in advance - where are you looking to go to /from?
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i can't get prices for 13 months in advance. got a bit mixed up when messing with the dates. farthest in advance seems to be 12 months from today.

going Newcaslte - Toronto and returning from Jacksonville to Newcastle.
 
tunstallhill said:
visiting mates there



i can't get prices for 13 months in advance. got a bit mixed up when messing with the dates. farthest in advance seems to be 12 months from today.

going Newcaslte - Toronto and returning from Jacksonville to Newcastle.
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you've got loads of options if you don't mind hopping about as there will be loads of connections from Boston/NYC etc

My advice would be to book early as prices tend not to go down for flight only IMHO

This is £627 next June - I'm sure you could get for nearer £450 as the budget airlines may not have prices out yet (WOW, Norwegian, internal US ones)

Flight 1
Fri, 7 Jun 2019
all times are local
British Airways + Air Canada
09:00NCL
10h 45
1 stopLHR
14:45YYZ

Flight 2
Fri, 21 Jun 2019
Air Canada + British Airways
14:45JAX
19h
2 stopsYYZ, LHR
14:45+1NCL
Partly operated by Air Canada Express - Air Georgian
 
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tunstallhill said:
will it make a difference if i book 12 months in advance, or say 6 months?
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I usually start looking about 10 months before I fly long haul. Look a couple of times a week and you get an idea what prices are like. Within a couple of months I've always found a little bargain. Cambodia a few months ago for £490 from Newcastle. Holiday was for nowt.
 
tunstallhill said:
i'm looking at a multi-city ticket for next summer, and i know the exact dates. a few websites (Opodo, Ebookers etc..) get some unbelievably low prices, but all of the reviews online say to avoid them and go direct. but its about 5x the price with BA etc..

anyone know a reputably website or travel agent to go through? or when the best time is to book direct?

i'm wanting to fly to canada, then 3 weeks later fly back from florida
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Get on Sunderland council!!!!
Well if you are gonna set them up then I will knock them down :lol:
 
tunstallhill said:
just says that when flights get cancelled or alterations need making etc.. that these third party brokers are a nightmare and not worth the money you save

there's quite a busy travel forum on tripadvisor, usually get good advice on there, and i searched for Opodo and theres hundreds of posts advising not to use them, same as Kiwi, Travelgenio, Opodo etc..

seems that all the advice is hell bent on telling you to book direct.



who did you use?
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You buy the ticket for the airline
Doesn’t matter who you get it from.
If it’s delayed / cancelled , it’s the airline you go too.
That’s why you should never use Ryanair.

ontap said:
cheapest way is to get a pal living in the usa to book the tickets , much cheaper than booking from this end.
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Nar
If that’s the case, use a vpn and buy tickets.
But it’s not.

tunstallhill said:
visiting mates there



i can't get prices for 13 months in advance. got a bit mixed up when messing with the dates. farthest in advance seems to be 12 months from today.

going Newcaslte - Toronto and returning from Jacksonville to Newcastle.
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Usually 11 months for most long haul
 
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offmenut said:
You buy the ticket for the airline
Doesn’t matter who you get it from.
If it’s delayed / cancelled , it’s the airline you go too.
That’s why you should never use Ryanair.


Nar
If that’s the case, use a vpn and buy tickets.
But it’s not.


Usually 11 months for most long haul
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That's not how it works though. Most airlines will not get involved in ticket changes if its been booked via a broker or agent. That may not be the law or how its supposed to work but it does. Airline industry is like the wild west at times and there are a few refusing to honor EU regulations about compensation at the moment.

For example on my next set of flights I've just checked and because they were booked via an agent (Emirates holidays), Emirates the airline will not process any changes or alterations. Must be done via the agent.
 
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JonMc said:
I've always used skyscanner and I've never ever had a problem getting there and back again from anywhere.
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Saw a deal today with Skyscanner to Goa in January £386 per person with Oman airlines via Muscat, went into trailfinders in Poultry who quoted £200 more, when I mentioned the Skyscanner price the girl said you won't be able to book those flights at the price quoted as they have live prices and Skyscanner are lead in prices that won't be available.
Just returned home and booked the flights for £382 each.
 
I had this exact same dilemma last Demecember when booking flights to USA.

Decided to go with Opodo after reading all the various review which basically stemmed around the problems if flights change.

After booking, the airline changed my flight connections about four times, and each time Opodo were a f***ing pain in the arse to try and sort it out - mainly because you sir on hold for ages. With the final change that happened I spent around 2 hours on hold one day and only got sorted after I started slating them left right and centre on Twitter.

So, the decision you make is - is the saving worth the potential shite of flight changed happen.
 

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