Buying a plane ticket is apparently an acquired talent, that not many people know how to do well.
I’ve found round trip tickets from the USA to Europe for between 400 and 600 US dollars.
But “how?” you may wonder. It’s a secret. Which I will reveal NOW!
Lots of research. If you hail from faraway places such as the USA, Australia, South Africa, those freaking Kiwi islands (New Zeland, I know, but I like to be mean), or that wanna-be USA country (Canada- and again, I joke, I much prefer Canada over the USA any day), it is well worth your time to look for something cheap. Once you learn this skill, it will remain with you forever. So, here’s the process:
-Chose a tentative date. Don’t be strict, give yourself a “departure range”. By flying one day instead of another you may save hundreds of dollars or whatever your currency may be. Why? Because that’s the way airlines work. Flying on a weekday is considerably cheaper than flying during the weekend. Inconvenient depature or arrival hours also make the prices go down. So opt for them if you want to save the most. Word of Advice: Try to arrive in Spain around 2 weeks before the end of a month. Why? Because if you want to find a place to live in, it gives you two weeks to look for one, because all empty rooms usally require move in the 1st day of a month. It’s hard to find mid-month move ins. If you arrive by the 5th, you will have 25 days to look for a place to live in, yes, but it also means 25 nights of paying for a hostel. Giving yourself a 2 week range is safe. Although a 1 week range before the 1st of a month is possible too; you’ll just be more stressed and in a hurry. Can you handle it?
-Find the cheapest airports. Although you may want to do a Brownsville, TX- Seville, Spain flight, it may not be your best option. Why? Damn, you ask “Why” a lot! Because if you get your lazy ass up, you can just book a ticket from Monterrey, Mexico to Madrid, Spain for way cheaper. Or even go as far as booking a flight from Houston, TX to London, UK for even cheaper (I payed 400 dollars round-trip for Houston-London route), and just getting a ride to Houston, and from London find your own connection to Madrid (1 hour long super cheap flights can be found for 10 euros, or even 1 euro if you find a super sale. I’m serious. Read on). So I mean: Find the largest airport from which you live, and book from there to another large airport in Europe. Most English-speaking countries have connections to London, by far the cheapest airport to arrive to. You can also try flying to Paris, Frankfurt or Amsterdam, and then finding your own connection to Madrid or Barcelona. If your ultimate destination is somewhere smaller, you are usually better off by taking a bus or the trains within Spain. This will be explained in a later post.
-Shop a Don’t settle for crap. Make sure you browse through all the websites you can for the cheapest price. Change dates, be flexible about aiports. The less connections you make, the cheaper it will be. Just because you found a flight on Expedia for 600 dollars, it doesn’t mean that if you actually go the airlines’ website, you won’t find it for even cheaper. Check, and double check. Now, for shopping around:
Getting to Europe
www.expedia.com – Well known travel search engine. Use it. Try it.
www.edreams.com – Same as the website above.
www.ebookers.com- Same as the website above.
www.farecompare.com- Same as the website above.
www.atrapalo.com- Spanish version of the websites above.
www.skyscanner.net- This website asks you to put your destination and arrival aiports, and it tells you about every single company that flies the route, and it gives you links to each one so you can find the airline that offers the best price.
www.bookingbuddy.com – Same as above.
Cheap Flights Within Europe
www.ryanair.com – The budget airline. Cheap as can be (I’ve flown for 5 to 10 euros many times with them). Safe, but don’t expect service of any kind. And keep in mind that they have A STRICT BAGGAGE POLICY. If your baggage is more than 15 kilos, you will have to pay A LOT for overweight baggage. So watch out if you’re bringing a lot of stuff.
www.easyjet.com – Same as above. Beware of STRICT BAGGAGE POLICY.
www.skyscanner.net -You can also use this website to browse cheap flight connections within Europe.
-Done shopping? NOW BUY YOUR TICKET! Print it out so you can rub it in people’s faces. And tell all your friends you’re moving to Spain, to become hot Eurotrash like him:
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