CAPE TOWN – One of the biggest life goals that every person has each year is to spread their horizons and save up money to travel the world.
With so many options and a world of information at your fingertips, knowing how to save money on airfare can be a bit challenging especially since flights tend to be pricey.
Speaking to Business Report, Kirby Gordon, Head of Sales & Distribution, FlySafair gave a few tips that you can use when trying to save airfare for 2019.
Book as early as possible
Gordan said: "There are cheap seats on every flight, but the early bird always gets the worm. Airlines use a system called demand-based pricing which means that the first seats on a flight are always the ones that go for the lowest possible fare. As the plane fills up and the departure gets closer, the fares become incrementally more expensive."
"Booking early is possibly the single biggest thing you can do to save. For example, you can save an average of roughly 10 percent by booking 10 days in advance, or up to 20 percent if you book a month in advance. The cheapest seats for the December holidays start selling out as early as May."
Travel light
"With FlySafair, you can save by opting not to take checked-in luggage, so if you can get away with just your hand luggage, you’re bound to save.
Be flexible on travel times and dates. Peak periods, like holidays or commuter flights, tend to sell out fast, but there’s often a great deal to be had during the week," said Gordan.
Use our Low fare finder tool
"At FlySafair we have a low fare finder that shows you the cheapest flight every day for a whole year so you can easily track down the cheapest ways to fly," said Gordan.
Travelstart blogger Nadi Marth also noted that another big factor to watch out for is the price of oil.
According to Marth, travels should keep watch on the Rand to oil price exchange when booking their airline ticket.
"If the Rand has taken a dip, you might want to delay your purchase. Conversely, if the Rand price of oil is looking up, you may want to take advantage," said Marth.
Another tip can be to sign up for the newsletters of different airlines.
Airlines tend to send out e-mail newsletters that allow subscribers to receive deals, from flash sales to last-minute getaways.