How to pay less for your flight to Philippines

July 5, 2019

Unless you’re travelling by sea, it’s likely that you will by flying into the Philippines. Air travel is often seen as one of the most expensive ways to get around, but this isn’t always the case. In this article, we provide you with a few tips on how you can pay less for your flight to the Philippines.

Use Private Browsing or Do Not Track Mode When Searching for Your Flights

This is a tip that not many people know, but it can help you to find the lowest possible price without having to give over any of your personal information. When websites track you, they store cookies on your device, which often records details about where you have been online. This means that if you have conducted several searches for things like “cheap flights to the Philippines from the USA” the airlines will be aware of this. Algorithms on these sites are designed to respond to the information they get from users, so if you arrive with none, you get a better chance of getting yourself a good deal.

Use Comparison Sites

There are more of them than ever before now and if you are keen to save money, they are a definite ally. Destinations like the Philippines are often very popular at certain times of year and operators know this. This means you can expect to find very different prices, depending on who book your flight with. Don’t expect fair play or even clarity when to comes to what the airlines are offering for their stated price as some have been known to charge double that of their competitors for the same quality of service.

Book as early as you can

This is a well-known “trick”, but it does work. The earlier you can book your flight, the better. Airlines like to try and sell all the seats on a plane in plenty of time before take-off. That means they generally offer customers cheaper prices the faster they buy them. If you can get yourself organised and set some definite dates for your trip that are well in the future, booking in advance can save you hundreds. Savvy travellers often put these saving towards their spending money for when they land. If you’re heading to South East Asia, you will generally find this is enough to last for you a few weeks at least. That should be incentive enough to make sure you’re buying your tickets well advance.

Don’t fly during peak tourist season

Its overcrowded, generally very expensive and you will rarely be able to find any significantly discounted flights, even if you do book a long time in advance. Instead, consider flying at times that are less popular. You may have to sacrifice some of the better weather, but you will also find that you have the pick of the hotels and attractions as there are fewer tourists around. Airlines like to make sure their flights are as full as possible, so if you are prepared to fly out during less popular months, you can generally do so for a fraction of the price of a ticket at peak season.

Take Advantage of Credit Cards and Points Schemes

If you start thinking ahead and planning your trip well in advance, you can take advantage of things like credit cards with cash back reward schemes and the airlines’ own points systems that allow you to apply significant discounts to the cost of travel. This will take a long time and you will most likely have to fund at least part of the trip yourself but building up points and rewards like this can make the overall spend a lot less overall.

Layovers

They may be a little inconvenient at the time, especially if you prefer journeys to be a little smoother, but many travellers on a budget use this approach to get cheaper tickets. It also means you can potentially spend a day or so in another, interesting place. Long haul flights out to South East Asia often stopover in cities with plenty to see and do, so this doesn’t necessarily have to feel like a chore. The cost of shorter flights is obviously much less, so if you can get yourself organised enough to book a chain of coinciding flights, you stand to save a lot of money.

Last Minute Deals

Though this point does contradict an earlier one on the list, the world of air travel is not a simple one, so we’ll allow it. Cancellations happen for all kinds of reasons. Passengers get ill, something happens at work or at home and they realise there’s no way they can take that trip after all. That means there’s a seat that needs to be filled on the plane and the airlines want to do that as quickly as they possibly can. If you’re willing to be flexible and can travel without much notice, this a fantastic way to get a flight for a fraction of the price you would ordinarily pay.

Use Small or Budget Airlines Where Possible

There may be fewer perks and the service might be a little basic, but if you are prepared to make a couple of minor sacrifices, using smaller or budget airlines is often a great way to get to your destination for less than you might expect. There probably won’t be any super modern facilities but if you’re honest with yourself, you can probably manage with the basics for the duration of a flight. Though it’s very nice to have the branding and sense of luxury that comes with some the larger airlines, none of those things really make any difference to how quickly or safely you arrive at your destination. Providing you are confident with their reviews and other customers have left good feedback, it’s always worth considering the budget alternative before shelling out for a first-class seat on a top branded airline.