How to Fly to Europe on a Budget

By Graham McKenzie

Since Europe has so many exciting places to see and fun things to do, you want to cram as much in as possible when planning a trip there. One major step of that is finding cheap flights. Flying from place to place, as opposed to taking a bus or train, saves time and money, so travelers want to get the best deal when looking for flights. This is made relatively easy by the abundance of airline companies that all want the most seats sold on their planes.

Due to the growth in online booking, now it is possible to bypass a travel agent. In the past, a travel agent was useful because he or she could easily access information about fares and which days might be the best days to fly because of fare specials. Advances in technology now make it much easier to quickly pull together this information.

The internet has brought a slow halt to the travel agencies business for brick and mortar locations and many have started websites to offer the discounts. This process makes it easy for the traveler to search all their deals and compare them with others that are online. Besides the travel agencies online travelers can go directly to the airlines and request the best fare online to avoid any booking fees.

For example, if you want to go from London to Paris, it's a simple task to look through the online sites and find out which airline is offering the cheapest fare. You can also search by different requirements, such as who offers the best routing or non-stop flights. Additionally, online functionality also allows the traveler to choose their own seats or request special meals like vegetarian meals. You can get confirmation instantly and use a credit card to pay for your travel. You can even check-in and print out your tickets without ever having to go to the ticket counter at an airport.

The Internet can also simplify your planning because on some sites, you can book packages that include all of your transportation and lodging. If you're interested in seeing local sights or doing local activities, then it's often easy to book those tickets and in some cases, gets a discount. A traveler can compare different vacation packages and specify search criteria like dates, price, and even level of luxury.

A new phenomenon of bidding sites have emerged and now it is possible to book trips to Europe ' by using auction sites, the traveler has more flexibility to set the price. The way it works it that travelers can bid on a trip and the winning bidder just has to add the appropriate taxes and fees. Keep in mind that you may not win everything that you bid on and there may be some date limitations but when it works out, it can be a great deal. Make sure to do your research ahead of time so that you're not caught in a bidding war.

Lastly, you can also purchase a ticket directly through an airline. Some customers like to do this directly through the airline but because there are so many more airlines now, it may take some time to research all of the different airlines, sites to find the lowest fares. Also remember that some airlines do not offer the same packages of discounts that travel planning sites offer. - 33386

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