If you’re booking flights with Easyjet anytime soon… you can’t afford to miss these 10 hacks to help cut costs!!
Clever hack to beat the expensive school holiday prices…
We all know too well how expensive trips during the popular school holidays can be… yet with Easyjet, we’ve come across a clever way to battle these price increases. Have you heard of ‘Flexifares’…? Well, this special type of Easyjet ticket lets you change the dates you’ve already booked by a few weeks either side (one week earlier or three weeks later), without paying any extra! So, the plan is… book a Flexifare for the same route but during term time when flights are cheaper, then switch it for the school holiday date you want, winner! Plus, you’ll also get speedy boarding and one piece of hand luggage FREE per person.
Booking for a family? Book in one go to avoid multiple admin fees!
Easyjet charge a one-off £14 admin fee on every booking made, regardless of how many people are departing. So a great way to avoid paying this fee multiple times, is to pay for all your groups flights in one go! Assuming you’ve got the money in your account to do so… or perhaps ask friends/family to transfer their share into one account and all pay together.
Use a Duty free shopping bag to boost your hand luggage
Generally you can only take one small piece of hand luggage with you… either a small suitcase, handbag or laptop bag, however, there is a work-around to get another bag on board. The secret lies in duty free shopping, here’s the loophole…. in addition to your small hand luggage allowance, Easyjet let you take one duty-free bag on board… but how is encouraging me to shop for perfume and sunglasses going to help save me money I hear you ask…!?
But.. if you happen to bring a carrier bag from duty-free with you, it’ll give you some extra room to transfer some items and pack a bit more before you board – sneeky!
Check the cheapest time to book to bag the best seat prices
When Easyjet flights are first released, they’re usually at their cheapest, but this can quickly change due to demand. If you can pounce when the latest batch are released, you’re more likely to bag the best prices.
UPDATE: 11th April 6am – easyJet have released their winter 19/20 allocated tickets for travel up to 28th March 2020.
Caution: Always use a flight comparison to see if other airlines can beat it.
Think carefully about how you pay
The safest way to pay for your flights is actually on your credit card, this is because on purchases over £100 the credit card company are jointly liable if anything goes wrong. Be aware though, each flight counts as a transaction, so if you book a return where each leg is £50, even though the total is £100, you’re not covered. Each individual single flight would need to be £100 or more to get the extra protection. You will have to pay 2% fee when paying by credit card, so you’ll need to take this into consideration aswell.
Avoid unnecessary extras
Once you’ve booked your flight, you’ll no doubt be bombarded with the option to book tempting extras such as hotels, parking, car hire and travel insurance. While all can be useful or important, don’t fall for the flashy gimmicks, and always compare prices elsewhere before booking.
There’s no weight limit for hand luggage
Like other budget airlines, Easyjet is pretty strict with its hand luggage policy in terms of the size of your bag – its maximum allowed bag is no more than 56 x 45 x 25cm. But, did you know… there’s no weight limit! As long as you can carry and store it in the over-head compartments, you’re good to go – far better than the likes of Thomas Cook, which restricts hand luggage to a measly 6kg.
To really push hand luggage packing to the max, watch this top packing tips video >>
Use this trick to get an extra piece of cabin luggage
Did you know, if you book an ‘extra legroom’ seat, you’re entitled to bring an additional bag on with you, bonus! It works the same if you book an upfront seat – those in the first three rows of the plane – too.
You’re looking to pay anything from £6.99 – £19.99 each way – but this is still considerably cheaper than the extra £13 – £30 each way to check in another bag.
Always decide how much luggage you’ll need and book checked bags in advance
To max a budget flight and keep costs down, hand luggage is obviously best. But if the thought of limiting your holiday luggage to a small case leaves you feeling cold, always pay in advance to check luggage in, otherwise you could be charged as much as £90 per return flight.
Don’t carry your luggage… wear it!
Unless you’ve paid for an Easyjet Flexifare which includes a second, small item of hand luggage (ie a hand or laptop bag), you’re restricted to one item of hand luggage only (plus duty free shopping)…
Don’t let that be you. Make use of a very valuable asset that you have no choice but to take everywhere with you – you! The more you carry on you, the less you need to squeeze everything into your cabin bag.
Think large, deep pocketed coats and jackets. Or, try wearing heavy coats, big boots and chunky jumpers. They all take up valuable space in a case.
