For many cost-conscious travellers, the search for the lowest airfares forms the focus of their travel planning efforts. Flights are often among the most costly components in travellers’ holiday budgets, and the savings enjoyed by those who successfully book low-cost flights can be allocated to other aspects of their holiday expenditure. For instance, their accommodation and entertainment budgets may be supplemented by such savings, making for a more enjoyable holiday experience.

Airlines use complex algorithms to calculate the airfares of particular flights. Travellers equipped with a basic understanding of these algorithms can use this knowledge to their advantage by finding the cheapest airfares when making flight bookings. In general, the algorithms employed by airlines are based on the principles of supply and demand. Airlines take into account a number of factors, the most important of which are the dates and times of particular flights and the amount of demand and competition present in the market within which the flight routes in question fall.

With regard to the dates and times of particular flights, airlines generally charge higher airfares for flights during peak periods such as school holidays and weekends. In addition, flights during the early hours of the morning and late at night are generally cheaper than those between the mid-morning and evening hours. Savvy travellers can therefore save substantial amounts by planning their holidays around these peak times and by booking flights earlier in the morning or late at night, during times of the year when airlines experience difficulty selling enough airline tickets to fill up the seats on their flights.

In addition, airfares on flight routes to traditional holiday destinations are often more expensive than those to less popular destinations. There is less demand for tickets to destinations that are not traditional favourites among holidaymakers, and this often results in flights on these routes having a relatively high number of unsold seats. Airlines often charge reduced prices for tickets on these routes in order to entice members of the public to book these flights, maximizing the number of passengers on flights servicing these routes.

Another major factor affecting the airfares that travellers pay, is the amount of competition among airlines that offer flights on particular routes. Destinations serviced by relatively few airlines are often more expensive to fly to, as these airlines effectively run monopolies on these routes and are able to charge travellers exorbitant amounts for tickets without fear that they will lose potential customers to competing airlines offering lower airfares. For this reason, it is often cheaper for travellers to opt for destinations that are serviced by larger numbers of airlines. However, should travellers need to travel to destinations serviced by fewer of airlines, they should search for flights on these routes during off-peak periods to ensure that they enjoy some cost savings.

Travellers who are mindful of the manner in which the basic principles of supply and demand affect airfares, are often able to make their travel arrangements in such a way that they obtain the cheapest flights possible. In the quest for cheap flights, it is critical for travellers to be as flexible as possible, both in respect of their travel times and in respect of their travel destinations.