As the financial crisis bites across Europe, competition among airlines has made it a good time to be travelling, with many carriers dropping prices in order to attract customers.

It is well worth checking out the premium airlines as well as the low cost carriers and making a comparison of fares to services offered; you may well find that by applying a few simple rules you can book yourself a bargain flight and travel in style at the same time.

Celebrating 90 years of operation this summer British Airways is one of the longest established airlines in the world and has some simple tips that you can apply when booking your flights online with any airline to make sure that you get the best deal possible.

The first rules of the game is to keep your journey simple, travel on less popular days and at less popular flight times, and of course avoid making any last minute changes.

Jordi Porcel, Regional Commercial Manager, for South West Europe explains that “On all flights there are a limited number of seats offered at competitive fares and the people who book early snap these seats up. With most booking engines it is much easier for customers to compare prices for simple journeys, that is a single flight e.g. Gibraltar to London, and simple transfers such as London to New York. By keeping your journeys simple you can easily identify the best fares.”

Finding the optimum day and time for travel should not be left to chance – mid-week is usually a good time to grab a lower fare but this in not always the case depending on the chosen route and the season.

“When booking online make sure that you can view fares offered across a whole week this helps you to identify the most favourable travel days. For example, you can save up to £100 by simply travelling a day earlier. We have a great feature on our site, ba.com, that customers can use to scroll through the days and weeks to find the best fares for their selected journey,” adds Jordi.

Another useful tip is to research your travel well and try to find a single airline that can provide flights for the whole journey; this is where the premium carriers really manage to offer
a great service through their extensive networks.

When you have planned your journey and selected some potential carriers compare the services and products offered. Once you have added up all the extras for baggage, online check in, in flight refreshment, and space and comfort on board, you may find that for a few extra pounds you can enjoy all the benefits of travelling with a premium carrier.