Destiny Yarbro
- Apr 16, 2016
- 2 min read

8 Best Practices for Budget Airlines

There is an art to booking budget airlines. The advertised price can reel you in, but if you don't know what you're doing, you can easily end up paying more than if you booked with another airline. That said, I LOVE budget airlines and use them quite often to keep my travel costs down.

Whether you're booking a quick SNAP Deal! or booking one of the 98 budget airlines you found in my recently published reference guide, Cheapest Airlines Per Continent, there are a few best practices for booking budget airlines:

1. The Less You Bring, the Less You Pay

Check for additional luggage costs. Understand that the only way budget airlines survive as companies is by charging separately for checked-in baggage and sometimes even carry-ons. A $20 flight from Germany to Morocco may be worth it, but make sure to calculate in luggage fees.

2. The Less You Eat, the Less You Pay

Check whether the airline provides free food. If you're from America, you're probably used to not getting food on your flights. But for any of us who enjoy traveling Qatar airlines, it can be a rude awakening to realize there may be no free food on budget airlines.

3. Hub Airports Reduce Transportation Costs

Check your departure and arrival airports. Budget airlines may say, "Phoenix to Salt Lake" but they actually fly from the small regional Mesa airport to the tiny Provo airport. This can increase transportation costs for airport transfers.

4. Plan on not Cancelling or Re-booking Your Flight

Check the policies for every airline you book with. Budget flights are so ridiculously cheap that the fees to cancel or change your flight seem astronomical. My recommendation? Just plan on making your flight. :)

5. Plan Long Layovers

To avoid heart burn, give yourself plenty of time between flights. (That's a great general rule by the way.) But with budget airlines, I REALLY recommend it. Delays seem to be more common place.

6. Take Into Account for Additional Fees

Most budget airlines have high taxes or other fees that are added to your cost at the end of the booking process. You may have to pay for specific seats or print your ticket ahead of time to avoid fees.

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