There are numerous things that should be taken into account when booking a cheap flight. In this article I will outline some of the best practices and tips in order to find the cheapest possible flight. Much of these are common sense, but it's important to have it in mind when you book a holiday.

Book Early

The most important thing in booking a flight is to book in advance. Although the exact amount of days notice may differ it is best practice to book 21 days in advance. The prices will rise between 21 and 14 days prior to the flight and then rise again at around the 7 day mark, and again at around the 3 day mark. So the old adage is true that if you book early you will be rewarded. Another tip is to book your travel and accommodation during the week. It is generally the case that special offers or discounts will not be launched during the weekend as this is when they receive the most bookings.

Be Flexible

If you can be flexible then remember that, generally, flights are during the week will be cheaper than flights at the weekend. The best days to fly are, generally, Tuesdays or Wednesdays. This is because there is less demand for seats on these days. It is also advisable to be flexible on dates as there may sometimes be a vast difference from one week to the next. I recall booking a flight to Budapest unaware that the Hungarian Grand Prix was on the same weekend that I planned to go. This pushed the flight prices up to extremely high levels, but as my flights were flexible I was able to save hundreds of pounds.

Do Research

This one is fairly self-explanatory. There are lots of different travel search engines that compare the best fares live, such as Travelmatch.co.uk. It is worth taking into consideration package holidays aswell. To many popular destinations a significant sum of money can be saved by booking a package holiday.

There are many e-books out there that pledge to give the secrets on how to find the cheapest airfare possible, for a small charge of course. However these tips can be out of date and although it is still possible to blag a free upgrade significantly cheap flight, there is no fool-proof way. This brings me to my last tip; the one that is guaranteed to provide significant savings. However when I tell you, you may be slightly disappointed. Know someone that works as a travel agent or for a travel company. If they are registered travel agents they have access to wholesale deals without any add-ons from resellers (eg. Travel agents).

Scott Hughes is a guest contributor from Travelmatch specialist in comparing all inclusive holidays.