Holidays are wonderful, especially if spent abroad on exotic islands or picturesque destinations. But expensive flight tickets can be a major hurdle between you and your dream vacation. Here are a few tips to save money when booking through Pakistan International Airlines.
1. Prior booking: Booking PIA flights months before the actual departure date is a really smart move. Often websites have major discounts on early bookings that can help you save money to a great extent. Early reservations ranging from 3 months to 30 days before your flight will get you the best rates on PIA fares.
Additionally, early bookings get you your desirable seats even in the peak holiday season, that too in a budget friendly price. However, bookings for immediate departure can be a considerable dent on your wallet because fares start to rise up about 3 weeks before the scheduled flight.
2. Consider a connecting flight: If you aren’t in a rush to reach your destination, considering a connecting flight can really save you money on a PIA online check-in. It is really just a few hours of detour but can be beneficial to a great margin if you are looking to travel on a budget.
3. Look for Airline specials: When you are looking to book a flight in the near days, searching for airline special discounts can be a smart move. Flights with unbooked seats sometimes offer last minute discount deals. Or airlines launching a new route propose economical flight tickets to attract customers. Claiming this opportunity is a clever approach to saving money on a PIA airline ticket price too.
4. Contemplate days of reservation: People often prefer to book and travel on weekends. Airlines are aware about this and tend to hike up fares for flights on Fridays and Sundays. A raise in the flight ticket price is also observed in holiday seasons like Christmas or Eid. It is better to book months before for holiday seasons. However for leisure travelling, you can catch the best rates on early week days. Cheapest flights available are usually on Tuesdays and Wednesdays while Thursdays and Saturdays cost considerably more. Keeping a flexible schedule for leisure travels e.g. from Tuesdays to Tuesdays can be a budget friendly opportunity for a much needed vacation.
5. Setting up price alert notifications on your smartphone: If you have already decided on your location and route but the price to that particular place seems beyond your reach, setting up a price alert will notify you on discounts or if fares go down due to certain events. This way you can snag an on sale seat to your dream destination.
6. Refunding the ticket: In cases when you had a prior booked flight but couldn’t board it due to a number of reasons, you can still save some of your money by claiming for a ticket refund. This does not get all of your money back but you are eligible to a refund on your airport fee and that is still a considerable amount. In such cases, contact your travel service provider for suggestions and guidelines and then the airlines for a refund claim.
For travel enthusiasts, travel is more then a hobby, it is more of a passion and expensive flights prove to be a major obstacle for your dream to come true. These tips however will prove to be truly useful to you and not let budget hinder your dreams.
Do let us know in the comments section below if you have used these tricks before and if they worked for you.