airfare

[axelc]

hi we are planning to spend xmas in philippines with my 2 yr old son. just wondering do we have to pay for my son full airfare by that time he will be 25 months and does anyone knows which airlines is the cheapest to use to go home by december 20 lol i know it will be so expensive but still hoping i can get it a bit cheaper.

or if we will go home after xmas and just spend the new year in philippines is the airfare cheaper than travelling b4 xmas lol? any advice will be appreciated. thanks

[Steve.r]

Not sure about the fare for your son, but I flew out on Boxing Day the Christmas before last and I saved about £300

[axelc]

hi what airlines did you use? we might just do that instead and just spen new year in ph.

[Steve.r]

I cant remember now, but I book through Southall Travel, as they get me some good prices. If you use their online flight search and use a wide range of flight dates, you will see on the grid the options and find a chearper flight. Thats what I do.

[Terpe]

Usually I will check out Skyscanner and Kayak

But once armed with information don't forget to check directly for Airline 'promos' and also contact your local travel agent who may secure some additional benefits.
There are quite a few reputable agents who advertise in those freebie Pinoy newspapers like Planet Philippines
Some of those that have been used by members here with good reviews include PIC-UK (Philippine Islands Connections) and Crystal Travel

They can often offer similar prices with the benefit of additional luggage allowance or maybe better connection timings.

You may be interested to review yapta.com as it allows flight price tracking and lets you know when the price drops.

Most airlines do require you to buy a ticket for children over 2 years old.

Good luck

[grahamw48]

Normally the cut-off point for 'baby' fares is 2 years....then on to 'child' rate.

[RickyR]

As Graham and Terpe mentioned <24 months = infant which is normally 10% fare. 24 Months+ and its a child fare, which often only 10 or 20% less then an adults fare. We've just flown recently with my 23 month old son and 5 year old daughter, and purposely chose seats at that the back hoping for an empty row, and got lucky, so the kids got to lay out and sleep.

[Bluebirdjones]

I booked about 6 weeks ago.
The cheapest I could find at the time was £725 10 Dec - 31 Dec, with Malaysian Airlines, with a 2 night stop-over in KL.

That was with Southall Travel

[Rhose]

try netflight.com my husband usually using it to travel here in the Philippines and he told me it's cheaper than others. Two of the world best airlines, like etihad and emirates airlines.. The best time to travel is before Christmas.

[andy222]

Christmas will be expensive. Has anyone actually booked with the agents on skyscanner? They are cheaper than crystal travel but seem a bit dodgy to me.

[Terpe]

Christmas will be expensive. Has anyone actually booked with the agents on skyscanner? They are cheaper than crystal travel but seem a bit dodgy to me.

Some of them are cheaper but as you said they just seem a bit dodgy.
Also those cheap flights have quite a long total journey time.

Andy was it you who flew with China Southern?
Some of their fares look good with not bad transit times.

[andy222]

Last time I went In march Terpe It was KLM to Hong Kong then China Southern to Manila. On the way back it was Malaysian and then Klm.

[stevewool]

the last 2 flights were over xmas and new year, i found it cheaper on these times, the best thing is book very early, like 10 months or so, first flight was etihad £615 and then cathay £555, both flights i thought were bargins

[axelc]

thank you so much for the advice guys....we finally decided we will spend xmas here in uk and go home to philippines and spend new year there...flights is bit cheaper after xmas

[grahamw48]

Good move. Nice weather then too.

[Terpe]

thank you so much for the advice guys....we finally decided we will spend xmas here in uk and go home to philippines and spend new year there...flights is bit cheaper after xmas

Might still be worth checking on prices from time to time.
I've had some wonderful Chistmas times in the Philippines.
It's a great time of the year for holiday.

[grahamw48]

Me too.

Used to save a fortune not having to buy anyone presents here...more than the extra on the airfare.

[deeen]

I also look at Travelocity.co.uk then using the grid to spot the cheapest dates as mentioned by Steve.

[Rhose]

thank you so much for the advice guys....we finally decided we will spend xmas here in uk and go home to philippines and spend new year there...flights is bit cheaper after xmas

that's great!!

[CBM]

I was playing with Skyscanner the other day - the prices I was looking at suddenly went up when you clicked through to book, so I reverted to my tried and trusted local travel agent and got Emirates at £1777 all in for one adult and one child out 23 August back 3rd Sept.

[deeen]

Seems good at short notice CBM.

I was browsing in January, got down to Kuwait Air at £510 return, leving on Tues 15, return around 3 weeks

[CBM]

Yes, I put it here because it shows what prices over a holiday period can be like. (The first three days of September were a couple of thousand more!)

By the way, this is my friendly local independent travel agent, whom I'm happy to recommend:

http://www.whynottravel.co.uk/

[irishman12]

I was playing with Skyscanner the other day - the prices I was looking at suddenly went up when you clicked through to book, so I reverted to my tried and trusted local travel agent and got Emirates at £1777 all in for one adult and one child out 23 August back 3rd Sept.

of course they are friendly if ur going to give them that amount for 2 person -paid nearly same for 4 person for our trip last july

[chippy]

We are going march on the school break for £1500 for me my wife and son. but i notice november prices have dropped to £650 now but we cant go while schools open.

[BRIAN WEBSTER]

try these ! (budgetair.co.uk) i have had the best flights and prices from them they always beet crystal travel & southall travel.

[tigerchops]

I booked through a company called EmailFlights.com through Skyscanner they were quite cheap considering everyone were charging for a full fare for a child ticket I managed to get a 20% discount off on a child ticket through Email flights

worth trying them out