Flights options
Whether you're travelling for business or pleasure, fly regularly or just once a year, finding the right flight - at the right time and within budget - can be the key to getting your trip off to a good start. However, with so many airlines and flight options to choose from, it can be difficult to know which type of ticket or flight is best for your needs. That's why we've compiled a short guide to booking flights, so you can make a more informed choice.
Are all flights the same?
The short answer is no! There are a number of different flight types available, and your choice of one flight over another will not only be influenced by your budget, your departure airport and your preferred travel times, but also by whether you want the quickest, most convenient or cheapest option.
- With a direct flight you will not be required to change planes or airlines en route, although you may make one or more intermediate stops before reaching your final destination. Long-haul flights can often be direct flights.
- With a non-stop flight you'll fly directly to the destination from your choice of departure airport with no scheduled stops, meaning it’s typically the quickest and most convenient option.
- A connecting flight is one where you’ll be required to change aircraft and/or airlines at a scheduled, intermediate stop. This option is common where you have restricted travel dates or times or you want to fly from a regional, rather than major, airport.
- Round-the-world (RTW) flights are so called because they allow you to travel around the world with stops in multiple destinations along the way. The tickets are typically based on mileage, minimum or maximum number of stops or a combination of both. For example, with the Star Alliance ticket you can choose between 26,000, 29,000, 34,000 and 39,000 miles travelled on partner airlines of the alliance with a minimum of three and a maximum of 15 stops en-route.
- Multi-leg flights are ideal if you want to visit two or more locations on one trip and make a stopover in each. They are well suited to large geographical areas, such as Australia, the Far East and the United States. For example, if you fly from London to New York and stay for 5 days, then fly to Las Vegas for 3 days before flying back to London you’ll have two stopovers - in New York and Las Vegas - and have three legs to your flight – London to New York, New York to Vegas and Vegas to London. Booking multi-leg flights can offer significant savings over booking each leg of the journey separately.
Depending on your destination and route, you'll also have a choice of airlines or 'carriers' including:
- Low cost / budget / 'no frills' airlines
These airlines offer low fares but eliminate benefits such as complimentary drinks and food; they also offer cabins that have minimum comforts and may also charge for 'standard' conveniences, such as luggage. Examples of 'no frills' airlines include easyJet and Ryanair.
Charter airlines operate flights outside of normal schedules, normally on behalf of travel companies and tour operators who either sell their allocation of seats as part of their package holidays or offer them on a seat-only basis. They frequently operate on routes, or to airports, where there is no scheduled service. Examples include Monarch Airways, Thomson Fly, First Choice Airways and Thomas Cook.
Seats on scheduled airlines are sold directly by the airline and through travel agents. As these airlines operate to published schedules they tend to have a greater frequency than charter flights or fly routes that charter flights do not operate on. Examples of scheduled airlines include British Airways, Virgin and Emirates. Some scheduled airlines may also offer charter flights.
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