Sometimes it makes sense to buy air tickets through travel agencies
BUYING AIR TICKETS
When preparing for a tour of Europe, you first need to find an affordable flight. Because convenience and travel time are important for the overall pleasant impression of a trip. All the more so an independent one! The earlier you start planning your trip and looking for air tickets, the greater the chances of catching the most advantageous offer. In addition, there will be an opportunity to change dates.
Low-cost
For budget travelers, low-cost airlines are a real find. Now you can get to most European destinations fairly cheaply using low-cost airlines.
Rule No. 1. Any air tickets are easiest to find on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. For low-cost airlines, these are also the cheapest days. Because, statistically, people most often fly on weekends, including Friday and Monday.
Rule No. 2. You should pay for a low-cost air ticket only directly. If even regular air tickets in most cases are more interesting to buy without intermediaries, then in the case of low-cost airlines this becomes an axiom, because the very scheme of operation of such airlines does not involve any intermediaries, "official distributors" or specially authorized travel agencies.
Rule No. 3. Vigilance and speed of decision-making are very important. After all, the ticket price is guaranteed only after full payment. The price we saw yesterday may become invalid today if the ticket was not purchased. This is especially true for low-cost tickets and special offers.
The only categorical difference between low-cost tickets and special offers from high-budget airlines: for the latter, it is more advantageous to search for and buy tickets for a round trip at once, rather than a one-way flight. For low-cost airlines this makes no difference - there will be no discounts.
Special offers
If low-cost airlines do not help because they do not fly where you need, you can go another way. Find special offers from major airlines. Periodically, especially in the low season, most often in spring and autumn: in February-April and October-November, foreign and domestic carriers hold promotions - sales of air tickets at "attractive" fares. Usually there are not many such tickets; they are sold with various restrictions and are quickly snapped up. The principle here is simple: the more restrictions and limits imposed by the airline on the passenger, the lower the ticket price. A special offer usually limits an independent traveler in choosing flight dates, forces him to buy a ticket on the day of booking and excludes the possibility of refund, but at the same time has a favorable effect on the tourist's wallet.
Rule No. 1. The easiest way is to familiarize yourself with all current special offers on intermediary websites at once. Because major carriers do not particularly advertise them on their own web pages. It has already been verified that using an intermediary website can save not only money but also time.
Rule No. 2. You should carefully read all the terms of the special offer. Sometimes a special fare is valid with serious time restrictions: airlines include the "Sunday rule", offer to return no earlier than a week later, buy a ticket no later than seven days before departure or on the day of booking, etc.
Rule No. 3. The more transfers on the route, the higher the fees, and connections and transfers in large European cities are especially expensive. When buying a low-cost ticket or a special fare ticket not to the city of destination, we need to calculate in advance the total amount of taxes at all stages of the route, so that before a possible reckless purchase we can get an idea of the final travel cost.
Charter flights
Sometimes it makes sense to buy air tickets through travel agencies - for example, if we are talking about a charter destination (cheap charter tickets are not sold at airline ticket offices). At times it turns out that it is more profitable to buy air tickets from travel agencies for popular European destinations, in particular for cities where sightseeing tours are organized, such as Paris, Nice or London.
Rule No. 1. The main thing is to contact a tour operator, not ordinary intermediaries. A tour operator buys a block of seats on the plane in advance at its own price and is ready to sell some of them without other components of the tour package, as long as the seats do not fly empty. Buying only air tickets without booking a hotel and other services in travel agencies in the capital is a fairly simple matter, in other cities it is difficult. And then it's a matter of luck, because not every regional tour operator is ready to give up the profitable sale of a full tour package.
THE CLATTER OF WHEELS
Independent travelers, preferring speed and convenience, resort to railway transport only in extreme cases - well, for example, because of a fear of flying. And they seriously think about a train only when they are already in Europe. Of course, there are countries, such as Great Britain and Germany, where low-cost airlines outcompete any kind of transport. But there are also France, the Benelux countries or Eastern Europe, where trains are still unrivaled compared to airplanes...
Rule No. 1. In most Eastern European countries, it makes no sense to book a ticket online in advance or buy passes on the spot. This is unprofitable. Every European country has its own national railway network. Only a few companies, such as Eurostar, Thalys, etc., can be considered international. And if the types of trains used by railway companies, the gradation of carriages into classes, and some rules are similar in many countries, the scheme for setting ticket prices and the system of passes sometimes vary.
Rule No. 2. On Western European railways, you can get certain discounts, firstly, if you buy a ticket in advance, and secondly, if you do so via the Internet. With early booking, a ticket that costs ?40 in the standard version can be bought for €20. For example, this network special fare has been in effect for more than two years on the Bordeaux–Montpellier railway route. Despite the fact that the number of discounted tickets is limited, these trains have a special “Internet car” and there are sometimes fewer people there than in the main consist. There is only one restriction: such tickets cannot be returned or exchanged.