Hi just wondering if i pitch up at any airport and look for any flight , say ryanair, and ask if they have any seats left do you think i will be able to get on real cheap after all the seat would just be empty?
Strange question i know, i just fancied having a weekend were i just went down to the airport, stansted for me, and asked if if there were any seats left on a surprise destination when i got the airport. So it would be me my passport and toothbrush for a weekend, anyone else try this ?
No, they'll charge you a fortune for being desperate.
I remember something on one of the holiday programs years back where they just turned up and got bargain seats...probably all changed now though.
I'm no expert but I think this used to be the case, airlines got wise to it and so started reaming people for it and now it's not the case. I'd love to hear otherwise.
I remember my gran's boss used to do this all the time in the late 80's. Turn up with warm weather kit, passport and credit card and get a week away for next to nowt.
All the no-frills carriers will charge you a fortune, the way to save with them is to book online and be prepared to travel at inconvenient times without any hold baggage to weird destinations.
The budget airlines probably run too close to capacity for this to work - they always seem to be very full when I've got them.
Worth trying your local travel agents though - ones in our town often seem to have quite cheap 'leaving tomorrow' type deals advertised.
Joe
Funnily enough I was thinking about the same thing the other day.
I regularly fly between South Africa and the UK. Usually Air France via Paris or Lufthansa via Munich/Frankfurt. BA and SAA are just too dear. If I book say 4 to 6 weeks in advance the return trip cost me about £500. (which is not bad for a 6000 mile trip!) If I leave it till a few days before I travel it would cost anywhere between £800 and £1200 (in which case I just wouldn't do it of course)
But I have noticed, particularly in the SA to UK direction, there are around 40% empty seats. Great for me, 'cos I get to stretch out and sleep on 2 or 3 seats. The flights are same time every day - so what would they do if you rolled up one evening with a small suitcase and said "how much for a seat to heathrow". They know they've got maybe 50 empty seats. Would they do a deal, or would they rather fly half empty? You'd have to be prepared to walk away if they said no and try again another day.
Incidentally I checked flights last night and I can get from UK to SA for £220 and back for £190 fully inc if I fly next week and stay for a month. You just have to be really flexible with your stay time. Silly money!
Used to fly transatlantic in the 80s on my Dads ID90 (Industry Discount 90%) on standby but in the height of the season we were kept waiting for a flight for 3 days at Heathrow. Luckily we lived about 8 miles away so it wasn't too bad.
I believe standby tickets are still available but there is a large qualifying list and you'd be at the bottom of it.
As above Teletext is probably your friend.
You can't fly to the states anymore at short notice. You need to submit your details 72 hours in advance, I seem to recall you can do this once and it'll be valid for all trips for 2 years or somthing.
Ditto what Ewan says ^^ for going to Spain, passenger details need to be submitted at least 72hrs in advance and that's each time you fly there.
One trick a neighbour uses when flying longhaul is to turn up well in advance at the desk, smartly dressed and somehow he always manages to get an upgrade to First/Business Class. He's had countless flights to the Far East and USA, paid Economy but travelled First.