Travel

The Money Team consists of Helen. Eesha and Lesley and they have worked together to write and update this guide. Martin oversees the process with this guide.

Money Checklist

When looking for cheap flight tickets, timing's crucial:

Unlike package holidays, book flights early. Business folk will pay top dollar at the last minute, so airlines hike prices.

Whenever you need to travel, the internet's a powerhouse for super-speedily finding the cheapest flights. Before you start scouring for deals, here are the key facts you need to know.

The internet's great for flights or DIY city breaks. But if you're going away specifically for seven, 10 or 14 days to a traditional holiday destination, package holidays, where everything's wrapped up in one, are often best. See the Cheap Package Holiday guide.

What's more, most package operators are ATOL-protected (though always check before you book). So if the company goes bust or something goes wrong, your holiday is automatically protected. This means you'd get a refund if you haven't left yet, or you could carry on the trip and still get home if you're already there.

However, unless you've booked your flights directly with a flight provider that's also ATOL-registered (such as Thomas Cook), this doesn't apply to standalone flights. Importantly, ATOL protection has been extended since April 2015, see Know your rights below for full info.

Even if you think an airline's safe as houses, it's important to protect yourself as fully as possible. The easiest way is to book on a credit card, as when the transaction's more than Ј100, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act means the card company's equally liable if something goes wrong (see the full Section 75 Refunds guide, or the Chargeback guide for protection on debit card purchases).

This means if the airline goes bust, you can at least get your money back from the card company. Always pay your card off in full at the end of the month so you're not charged interest. It's also possible to get scheduled airline failure cover; see Cheap Travel Insurance .

Most package holiday operators are members of the huge ATOL and ABTA travel protection schemes, so if the firm goes bust or there's another issue, your getaway's protected.

If you book flights and hotels directly, unless the provider's ATOL-registered, there's no protection.

Always book DIY flights on a credit card (repaid in full to avoid interest) to get Section 75 protection on Ј100+ transactions. If you book via a travel agent, sadly you aren't covered by section 75 for the flights or hotel, as there's no direct relationship with the supplier for these.

Importantly ATOL protection includes flights and accommodation or car hire booked from the same company within a day of each other, even if they're not part of a formal package. See the ATOL travel protection extended MSE news story for full info.

When it comes to travel insurance, most policies are designed to cover packages. The biggest issue is lack of cover for knock-on consequences. For example, if your policy covers scheduled airline failure and the airline collapses, you may be able to claim the flight's cost, but not cash paid upfront for a hotel.

To beat this, scout out policies that specifically cover 'indirect loss' - check the small print. For maximum cover, look for increasingly available, though pricier, 'independent traveller' policies. Read the Cheap Travel Insurance guide for more.

Booking budget airline flights can be a minefield. Outrageously, budget airline ‘extras' can include taking bags, checking in or even just paying. The Budget Flight Fee Fighting guide has tricks to beat those nasty charges, from paying the right way to beat the fees, to multi-pocket jackets so you can take extra carry-on luggage.

If you're flying British Airways, handily you can save about Ј10 each way on hand luggage-only trips with it, compared to its cheapest singles with checked bags.

It operates these cheaper fares across its short-haul network of 90+ destinations (with both singles and returns). You can save around Ј10 each way on routes to and from Heathrow, London City and Gatwick. This is compared to its cheapest one-way fares with hold luggage.

These cheaper hand luggage-only fares aren't available for transfer flights. But interestingly, if you buy flights on the same route using two separate flight bookings, you can still get the cheaper hand baggage-only fares. See the BA extends hand luggage-only fares MSE news story for full info.

After analysing millions of fares, comparison site Momondo's* latest research found it's generally best to book at least 53 days ahead (last time it did the research it was 59) and that booking then is on average 29% cheaper than booking on the day of departure.

Now it’s important to note that in general, the earlier you book the better. Flights get continually more expensive closer to the date you need to travel. But after 53 days they shoot up.

The exact ‘last cheap booking date’ varies by destination though, so you can use Momondo's ‘Flight Insight’ tab on many routes to see the data for that route (see Find the perfect time to go below).

For example, when we looked at a London - New York return, the price 53 days ahead was Ј389. The next day it was Ј397, and by 20 days before travel Ј477.

Momondo also found that Tuesdays and evenings after 6pm are generally the cheapest time to fly, while Saturdays are the most expensive. If you can be flexible, it's worth checking prices on different days and at different times to see if you can cut the cost further.

If you aren't too fussy about the exact details of your flight, it's possible to get it for far less than if you'd specified an exact seat class, time, or that you wanted to bring your cat as hand luggage.

The cheapest flights have strict terms and conditions though, with limited changeability, and it's tough to get refunds. So always check the exact terms before booking.

Never ever just automatically book costly travel insurance via your airline. Instead consider a year's policy for roughly the same cost, starting from just Ј13 for individual insurance in Europe at the time of writing. For regularly updated best buys plus the catches to avoid, read Cheap Travel Insurance .

If you're staying in Europe, the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) gives you free or discounted medical treatment in state-run hospitals in any European Union country (and a few others). Don't consider it a suitable substitute for travel insurance though, as it doesn't cover possessions, baggage and repatriation. Read the full Free EHIC guide.

Some cheap airline and holiday websites may automatically add expensive travel cover when you book. Make sure you double-check the full cost, and remove any rogue policies before paying (usually by unchecking multiple boxes).

You may already have travel insurance, but even if not, it's always cheaper to grab a Cheap Travel Insurance deal than buying from booking sites. You'll often get wider cover too.

Everyone from the UK going to the USA by air or sea, even those just passing through, must fill out the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) in advance.

For full info on how it works and how to avoid paying more than the official $14 per person fee, read the ESTA guide.

The Government announced in the Autumn Statement last year that it's scrapping Air Passenger Duty (APD) for children under 12 from 1 May - and if you'd already booked before it was announced, you may be due a refund.

APD is charged on all outbound flights from the UK and is based on the distance flown. For example, you pay Ј13 on an economy flight to Europe and Ј69 on a flight to the USA (though that's set to rise to Ј71 from 1 April).

Under the changes, children under the age of 12 on the day of travel will no longer have to pay the duty from 1 May.

If you booked a flight for 1 May or after before these changes were made and paid the APD, you may be entitled to a refund. Here's what the airlines have told us they're doing:

British Airways says it will automatically refund eligible customers and the money will be returned on the day the flight departs.

EasyJet has contacted 45,000 customers with affected bookings - further instructions available on its website .

Flybe has created a claims form for eligible customers to fill out.

Monarch said in January it was about to start emailing eligible customers who will be able to apply for a refund through a link in the email.

Ryanair will automatically refund the duty paid on flights from 1 May - and will also go further, reducing the cost of tickets for flights from 27 March by an equivalent amount to the duty.

Thomas Cook customers with flight-only bookings have been contacted by email with details of how the refund will be made.

Thomson says its customers will be refunded automatically.

Virgin Atlantic says it will automatically refund eligible customers and re-issue their tickets.