Flight Tickets - A major cost of any travel budget

I was having a nice chat and drink with a close friend last night. He was here for a brief trip, and I was glad that he did spare his precious time to catch up with me. We did talk about my Europe trip and his first question was: How much did you spend for your entire Europe trip?


My answer: RM12,000 (€2,800) inclusive of everything: flight tickets, transportation, accomodation and foods. 


He gasped! RM12,000 across 12 countries was a damn bargain, he exclaimed. And I reminded that he heard it right.


How did you do it, he asked.


Well, I told him that the first thing I did right was getting a bargain deal for my flight ticket. Airline ticket is a major cost of any travel budget; it can be around 20% to 40% of your total travel budget depending on the length of your trip. And it gets even more expensive when you book it nearer to your travelling date.


If you are travelling from Malaysia or Southeast Asia to Europe, you can get a very good low price if you travel by AirAsia X, Malaysia low-cost airlines. And if you book the tickets earliest when they make an offer through their website, you might grab a return ticket to London at below RM2000 (€470)!


And, if you are like me who booked my flight just 72 hours prior to flying, you should choose Qatar Airways! Their normal fare is really a good deal; imagine I got it at RM3257 (€760) for a return flight from Kuala Lumpur to Paris, when other major airlines was offering at more than RM5000 (€1165). Not to mention, it is a 5-star airlines too! And if your trip is less than 30 days, they sometimes offer a special 30-day return ticket at below RM2000 (€470).

  

So, if you are from Malaysia or South East Asia countries, try to get your tickets from AirAsia or Qatar Airways. 


If you are not, you should still try Qatar Airways or search around the Internet by typing keywords such as "cheap flight", "budget flight" or "cheap air ticket".