Seven secrets to score the best flight deals

1. Fly during the day

Jet lag is like the common cold – everyone suffers to a different extent. It generally takes a day to recover for each hour of change from your regular time zone. So a 10-hour time difference will equate to 10 days of possibly disrupted sleep/feeling tired for most people.

Flying during the day helps many travellers mitigate the damage. And you get to enjoy the flight you paid for – there’s plenty of time for movies, reading, and attending to work emails if need be. Yet others opt for night flights so as not to waste time during a busy trip. Many in this camp exercise before boarding to promote sleep.

Daytime flights can even save you money. Frontier Travel senior travel agent James Harrison advises first and business classes tend to be slightly more expensive for overnight flights given that’s when a bed in the sky really counts. He also says taking a late-afternoon flight to arrive at your destination in the morning is generally easier on the body.

2. Consider mixed classes

Want to spoil yourself a bit, but not break the bank? Try a “mixed class” ticket.

Some airlines, like Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines, allow travellers to book mixed cabin classes on their websites (but not via their mobile apps). It tends to work best in its simplest form: such as booking all premium economy seats on the way to your destination, then all economy on the way home, or vice versa.

Things can get complicated fast when trying to book yourself and a travel agent will be far more efficient at getting you the sharpest fares when mixing classes, and knowing what is possible. Just remember that baggage and other factors must adhere to the rules of the lowest fare type you’ve booked.

“Emirates is one of the few airlines allowing you to mix classes in the same direction of travel, but only when aircraft configurations permit,” says Harrison.

3. Book free (or cheap) stopovers

The Middle Eastern carriers pretty much lead this space. Etihad offers one or two free stopover nights when you book a long-haul flight, and you can choose from multiple hotels across Abu Dhabi. The option is open to all passengers, from economy to first class, where the latter get five-star hotels and the former around the three-star mark.

Neither Emirates nor Qatar Airways has a comparable complimentary program, but hotels in Dubai and Doha are relatively cheap. Qatar Airways’ regional marketing manager in Melbourne, Ken Anon Lau, points out you can get a three-star hotel in Doha from as low as $30 a night, and taxis are around $10 from the airport to the city. The airlines offer 24-hour “hotel stopover programs” that allow passengers to check in any time.

Transiting via Singapore’s Changi Airport is also popular for Australians flying Singapore Airlines or Qantas. Try the Crowne Plaza next to The Jewel shopping and dining complex. It’s super-convenient, but more pricey than the Middle East properties at around $350 a night during the week.

4. Make the most of open-jaw tickets

No one wants to back track. Open-jaw is a return- or round-trip ticket that lands you in one city, and allows you to depart from a different city or country. For example, you can land in London, then fly home from Amsterdam three weeks later at no extra cost than London-Sydney-London, given airlines have the same base fare for a number of major cities, such as London, Paris, Amsterdam and Munich.

Harrison strongly advises to stick with one airline for long-haul flights rather than buying two one-way tickets on different carriers. “One way is around 75 per cent of the cost of a return ticket on the one carrier,” he says. “So buying separate international flight itineraries will generally lose you money.”

5. Avoid flying out of the UK

Where an open-jaw is a variation on destination and departure points, it does not involve flying between multiple cities – for that, you want a multi-city ticket. Most airline and booking sites will allow you to select “multi-city” flights, but may limit how many flights you can stack to six or so. The benefit is this allows you to do multiple destination stops on the one booking, and sites like booking.com offer good tips.

Whether you’re planning an open-jaw or multi-city itinerary or both, it’s advisable to avoid flying home out of the United Kingdom because of steep departure taxes. The ultra-long-haul Airport Passenger Duty (APD) ranges from £94 for each economy passenger to £224 (around $195 to $470) for those in premium cabins.

“Fly out of anywhere but London and the UK if at all possible as it’s a significant saving,” says Harrison. “You don’t cop the tax when landing; it’s only on departing.” By contrast, the departure tax of most European cities is closer to $50 or less.

6. Beat the airport crowds

We’re so conditioned to think it’s all about sticking with the major hubs like Los Angeles, Heathrow or Charles de Gaulle. Not so. Qantas flies direct into a number of North American cities, including Dallas-Fort Worth, San Francisco, New York and Honolulu.

Emirates flies direct into eight ports in the UK, including Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh, and four ports in Italy. Qatar has four in France: fly into Nice, clear your jet lag, then it’s a five-hour fast train to Paris. Or try Singapore Airlines’ nifty flight into Brussels, a city with outstanding rail connectivity.

In Asia, Cathay Pacific connects direct into five cities in Japan out of Hong Kong. Harrison recommends trying to avoid landing between 6am and 8am at major airports as you’ll hit the queues.

“Los Angeles is particularly dreadful,” he says. “Most days, 20 flights land at around 6am on big A380s and 777s. The airport is heaving.”

7. Spec up your seat

Buying extra room in economy – at least for the longest flight leg – could be the best $200 or so you spend on the trip. Book a bulkhead or exit row – many frequent flyers go for the latter given cots for babies are located at the bulkhead.

Many airlines also offer a “neighbour-free” option in economy, so you know the seat next to you will be free. On a recent Sydney-Abu Dhabi flight on Etihad, this was priced at $279 to buy on check-in.

When it comes to the elusive upgrade, iFLYflat’s Steve Hui emphasises upgrading on points is merely a request not a guarantee. “Instead of buying an economy or premium economy ticket and playing the ‘upgrade on points lottery’, use a similar number of points to book a confirmed reward seat in business class at the outset,” Hui says.