Do you believe that you cannot afford to fly? Think again!

The first rule of very cheap travel is to plan ahead

Do some hunting. You will be in a better position to evaluate between rival offers that at face value may look very similar. Travelling from London to Paris for example. London has four airports. Paris has 3 airports. Therefore there are twelve potential departure and arrival combinations . The differences in flight times and taxi fares are pretty big , even for a pair of major cities so close together.

Websites such as this one that you are currently visiting , or others offering advice on cheap flights are a great source of information for anyone looking for a cheap flight. You need to know where the airports are, which airlines fly from them and above all what the alternatives are. Remember, smart people get cheaper tickets.

The 2nd rule of cheap flights is to be flexible about your exact destination .

We human beings are by nature pretty single minded creatures. Being highly focused is a survival trait that has stood humanity in good stead. Once we decide on something we can usually stick to it and thereby get the mammoth hunted/fire burning/cave cleared of sabre tooth tigers etc. However, a disadvantage of being single minded is that when a plan does not work out exactly we tend to see it as a failure. "I wanted to go to Florence, but could only afford tickets to Rome, so I staid at home".

Not good! We need to free ourselves from this sort of thing and grab those ultra cheap flights to exotic destinations as and when they appear. Thankfully we can do it if we try. My sister has embraced this philosophy and as a result has managed to see half the planet for little more than the cost of a few weeks stay in a European four star beach resort. She flies, but she flies cheaply, because she is prepared to alter her distinations at the last moment.

The third rule of cheap flights is to be flexible about flight times.

For some strange reason all want to start our travels a bit after sunup. It just feels right! doesn't it? However because everyone else and his wife also wants to fly in the morning , the airlines are not adverse to upping the cost of these premium flights . Its all just free market capitalism at its most hard nosed .

So, ignore the herd (and the by definition the full flights) and opt to take off at stupid o-clock at night instead. The 'red eye', as the American TV shows used to say, is usually 30% cheaper. Sometimes far cheaper than that!

So in summary, be smarter, be flexible and be a bit of a night owl and you can fly almost anywhere on almost any budget. So long and enjoy the trip.