How to get the Cheapest Flight to Barcelona

The growth in popularity of Barcelona started with the highly successful Olympic Games held in the city in 1992 and was, of course, greatly influenced by the development of, initially, EasyJet, and subsequently other ‘no-frills’ budget airlines.

There are now so many airlines travelling to Barcelona that the traveller is, so it seems, spoilt for choice.

But, how can we be sure of getting the cheapest possible flight to the Catalan capital city? Well, let’s examine the so-called budget airlines first of all.

As previously mentioned, EasyJet was the instigator of such flights to Barcelona and it remains today a popular and successful carrier, flying from a number of British airports. They have been joined by companies such as Jet2 – from Leeds Bradford airport; Globespan, from Scotland; bmibaby from Birmingham, Cardiff and Manchester; FlyMonarch from Manchester and, of course, RyanAir. Keep an eye on the schedules, though; they are constantly being added to or changed.

These airlines are able to offer low prices by managing to keep control over their costs and so most of their bookings – if not all of them in some cases – are made via their on-line web sites. This has the disadvantage of making their flights unavailable through any other means but it does help keep the prices low.

The way to obtain the best possible price is to book as far in advance of your journey as you can. Most have flights available for purchase for up to 6 months and the earlier you book, the cheaper they will be. Having said this, however, the eagle-eyed passenger might often find real bargains in the ‘last minute’ category so, if you are able to fly at short notice, you can often spot an excellent deal to get out here.

If you can add to this by avoiding travel at weekends, then your price is likely to come down even more. Furthermore, flying to Barcelona in early Spring or late Autumn – especially if the schools are not on holiday – might help keep the price of the ticket down.

Reading carefully through the terms and conditions of each airline can also help keep your costs lower. By checking in on-line; by having only hand luggage; by not wanting priority boarding – these are all ways of cutting costs and making your journey more economical.

Some words of warning, though.

Firstly, find out the airline’s policy if you should have to make a change to your flight arrangements – for some it might be impossible; for others it might be expensive. Remember that RyanAir might be very cheap but, if Barcelona is where you want to be, you will still have to fund the journey from Girona or Reus airports into the city – which might be a significant cost if there are several members in your group and will also increase your travelling time. And, finally here, check the bottom line! Some of these airlines are infamous for quoting cheap fares but, by the time you’ve added on taxes and sundry other charges you might well have doubled the original price.

The budget airlines don’t have the monopoly on cheap tickets for Barcelona, however. With competition the way it is, other airlines can also sometimes provide travellers with a real bargain. For example, whilst researching this article I discovered a BA flight from Manchester, via Gatwick or Heathrow, that was available for £75.

Everyone will have their own particular favourite site for searching for cheap flights. The most popular include:

• www.lowfareflights.co.uk
• www.skyscanner.net
• www.travelsupermarket.com/c/cheap-flights/
• www.lastminute.com/site/travel/flights/
• www.opodo.co.uk/opodo/flights/
• www.expedia.co.uk

Using these sites can often uncover some incredible offers but if you do spot one, the key is to grab it quickly – prices on these sites can change with great rapidity and this can lead to frustration when your ‘great deal’ is no longer available when you go back to book it.

Previous: Barcelona Airport Transfers

Next: Airport Transfers from Reus to Barcelona