cheap charter flights

If you are flying to a popular holiday destination, particularly in the summer, you can often get a cheap 'flight only' fare from a charter airline.

As package holidaymakers are well aware, these airlines do not always take off on time, so factor this into your price comparisons. But they are certainly worth a look.

Three flight search engines - skydeals, Telme and easyValue include charter airline flights within their standard searches. This allows you to compare scheduled and charter flights.

Next visit the charter airlines websites direct - first choice , avro, britannia direct (now called Thomson Flights), excel, monarch, mytravel and the 'no frills' charter airline mytravellite.

And finally search 3 of the bigger online travel agents offering charter flights - TravelSelect (part of lastminute.com), Travelcareonline (co-op holidays online) and Bargain Holidays (part of OTC)

How to get a cheap charter flight:

Much of the advice provided for no frills flights is relevant here.

1. Whether you're flying 'peak' or 'off peak', the best flight times and the cheapest tickets are usually booked up well in advance. Try to book at least a month before departure.
2. Like no-frills companies, charter airlines price their seats according to demand. However, with holiday companies often reserving blocks of seats, popular flights may be sold out before they become available to the general public and you may get a cheap last minute deal if some seats are 'returned'.
3. The cheapest flights tend to be the earliest and latest on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. If you can, avoid bank holidays, weekends, Christmas and Easter.
4. Try to be flexible - check fares a day or so either side of your preferred travelling dates.
5. The charter companies online booking engines often do not add airport taxes until quite late in the process. When comparing prices from 2 websites, make sure that you are comparing 'like with like' - pre-tax with pre-tax or post-tax with post-tax.
6. Always check with consolidators, charter airlines and with the more traditional 'with frills' airlines - they have bargains too (see our cheap flights page).
7. Tickets can be less flexible than on traditional airlines.
8. If you are taking a short break - even just a couple of days - don't forget to take out travel insurance. It won't cost very much, but travelling without it could cost a lot more (see our travel insurance page).
9. It's worth registering for the airlines' e-mail alerts of special offers. Special offers hit the e-mail trail before they hit the press.
10. Check baggage allowances carefully. Charter airlines are getting much more fussy about excess weight.
11. Some of the charter airlines now offer different 'classes' of seat, similar to the scheduled airlines. Excel, for example, has introduced 'Excel One' (Business Class) with a 45" pitch and Excel Premium (Premium Economy) with a 34" pitch, and 30" Economy on it's B767-300 services to Barbados, Grenada, St.Kitts and Tobago. Other charter airlines allow you to upgrade to bulk head seats with more leg room.