Flying away with the best price

JETSETTERS keen to nab cut-price deals and slash their travel costs can use some simple tricks to gain significant discounts.

JETSETTERS looking to nab cut-price deals can use some simple tricks to gain significant discounts.

While airlines continue to slash fares across domestic and international fares, carriers are eager for bookings making it possible to get even better deals than the advertised prices.

Jetstar’s Price Beat Guarantee offer is used by more than 1000 customers a day and allows consumers to get cut-price deals on fares customers have seen offered for less by rival carriers.

Frequent traveller Lauren Mellios, 26, says she regularly uses the service to get discount airfares.

“I was flying to Sydney a lot last year to visit a good friend and I’ve also flown Melbourne to Darwin a few times and that can be quite expensive,’’ she says.

“I’ve got a lot of friends in Sydney and I find it really worthwhile and pretty much 100 per cent of the time I do it with Price Beat Guarantee.”

Jetstar’s group chief executive officer Jayne Hrdlicka says customers are continuing to take advantage of the deal that gives consumers 10 per cent off cheaper flight prices offered by a rival carrier and that depart within an hour of a Jetstar flight for the same route.

“We are the only airline in Australia to beat our competitors’ prices and it backs in our mission to offer the best value fares in the market,’’ she says.

Lauren Mellios uses Jetstar's Price Beat Guarantee to get cheaper airfares. Picture: Sarah Matray

“Families heading away on holidays in Australia or overseas can make big savings on their airfares which they can instead spend while they are away on a nicer hotel or activities while they are there.’’

The most popular routes that price beat guarantees are used are on Melbourne to Sydney, Gold Coast to Sydney and Brisbane to Melbourne.

Apart from keeping a close eye on flight specials, Flight Centre’s general manager of marketing Darren Wright says if a customer finds a lower advertised airfare than they offer, jetsetters can score themselves a cheaper deal.

“We will beat that price by $1 through our lowest airfare guarantee if the customer finds the fare online cheaper or through a different agent,’’ he says.

“If we have a fare of $1500 to London and they find the fare for $1450 to London we will match it and sell it for $1449 with the same carrier.’’

Wright says both domestic and international travellers frequently use the service, but he says other ways to get deals is looking at booking trips during the low season times and get on direct mailing websites to get regular updates of new offers.

Originally published as Flying away with the best price