How Aussies can score cheap deals to Europe, North America

Aussies chasing the sunshine of the northern hemisphere can shave hundreds of dollars off their US and Europe getaways. See how and the best value destinations.

Hayley Goddard

2 min read

April 21, 2023 - 5:00AM

News Corp Australia Network

The Points Whisperer Steve Hui shares flight travel point hacks

National

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Holiday-makers looking to leave behind Australia’s winter in favour of sunshine in the northern hemisphere can still score some cheap deals.

Being flexible with the travel dates and destinations could see Aussies save an average of $500 and up to $1000 off their return flights, data from KAYAK.com.au shows.

The savings could help soften the blow of the average economy return airfares during the northern summer being 63 per cent dearer than those pre-pandemic and 46 per cent up on prices from last year, the research revealed.

The cheapest time to travel to Europe is in August or September, when return flights from Australia will cost on average $2297 and $2303, respectively, compared to $2841 in June and $2504 in July.

Those two later months also offer the cheapest return airfares from Australia to North America, where the average prices are $2059 in August compared to $2518 in July.

Travelling at the end of the northern summer could help Aussies save hundreds of dollars off their flights. Picture: iStock

The best bargains are offered in the first few days of August, with the price ranging from an average of $2166 on August 1 to $1990 on August 5.

Aussies can also save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on travel by engaging with frequent flyer programs, according to self-appointed ‘Points Whisperer’ Steve Hui.

The chief executive of iFLYflat said ‘reward seats’ offered the best value for money.

“The points price is based on the distance of the flight. Points are really good value now because the cash price has gone up but points haven’t. You get more value now than before when cash ticket prices were low,” he said.

Aussies seeking a northern hemisphere summer can shave hundreds of dollars off their flights by being flexible with their dates and destinations.

Mr Hui encouraged Aussies to find out how many points their chosen route cost and then take steps to generate that amount of points within a households’ regular budget, such as paying for weekly groceries with a credit card that generates frequent flyer points and scanning the supermarkets’ affiliated rewards cards, such as FlyBuys.

Jetsetters can also save money by avoiding flying in peak travel times, such as school holidays and weekends, as well as the middle of the day.

Expedia’s 2023 Air Travel Hacks Report found booking flights on a Sunday night instead of a Friday could save holiday-makers about 20 per cent on both domestic and international flights.