10 ways to book the cheapest flights, including booking on a Sunday and using supermarket loyalty cards

JANUARY is one of the busiest months for buying holidays as people attempt to beat the winter blues and families look to book ahead for the summer.

And there's good reason to book this month - with airlines including Monarch and British Airways offering discounts on flights throughout January.

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Industry insiders have also warned that the cost of travelling is about to rise, as a result of the drop in sterling following the Brexit vote, so holidaymakers should lock in cheap prices now.

To help you get the most bang for your buck, we look at 10 ways to cut the cost of your holiday flights this year.

1. Check out the January sales

Monarch, Norwegian and British Airways are just some of the airlines offering discounts on flights this month.

Monarch has cut the price of more than 10,000 seats to short-haul destinations - including Venice, Lisbon and Rome - to just £29. The sale ends January 16.

Jet2 is offering up to 20 per cent off travel until March 31, then 10 per cent off travel for flights between April 1 and April 30th 2018.

You can fly to the Caribbean for under £500 return with British Airways, which is also offering city breaks from £36 one way.

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2. Book your holiday on a Saturday or Sunday

According to online travel agency Opodo, the cheapest day to book a holiday is a Saturday and Sunday.

Its data shows that booking on Saturday saves the average passenger 3.95 per cent, while Sunday is 3.37 per cent cheaper.

3. Use a comparison site to check prices

It goes without saying that holidaymakers should shop around to ensure they get the best deals.

Skyscanner.net allows you to get a quick overview of flight prices throughout different months of the year, while Kayak.co.uk also compares the prices of thousands of flights, hotels and hire cars.

Also check the prices on Momondo, Expedia and Opodo.

4. Use a supermarket loyalty card to cut costs

Make the most of supermarket and credit card loyalty schemes to help cut flight costs.

Tesco Clubcard holders, for example, can redeem their points on Monarch and Virgin Atlantic flights, while Sainsbury’s Nectar card customers can earn points in exchange for money off easyJet flights.

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5. Book early in the year

According to recent data from flight comparison site Tripsta, booking a flight in the first four months of the year is cheapest.

Sixteen per cent of short haul return flights in January cost £150 or under, while 12 per cent of short haul flights in February cost £150 or under.

Nineteen per cent of short haul return flights in March and April cost £150 or under, the data showed.

6. Sign up to email alerts

Airlines and online booking agents often reward customers with exclusive offers and discounts, so it's worth signing up to email alerts if you can.

Often, airlines will also send out alerts when they are having a sale, so people who sign up to these will be the first to know about them.

It's also worth following your favourite airlines on Twitter, as deals and flash sales will often be advertised there too.

7. Delete cookies on your computer

Some people dispute that deleting cookies on your computer makes a difference to flight fares going up, but many flyers swear that flight prices increase when a specific route is repeatedly searched.

Therefore, it's worth deleting your cookies regularly when searching for flights, to ensure costs don't creep up.

You can do this on Google Chrome by going to your internet settings, clicking 'clear browsing data' and ticking the 'cookies and other site plug-in data' box.

On Microsoft Internet Explorer, go to the internet options button in “tools” to delete cookies.

8. Use this Easyjet Flexifare trick

There's a handy trick unique to Easyjet which can help holidaymakers get around the inevitable school holiday price hike, says .com.

Easyjet offers flexible tickets and Easyjet’s Flexifares not only allows you to switch flight without paying a penalty, the airline also doesn't make you pay any extra if there’s a difference in fare.

To exploit the loophole, you should book a Flexifare on the same route at a less busy time, then switch it to the dates you originally wanted. While a Flexifare costs more than a standard fare at the same time, it is much less than booking a standard fare at peak time, MoneySavingExpert.com said.

There are some drawbacks to be mindful of, including the fact that you can only switch your ticket to a flight which still has availability.

9. Don't buy food onboard

According to recent research by International Currency Exchange (), airlines mark up beer onboard by an average 382 per cent, and bottled water by 273 per cent.

Ryanair was found to be the most expensive when it came to on-board snacks, charging £2.34 for a bottle of water and £1.56 for a chocolate bar.

To cut costs, take your own food onboard - making sure to keep drinks under the 100ml limit.

10. Fly indirect

Indirect flights are often significantly cheaper than direct flights, and if you've got more time and want to save some pennies, it could be worth buying a flight that has a stopover.

of return flights from London to 10 long-haul destinations in mid-March 2017 and how much you could save by stopping over.

The data showed that holidaymakers could save £76 by flying indirect to Bangkok, with a three hour outbound stopover in Abu Dhabi and a one hour stopover on return.

Travellers could save £368 by stopping over in Istanbul for two hours on route to Tokyo, and three hours on return.