Finding Cheap London Flights
On this page we give the low-down on how to find the cheapest priced
airfares to London from U.S. cities, Canada,
the European Union and Australia/New Zealand. What's more you'll find
above our dynamic flight finder,
with special low-cost offers from top airlines and the choice of e-ticketing and online
seat assignment for many flights. So make big
savings by booking online with us now!
Domestic Flights within the UK
For details on scheduled domestic flights between regional airports in the UK and
London click
here.
Arriving in London
Passengers arriving in London by air will land at one of five international
airports; Heathrow, Gatwick,
Stansted, Luton or London City (see
below). For further information on travelling into London once you arrive see our essentials section.
London City Airport (www.londoncityairport.com) - although
the smallest of the capital's airports, good transport links from Docklands mean that London City
is a viable alternative for European travellers on short-haul flights from destinations such as
Paris, Frankfurt, Brussels and Amsterdam. Airport shuttle buses connect to the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) along with
Tube/rail services at
Canning Town (Jubilee line/London
Overground trains) and Liverpool Street (Circle, Hammersmith & City,
Metropolitan and Central lines, with National
Express services). In addition, taxi
services also operate, together with local buses between Walthamstow and North Woolwich (bus no.
69) and Stratford and North Woolwich (bus no. 473).
US Flights to London
As all major US carriers
offer direct services to London Heathrow and Gatwick competition between them is fierce. That's
good news for the cost conscious traveller as basic fares, even from West Coast cities, are
reasonably priced. The lucrative transatlantic routes also see British carriers such as Virgin
Atlantic and British Airways constantly upgrading their services, meaning that even long suffering
economy class passengers are seeing improvements to their standards of legroom and in-flight
entertainment.
The best deals from major airlines, travel agents and consolidators usually
come in the form of Apex tickets, which, as well as carrying certain restrictions must be booked at
least 21 days before your intended date of departure. However, last minute deals can also be great
cash savers, especially if you're flexible about the carrier that you travel with, and unfussy
about the timing of your flight. Including at least one Saturday night within your planned
itinerary should help your cause even further.
If booking online, try to search for fares late in the evening (just after
midnight) as this is the time when airlines update their databases to add special offers. If you do
find a great deal, be quick though, as the number of tickets on sale is often limited (airlines
invariably advertise the same deal in newspapers that morning, even though most tickets will have
already been sold. This is because customers, who flock to the website, may still end up purchasing
a similar ticket).
To get an idea of
the flights and fares available, a good starting point
is our own Dynamic Fare Finder. Other low fares can also be found by visiting the
websites of airline consolidators such as www.onetravel.com, Hotwire
or web specialist's such as www.flyaow.com.
Other well-known sites include Travel
Zoo, Booking Buddy and Orbitz,
all of which are checking for seasonal discounts.
A now well-established alternative in this sector is Priceline, a website where you can "name your
own price" on a wide choice of flights, including transatlantic crossings. In truth, to get a good
deal you need to do your homework on prices elsewhere before putting in a bid.
College students and adults under 26 can pick up good deals through
youth-oriented travel agencies such as STA
Travel. Their site provides a database of the cheapest fares
available and allows you to make a choice based on price, airline, time etc.
As a general guide, direct flights to London from East Coast cities such as
New York, Washington and Atlanta are typically around $750 USD in high season (Coach Class return
flight in July/August) and $430 USD in low season. From Chicago, Houston or Dallas expect to pay
around $900 USD in high season ($550 USD low season) with West Coast cities such as Los Angeles and
San Francisco costing $1100 USD and $600 USD respectively.
Bear in mind that the above price guidelines were obtained either from travel
specialists or direct from the airlines themselves. Among the reputable, low-cost travel agencies,
some of the best deals we found were through STA
Travel. Here, round-trip fares offered savings of up to $200
USD, even on East Coast flights. So the bottom line is to shop around, remembering to check that
you're booking with a reputable firm. If they refuse to take credit card payments or want cash
up front, go elsewhere...
The cheapest option of all is to fly as an 'air courier', giving up some (or
perhaps all) of your luggage entitlement by carrying shipping documents for freight companies. If
you think this sounds dodgy, don't worry it isn't. Such companies deal in legitimate corporate air
freight and expect their shipments to be examined by customs officials. By acting as a one-off
courier, you can easily save yourself up to 85% on normal flight prices. For more information visit
the International Association of Air Travel Couriers at www.courier.org.
For more travel agent listings see our links page, while a list of US carriers
flying to London can be found on our Heathrow
and Gatwick airport pages. In addition,
passport, customs, general information and
useful facts/figures are included in our essentials section.
Flights to London from the European Union
A few years back European travellers had little choice but to be saddled with
high fares for short haul flights to London. Nowadays, with increased competition between the major
airlines and the arrival of low-cost airlines on the scene, flights to London have never
been cheaper. To get an idea of
the flights and fares available, a good starting point
is our own Dynamic Fare Finder.
Low-cost airlines - if you're unfussed about in-flight meals or
creature comforts, then easyJet is one of the
cheapest options for getting to the capital. Flying into Gatwick, Luton and
Stansted airports, the company operate 267 routes between 75 key European airports
(including Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Madrid, Munich, Nice, Palma and
Prague). The
company's low frills, high value approach is a great boon to cost conscious travellers. Of course,
despite handling millions of passengers a year without difficulty, complaints are not uncommon
(especially about cancellations and customer service). That said, we've
frequently used easyJet ourselves and, more often than not, end up arriving well-ahead of
schedule.
From mainland Europe, Air
Berlin operate services to London from a number of major German cities
(along with Vienna and Zürich), while British
Midland - on most routes a full service airline - offer cheap flights from Alicante,
Amsterdam, Brussels, Cologne/Bonn, Cork, Dublin, Oslo and
Stockholm (to name but a few). Also from Scandanavia, new low-fare airlines
include Blue1, Iceland Express and the Norwegian Air Shuttle.
From southern Europe, low-cost options include Meridiana
(to LGW from Firenze, with options for connecting from other Italian cities), while easyJet
fly from eleven Spanish/Portuguese destinations, plus a number of Italian routes previously
operated by the now defunct Volareweb.
If you're travelling from Ireland, it's also worth visiting Ryanair. Priding itself as the "low fares website",
prices for flights into Stansted or Gatwick from Dublin are very good. For example, a return to
London in high season costs around EUR 100. As well as services from Dublin, Ryanair also fly to
London from Shannon, Kerry, Knock and Cork.
A final word about low cost airlines - although
fares may appear considerably cheaper than scheduled flights with national carriers, you may be
required to fly unsociable hours and/or depart from an airport some distance from the city centre.
For example, Ryanair advertise flights from Frankfurt, but use Frankfurt-Hahn airport (some 60
miles from Frankfurt) whereas Lufthansa fly from Frankurt/Main just 8 miles from the city centre.
Another example (also Ryanair) is Forli airport - some 37 miles outside of Bologna!
Moreover, the longer you leave it before booking, the more
expensive fares become. In fact, we've found that with certain (comparable flights) from
national carriers such as BA and Lufthansa, their prices actually work out
cheaper. That said, as prices
vary considerably depending upon the time and date that you travel, it's still worth checking their
full list of fares.
National and Regional Carriers - so far as the major national carriers
are concerned, Air France is currently the
only French airline operating scheduled services to London with 14 daily flights between Heathrow
and Paris. Other airports served from Paris by Air France also include Gatwick and London
City.
In Germany, Lufthansa fly direct from Frankfurt into Heathrow, along with flights from
Hamburg and Munich into both Stansted and London City Airport. Other cities such as Bonn, Cologne
and Leipzig are largely served via Frankfurt/Main International Airport. The useful Lufthansa website features a
'web specials' section as well as a 'happy hour' page where visitors can bid for flights.
Elsewhere, the much smaller German carrier Eurowings operate direct scheduled services to London from Münster/Osnabrück and
Nuremberg.
For Belgian travellers, one low-cost alternative (now that their highly
regarded national carrier Sabena has sadly
stopped flying) is
SN Brussels Airlines which has taken up
many of Sabena's old slots into London Gatwick and London Heathrow.
In the Netherlands, KLM -
Royal Dutch Airlines fly direct to Heathrow from both Amsterdam (Schiphol Airport) and
Rotterdam. Flights from Maastricht are direct to London Stansted while those from Eindhoven are
routed via Amsterdam. For information on seasonal deals to Great Britain (and London) check out
their 'special offers' pages.
The websites of other national carriers are also good sources of information
for routes, schedules and prices. Each can be accessed by clicking on the relevant link: Alitalia, Air Lingus (features a good 'special offers' section), Austrian Airlines, Finnair, Iberia Airlines,
Luxair, Olympic Airways, Portugalia Airlines and SAS.
EU Accession Countries - flying to London from
Central/Eastern Europe has never been easier (or cheaper), especially as new
routes have opened up following EU enlargement on 1 May 2004 and 2 January 2007. Airlines
offering services from Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Bulgaria,
Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovenia
(as well as Cyprus and Malta) include: Malév Hungarian Airlines,
Lot Polish Airlines, Sky
Europe, Estonian Air,
Lithuanian Airlines, Bulgaria
Air, Tarom, ČSA Czech Airlines, Adria
Airways, Cyprus
Airways and Air Malta.
Flights to London from Canada
As with major US cities, there are plenty of ticket and route options for
Canadian citizens wishing to fly to London. What's more, prices (especially for midweek flights) are
low due to stiff competitive between Canadian, British and American carriers.
Even in high season it should be fairly easy to book a direct flight from
major Canadian cities such as Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal and Vancouver. West coast
flights (from Vancouver) start at around $785 CDN in the low season, rising to approx $1200-$1300 CDN in
high season. Similar flights from Toronto are between $763 CDN and $1000 CDN respectively. If
you're on a tight budget another option may be to travel out from a US city close to the Canadian
border such as New York or Seattle.
Of the major carriers, Air
Canada, British Airways and
Virgin Atlantic all
offer package deals and/or organised tours to London. As well as offering the usual half/full board
hotel accommodation, they tend to include added value such as travel passes, tickets for theatre
shows, reductions on lunches in exclusive restaurants etc (which may otherwise cost considerably
extra).
Alternatively, independent tour operators such as Contiki
and Carlson Wagonlit
offer vacations for
travellers with even the most demanding of itineraries.
To get an idea of
the flights and fares available, a good starting point
is our own Dynamic Fare Finder.
Flights to London from Australia and New Zealand
With London acting as a transport hub for flights from Australasia to other
destinations within Europe, a wide choice of routes and carriers are available. Flights via Asian
cities such as Singapore or Hong Kong, are usually cheapest (and quickest) although it's also
possible to travel via the US or Africa.
Regardless of when you fly, ticket prices between the airlines can vary wildly.
However, as a rough guide, a Coach Class return flight in July/August (from Sydney) will cost
around $2800 AUSD (low season approx $2100 AUSD).
For citizens of New Zealand, return (high season) fares from Auckland (via
cities such as Bangkok, Sydney or Singapore) start at $2300 NZD, while travellers from Christchurch
or Wellington should be prepared to pay around $2500 NZD. To start you off, a good online booking
service can be found at House of
Travel.
To get an idea of
the flights and fares available, a good starting point
is our own Dynamic Fare Finder. In addition, Travel Com
offers up
a comprehensive choice from their online database, together with Flight Centre.
Of the national/major carriers with scheduled services to London, the
following websites offer online booking and/or special Internet deals: Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Malaysian Airlines, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Thai
Airways and Virgin Atlantic.
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