Cheapest summer holiday flights

Tips for booking departing in July or August

• Compare nearby departure airports — a short train ride to a different airport can beat the fare shown above.
• Set a flexible return date where your plans allow — a one or two day shift either way often changes the price.
• Factor in baggage costs, especially with low-cost carriers — the headline fare rarely includes checked luggage.
• Book directly with the airline or a trusted comparison site — always reconfirm the price before paying.
• Mid-week departures (Tuesday/Wednesday) tend to be cheaper than Friday/Sunday on most short-haul routes.
• Sign up for price-drop alerts on a specific route if nothing here matches your dates yet.
• Check both one-way and return pricing — on some routes, two one-ways beat a single return fare.
• Long-haul routes move less often day-to-day than short-haul — a wider date search window pays off more on short trips.
• Clear your browser cache or use a private window before a final price check — most price changes are demand-driven, not personalised, but it rules out a stale cached quote.
• If you're flexible on destination, scan the whole table above rather than searching one route at a time — the cheapest option here may not be the one you first had in mind.