how to find cheapest flight to anywhere

[didds]

a somewhat left field question!

If I was looking for the cheapest flight to ANYWHERE from airport A on date D, "returning the same day) DAK of a website offering such a search?

the point being to find the cheapest destination, not the cheapest flight for a specific known destination.

CF I checked eg cheapflights but that requires a destination to be provided

didds

[Lootman]

I do not know that Google Flights is the absolute cheapest, but what it will do for you is allow you to put in areas, regions, countries and even continents. It will then show you a map of the prices to various destinations and, if you zoom into that map, more destinations will pop up.

It helps to fix your departing location (say, London) and then enter something like "USA" into the destination. I have done this in the past to discover that, at that time, Nashville was much cheaper to fly to than other southern cities. And that Nashville via Charlotte was considerably cheaper than just flying to Charlotte, even though it is hundreds of miles further away.

It also works in reverse e.g. put Washington DC as the origin and "Europe" as the destination.

All this assumes that you have a region in mind but otherwise don't care where you go, which can be handy if you are doing a mileage run, say to maintain airline status for another year.

You have to play around with it a bit to get the hang of it, but it works.

[pje16]

https://www.skyscanner.net/

[paulnumbers]

Skyscanner allow "anywhere" as the destination.

Here is heathrow to anywhere on the 19th September and back

https://www.skyscanner.net/transport/fl ... home&rtn=1

[BBLSP1]

Useful to know the above. It is an annoying thing that airline timetables for general perusing are hard to come by these days. Instead, you have to enter from/to and date and only then be presented with flights. It is time consuming if you have to go through multiple searches to get what you need, especially in the case of non-daily flights. Yes, there may be workarounds as noted, but a hardcopy timetable, including the ABC guides, were so much quicker and easier for general searches. Similar happening with railway timetables.

As for historical information, I suspect that ends with the last publishing of hardcopy timetables – we probably know more about British Airways operations in the 1960s than in say 2017.

[AF62]

a somewhat left field question!

If I was looking for the cheapest flight to ANYWHERE from airport A on date D, "returning the same day) DAK of a website offering such a search?

the point being to find the cheapest destination, not the cheapest flight for a specific known destination.

CF I checked eg cheapflights but that requires a destination to be provided

didds

Cheapest flight is likely with Ryanair or Easyjet (assuming they fly from that airport) and Ryanair certainly has 'anywhere' as an option as a destination.

Skyscanner allow "anywhere" as the destination.

Unfortunately Skyscanner now allows booking agents to list fares on their site that are only available to a small group of individuals, e.g. students. So when you see a flight for £x and click through you can frequently find that the real price is significantly higher (and Skyscanner's attitude when I pointed out to them their site was no useless - a virtual shrug of the shoulders).

[jaizan]

What I'd like is a search that finds the cheapest flights anywhere within a date range, then I could just scroll down the list until I find somewhere I fancy going to.

Nice to haves would be:
(i) A filter that excludes early and late departures
(ii) A destination within XXXX miles of a city or within a defined region (e.g. Southern Europe)
(iii) A list of acceptable departure airports

To their credit, Ryan Air permit some of this. Unfortunately, when they present the results from this search, I can't just click on the flight on XX June to see what time it departs. Further steps are needed.

[TaurusTheBull]

Hi,

Flight prices are ever changing, by day of the week, time of the year or temporal proximity of departure. Not to mention sales.

If you know what a good deal is, and you're patient, just wait. Ironically, flights can become.cheaper a few weeks before departure. I rarely find cheap long haul flights 8-10 months in advance, because the airlines don't care, they have time on their side.

Amongst the budgets, I find Wizz Air the best value. On a good day, it's possible to get to Abu Dhabi for about £100, from where there are many connecting options.

Taurus

[jaizan]

On a good day, it's possible to get to Abu Dhabi for about £100, from where there are many connecting options.

OK, lets assume I want to fly to Abu Dhabi with Wazz and then take a connecting flight.

1 Presumably I need to go through Abu Dhabi immigration, collect my bag and then go around to check in for my connecting flight ? I had better allow a few hours for this.
2 If Wizz delay or cancel the flight, I then miss my onward flight. Since it's not all on one booking, that's my responsibility ? This wouldn't be a big problem if someone offered a reasonable priced insurance that could be relied upon to pay for hotels and additional flights.

What am I missing that would make this an attractive and low stress option ?

(I'm also not keen on going to Abu Dhabi, just in case it's as unpleasant as Dubai airport)

[TaurusTheBull]

Errr, maybe you're missing the topic... which was cheap flights! Abu Dhabi was just an example.

I always allow contingency when booking with the budgets, as they invariably shift their times by an hour or two. I don't go through immigration as I don't check in a bag. I never have a muddle seat as I board last and choose my own. Etc etc.

Cheap flights. That was the clue...

[Lootman]

If Wizz delay or cancel the flight, I then miss my onward flight. Since it's not all on one booking, that's my responsibility ? This wouldn't be a big problem if someone offered a reasonable priced insurance that could be relied upon to pay for hotels and additional flights.

What am I missing that would make this an attractive and low stress option ?

I often book flights in two different segments as it is often considerably cheaper than a non-stop from Heathrow. Can be thousands cheaper.

I build in several hours contingency at the transit airport to mitigate the risk of missing my connection. I usually have lounge access so an airport wait is easier. Or I stay overnight at an airport hotel to be sure.

Part of the saving comes from UK air passenger duty. It can be many hundreds of pounds if you are flying long-haul in a premium cabin originating in the UK (except Inverness). I have flown long-haul premium via Dublin (many times), Amsterdam, Zurich, Helsinki, Stockholm and Lisbon in recent years.

For the US Dublin works great: Cheap flight to Dublin, go through the US border control pre-clear, then to the "51st and Green" lounge until flight time. Arrive in the US as a domestic flight.

[jaizan]

I build in several hours contingency at the transit airport to mitigate the risk of missing my connection. I usually have lounge access so an airport wait is easier. Or I stay overnight at an airport hotel to be sure.

Part of the saving comes from UK air passenger duty. It can be many hundreds of pounds if you are flying long-haul in a premium cabin originating in the UK (except Inverness). I have flown long-haul premium via Dublin (many times), Amsterdam, Zurich, Helsinki, Stockholm and Lisbon in recent years.

Thank you. (That's far more helpful than comments from an other, who seems to assume that "cheap" would mean no right to question quality or risks. )

I can also see the benefits increasing as you move further forward in the cabin, given the UK tax regime. How long do you aim to allow at the transfer airport ?

I was thinking of the risk of big delays/cancellations in flights or long immigration queues, but I'm probably overweighting the risk.
In reality, I think I've only had flight delays of over 2 hours twice in 30 years. Really silly immigration queues are also relatively rare.

[Lootman]

I build in several hours contingency at the transit airport to mitigate the risk of missing my connection. I usually have lounge access so an airport wait is easier. Or I stay overnight at an airport hotel to be sure.

Part of the saving comes from UK air passenger duty. It can be many hundreds of pounds if you are flying long-haul in a premium cabin originating in the UK (except Inverness). I have flown long-haul premium via Dublin (many times), Amsterdam, Zurich, Helsinki, Stockholm and Lisbon in recent years.

Thank you. (That's far more helpful than comments from an other, who seems to assume that "cheap" would mean no right to question quality or risks. )

I can also see the benefits increasing as you move further forward in the cabin, given the UK tax regime. How long do you aim to allow at the transfer airport ?

I was thinking of the risk of big delays/cancellations in flights or long immigration queues, but I'm probably overweighting the risk.
In reality, I think I've only had flight delays of over 2 hours twice in 30 years. Really silly immigration queues are also relatively rare.

I have been diverted to a different airport twice, and that messes things up. But I was made whole by the airline.

I allow either a few hours (same day) or overnight. A very small number of airports have airside hotels so you do not have to go through immigration. Tokyo Haneda is one.

[jaizan]

I have been diverted to a different airport twice, and that messes things up. But I was made whole by the airline.

I allow either a few hours (same day) or overnight. A very small number of airports have airside hotels so you do not have to go through immigration. Tokyo Haneda is one.

I presume you're talking about a typical connection all made on one booking ?

The conversation is following on from a suggestion of flying to Abu Dhabi with Wizz & then onwards with another airline.
It has also been suggested that the bookings are separate, to avoid UK APD on the second leg (which seems quite fair to me)

Now, as far as I know Wizz and all the other low cost airlines fly you from A to B, with no booked connections & they won't transfer your bags onto another flight. So you need to go through immigration to collect the bag and check it in for the next leg.
I'd also be amazed it Wizz paid for the cost of a missed connection.

If I'm wrong, please enlighten me. (I'm only asking questions in case I learn something)
So I believe the customer is taking all the risks in the Wizz example.


Of course, if we assume the following, there is still a healthy net saving:
A 2% risk of excessive delays causing a missed flight
The normal saving when everything goes to plan were -25%
The additional costs when it fails were +150% (new last minute flight)

The other point I haven't explored is all the small print on travel insurance.

[Lootman]

I have been diverted to a different airport twice, and that messes things up. But I was made whole by the airline.

I allow either a few hours (same day) or overnight. A very small number of airports have airside hotels so you do not have to go through immigration. Tokyo Haneda is one.

I presume you're talking about a typical connection all made on one booking ?

The conversation is following on from a suggestion of flying to Abu Dhabi with Wizz & then onwards with another airline.
It has also been suggested that the bookings are separate, to avoid UK APD on the second leg (which seems quite fair to me)

Now, as far as I know Wizz and all the other low cost airlines fly you from A to B, with no booked connections & they won't transfer your bags onto another flight. So you need to go through immigration to collect the bag and check it in for the next leg.
I'd also be amazed it Wizz paid for the cost of a missed connection.

If I'm wrong, please enlighten me. (I'm only asking questions in case I learn something)
So I believe the customer is taking all the risks in the Wizz example.

Of course, if we assume the following, there is still a healthy net saving:
A 2% risk of excessive delays causing a missed flight
The normal saving when everything goes to plan were -25%
The additional costs when it fails were +150% (new last minute flight)

The other point I haven't explored is all the small print on travel insurance.

I cannot speak for Wizz, RyanAir or Easyjet, having never flown them. The full service airlines will typically do more to help you, especially if you have status with them and booked directly with them.

But yes, if it is not a formal connection then you can be on your own.

Also note that UK APD is only payable on the outward leg. So you can fly AMS-LHR-JFK-LHR-AMS and not take the last leg. Just make sure you have no checked bags. The airlines don't like you doing that but will tolerate it as long as it is not done too often. Last year I did LHR-HEL-ARN-LAX-SFO-LAX-LHR-ARN and then got out at LHR missing the last ARN leg. I figure a deadheading airline flight crewmember got upgraded as a result

The saving was about 2 grand cheaper than LHR-SFO-LHR!