Was searching for a flight for days now and just learned that I cant travel with an open ticket under a visit visa. But having a return flight costs 9++ (KLM) and 8++ (CSA). We are looking for other alternatives/options to lessen the flight costs a bit. We are thinking of having a pre-booked return flight (but I don't know how that works and if that is allowable under visit visa). Another option is to travel via Heathrow... don't know if that is a good option. Is it wise to consult and book a flight via travel agency? A friend suggest to buy tickets from here in Manila as taxes will hit around 40% when purchased a ticket from there (UK). What did you guys to do save money from flight costs.
You can not have a ticket that is valid longer than your visa, so you must book a round-trip with the return date within the agreed stay period. Also agencies in the UK can not book round-trip tickets that do not start in the UK so your ticket would have to be booked either through an agency in the Philippines or on the airline's web site. And I believe the UK Immigration officer will want to see your confirmed return ticket. If your destination is neither London nor the south-east of England, then I would definitely avoid all the London airports. This is where KLM scores, it has flights to all the UK's regional airports and with the retiming of the Manila-Amsterdam flight, you'll have a good selection of onward connections and your checked-in baggage will be transferred to the onwards flight. No Immigration or Customs to clear in Amsterdam. Choose your travel day carefully, Mondays and Tuesdays are generally cheaper than others and definitely avoid weekend travel. You can currently get a round-trip ticket to Cardiff from Manila for under GBP900 - I've seen them as low as GBP852 - and other UK regional airports will be similarly priced.
Hmmm, that 40% tax lark makes me think I had better get Joy to book her own tickets when the time comes..
The recently-increased "Green" tax currently only applies to flights originating in the UK however friends in the travel industry believe that the EU intends to widen the scope of the tax and make it apply to all flights EU-wide, regardless of origin or where booked (some countries already do this). And actually, I agree with this as it would level the playing field.
I am also trying my best to have my wife come over here on a visit visa for six months and finding out that its twice has much to fly her out to the UK then it would me going out there, this I don't understand. I can fly out there say for under £500 but it would cost me just under £1000 for my wife, why is this..? same airports. (KLM) seem to be better for me they fly into Cardiff nearer to me and just a little more flight cost but still under if I go by car, train or bus to London. Hope you work something out, my wife and I are in our late 50's and its been three years now, need to be together now, and the UK Gov don't make it easy for us..!
to the site Anthony. Where can you get a UK to Manila flight for 500 pounds? Almost no one is offering prices that low at the moment, flights from Manila to the UK booked in the Philippines are usually cheaper just now. Really sorry to hear about you being separated like that for so long, I am in a similar circumstances just now.
www.travelhouseuk.co.uk at the moment its "The Cheapest fare quoted for flights to Manila from London Heathrow was £ 486 with KLM" And the weather out there is not too good, so would love to be with my new family, all the very best to all out there.
Hi Anthony you are soooo right! mla-uk costs TWICE from uk-mla I dont know why... the cheapest I found is from China Southern Airlines - 800 something pounds and I guess there will be no more flight costs lower than that.. quite frustrating actually
The reason there's a disparity in flight costs between say London-Manila-London and Manila-London-Manila is all down to the different markets and very complicated air fare rules. Basically an airline can charge whatever fare it can for flights depending on where that flight originates, even for essential the same route. You will often, but not always, pay more for a flight originating in the Philippines and returning there than you will for one to the Philippines from Europe. And since KLM alone flies to Europe and their flights are always fully-booked, they feel they can charge more than they can out of Europe. Also there are no consolidators in the Philippines as there are in the UK. These are people who buy blocks of seats on every flight at a quite decent discount and then sell them on, often at a lower price than the airlines' advertised fare. The best deals are always to be had the closer to the departure date as the consolidators need to shift those tickets so will discount them more and more the closer it is to flight departure. As an example, KLM wanted almost 3,000 Pounds for a 12 month open Business Class return the last time I was back in the UK. I called a consolidator who had a ticket for a flight two days later and because he offered it to me for 1,000 Pounds (plus the Tax man's 600+ tax), I cut short my stay and bought that ticket. He did have seats available for my preferred departure date - just 3 days later - but that would have cost me almost double the price. And the ticket I bought was also an open return. There's no such variations here although it isn't unknown for fares to increase close to departure. If you're buying a ticket from the Philippines and you have a credit card, buy it on the airline's web site and not from a travel agent - you'll pay typically 10% - 15% more through an agent just for the service (plus a further 10% if you pay by credit or debit card).
Pretty much agree with all of what you say Mark although I would say that I watch the fares constantly in both directions and some years back Phil->UK prices were often much cheaper than UK->Phil, I booked one once because of the low price and did something that confused the hell out of the check-in staff I once had a flight from the UK with a very long baseline but I also bought a departure and return from the Phils with a return inside the period of my outer ticket. So I went out on a UK ticket came back three weeks later on a Phils outbound ticket returned to the Phils on the return leg of the Phils ticket several months later, then returned to the UK on the original UK ticket's return about 6 or 7 months later, a couple of the legs were business and I got a great deal around 1000 quid for one of the return pairs. I have since found that this is not approved practice but I can assure you I did it and it worked and it was a lot cheaper at the time as well.
Majah keep looking, the prices are very very volatile right now, I am personally re-evaluating my flight plans as some very cheap flights are now available in November although the Manila->Glasgow flight prices all look pretty much static just now
I would prefer late October because my son turns seven then and seven is one of the important birthdays in the Phils, age one is the other one, they often don't really know why but I did a bit of research and it appears that it is because in Spanish times many many children died before their first birthday and child mortality up to age seven was very high, they are basically celebrating the fact that the kid has grown up and survived that long. I really don't want to miss my son's seventh but things are very difficult just now really depends on flight prices in the next few days
