Travel advice – 8 top tips for getting the best deal with your budget airline flights

Folk have asked us for tips and techniques in finding cost effective ways of reaching El Palmeral (click here for Google Map of where we are). We are pleased that Alicante/Elche airport is only 20 minutes away and has a huge variety of available flights from most UK airports with a variety of budget airlines.
The price of your flight will be a big factor in the overall cost of your stay, and there can be huge fluctuations. We have paid about £40 return all in, but also £250 single ticket on occasions, so it pays to be on your guard!

1. Know who flies here
The good news is that so many airlines fly into Alicante, so there may be competition from your local airport. There are too many combinations to list, as schedules change throughout the year, but we’ve put quick links in the right hand column to the airlines that regularly serve Alicante.

2. Be flexible with your dates
With a set programme, we usually leave a gap at the beginning and end, so you can add in extra days. We do our very best to keep these affordable, so that sometimes an extra couple of days here will actually be cheaper than inflexible flight dates.

3. Be tactical in your booking

This is more difficult to be certain about. Some airlines, eg Jet2, usually only increase in price as time goes on, with occasional offers, so it is better to book as early as possible. Some, like RyanAir fix ‘standard’ prices early, and then vary prices by reducing to suit supply and demand. To spot any patterns, try searching on RyanAir’s website through a whole date range, you could be able to spot any trends.

4. Be prepared to invest time

No pain, no gain as they say. If you are committed to a certain date, checking all airlines over a week or two period can highlight the best solution for you. Returning a week later may alert you to a window of offers that is moving, also signing up for email alerts from the airlines for bargains can alert you to seasonal bargains.

5. Be careful with your luggage

How much luggage do you really need for a few days? In summer particularly shorts, T-shirts, swimwear may be all you need. 10Kg of hand-luggage can go a long way, and we do have shops here in Spain, so anything you have forgotten may be cheaper to buy than pay for a case. 

6. Be prepared to switch airports

Sometimes it may be cheaper to drive an hour longer to take advantage of deals from other airports. Other airlines may offer days and dates that suit better, as well as prices that may be more competitive. Don’t forget car-parking prices as well, they vary greatly between airports.

7. Do you need to hire a car?
It depends what you want to do while you are here. Even ‘set’ programmes have quiet times during the afternoon if you wish to see the area. Having said that, if we can, we try to offer a taxi service to local attractions such as the beach, El Fondo natural park, or the city of Elche, so you could save a lot of money on car hire by us picking you up from the airport.

Find your flight

We’ve put together here the links to all the airlines that serve Alicante from the UK.

BritishAirways Ryanair Tui Jet2 EasyJet Eurowings Vueling

If you click on the link, it will open a new window that will take you straight to the airline website, showing you updated details of which airports in the UK they fly to.

IMPORTANT: Since Covid-19, although several routes have been changed, we believe this is accurate at the start of 2023.  We’ve assembled a guide to the airlines that fly from UK airports to Alicante/Elche. Please be aware that schedules are seasonal, perhaps only operating summer, so you’ll need to check by clicking the airline link for up-to-date news.

Scotland
Aberdeen Ryanair
Edinburgh Ryanair Jet2 EasyJet Eurowings
Glasgow Ryanair Tui Jet2 EasyJet
Glasgow Prestwick Ryanair

North of England
Durham/Tees Valley Ryanair
Leeds/Bradford Ryanair Jet2
Liverpool Ryanair EasyJet
Manchester Eurowings
Ryanair Tui Jet2 EasyJet
Newcastle
Tui Jet2 EasyJet Ryanair

Midlands & N. Ireland
Belfast Ryanair Jet2 EasyJet
Birmingham Eurowings Jet2 Ryanair Tui
East Midlands Ryanair Tui Jet2

London & South-East
London Stansted Ryanair Jet2 
London Gatwick BritishAirways Tui EasyJet Ryanair 
London Heathrow British Airways
Eurowings
Bournemouth Ryanair
Luton EasyJet Ryanair

Wales & South-West England
Bristol Ryanair Tui Jet2 EasyJet
Cardiff BritishAirways Vueling Tui
Exeter Ryanair
Newquay Ryanair