Jack8602

Heads up in case anyone wasn't aware.

I was looking to book a trip back at crimbo, and as expected, over $1,700 return for just me at Christmas time. surprise surprise.

Looked at BA's site and chose the option of Flight + Rental car bundled for a total of 9 days. price dropped down to $1,100 - direct flight out of Dallas fort worth airport to Heathrow, and back - with the car rental! just over $500 off, plus a free car for 9 days.

Also, they let you secure it with a $300 deposit and balance paid 5 weeks before travel.

Thought I'd give a heads up in case anyone was in a similar boat to me.

Adnams

I've heard that Norwegian Airlines, Aer Lingus and the new "Level" have the best i.e. cheapest deals going but not always from the main airports.

We're looking for Chrimbo flights too so thanks for the info.

KK85

I flew with British Airways last Christmas Day, from Heathrow to Newark, for less than £300 return. Appreciate it's in the opposite direction and that can alter the price, but still a complete bargain if you don't mind losing your Christmas morning! Atmosphere on the flight was lovely.

tonrob

BA Flight + Car can be a good trick to find cheaper fares. It also sometimes waives Saturday night stay restrictions: I've literally had $4,000 premium economy fares drop to $1,500 for shorter (under a week) trips using this method.

You don't even need to pick the car up if you don't want it (I never have).

Flight + Hotel can bring bargains too, but car is often cheapest if in reality you just need a flight.

SanDiegogirl

The reason that the flight plus car is cheaper than just a flight ticket is that the bundle is regarded as a "package holiday". We have done this trip with the car included several times.

However, if you have to cancell for some reason you will find that, unlike just a flight ticket, there are different rules and conditions i.e we tried to postpone our trip for a later date (we were prepared to pay the cost for doing this) only to find that the ticket is only valid for 12 months and that the date we were proposing was outside of that time.

tonrob

The flight ticket comes from a different fare bucket. All fares have their own rules. 12 month validity is a common rule whether the ticket is purchased in conjunction with a car nor not, and most cheap air tickets come with a variety of restrictions.

A BA flight + car is far from certain to be more restrictive than the flight only ticket that someone might have bought instead.

It's always a good idea to be aware of fare rules when you buy, but nor more so regarding a BA flight + car than in any other situation.

Teckelspass

This. Most people don't, but I always encourage people to read the fare rules. Also, as an aside, if using an OTA, be prepared to face obstacles with changes, additional fees, and having to deal with the OTA. Sometimes a fare through an OTA is worth it, but if the difference is minimal I always recommend to book directly.