Be flexible, mid-week travel is always cheaper than weekend.

Be prepared to gamble, particularly with Aer Lingus. They tend to react quickly to the market and if a particular flight is not selling they will drop the price. Prices can drop to less than half in the space of an hour.

Sign up for the email newsletter on airline website. All airlines are using direct marketing as a way of building business. So you will find that when they are having a sale, the news will be circulated by email in advance of advertising.

Look for new entrants to the market. Carriers of the country you are flying to are usually better priced when they are new to a market. Clickair, for example, fly Barcelona to Dublin and there are fares from €60 each way including taxes.

Sometimes taking two flights can be cheaper. Swiss fly to a lot of European destinations from Dublin via Zurich and each month has special offers on their website. Another airline to watch out for is Malev Hungarian Airlines.

Charter flights operate from Dublin and all regional airports to a wide variety of destinations for summer 2007, particularly Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the Canary Islands. Most tour operators will sell you a seat only and can be contacted directly or through your local travel agent.

Caveat emptor particularly applies when it comes to holiday homes abroad, if you cannot afford the fares, then stick with the package holidays.