January Flight Sales UK: Summer Fares From £29 One-Way

Faro from £29 one-way on Ryanair from Stansted is the sort of fare that still turns up in January for June and September dates. By March it's usually £55-£80 for the same flight. That gap is the whole argument for booking early.

Airlines are skint in January too. Customers have blown their budgets at Christmas and the summer schedule is open but half empty, so carriers need cashflow and they need it now. Deposits and full payments on summer seats keep the lights on until the sun comes out.

Competition does the rest. easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair and Wizz Air all push their sales hard in the first three weeks of the month, and they watch each other's prices like hawks. You get a mini price war on popular Med routes, and you benefit from it.

There's also loads of choice. Peak July and August Saturdays haven't started selling out yet, so you can pick the exact day and time you want rather than taking whatever's left.

Palma from £34 one-way on easyJet from Gatwick is one of the most reliable January drops, especially for May, June and September. Ryanair match it from Stansted at around £31-£48. Mallorca is high volume, so airlines can afford to discount it.

Split from £41 one-way on Ryanair from Stansted is another one to watch for early summer. easyJet fly it from Bristol from around £44. Croatia prices climb fast once July approaches, so the January window matters more here than almost anywhere.

Faro is the budget favourite. Jet2 fly from Manchester from £36 one-way, and Ryanair from Stansted and Luton from £29-£52. Alicante and Malaga behave the same way, with Wizz Air and Ryanair undercutting each other from Luton at £33-£49.

Long haul moves too, though less dramatically. Turkish Airlines from Heathrow to Istanbul runs returns from around £189 for summer, and Pegasus from Gatwick to Antalya sits at £67-£95 one-way for June.

That £19 one-way you saw advertised probably exists for a handful of seats on a Tuesday in early May. Airlines advertise their lowest fare as the headline, then release only a small number of seats at that price. Click through for a Saturday in July and you'll often see £49-£89 instead.

Bags are the other catch. Ryanair's £29 to Faro is for a small under-seat bag only. Add a 10kg cabin bag and a checked 20kg and you're looking at £60-£90 each way once you've paid for both. Compare total prices, not headlines.

Weekday departures win. Flying Tuesday or Wednesday rather than Friday or Sunday knocks £15-£40 off most Med routes. Mid-June and early September are the sweet spots, because school holidays haven't kicked in and prices stay sensible.

Set a price alert for your route in December so you know what normal looks like. Without that baseline, a decent January deal and a fake one look identical.

Summer dates, booked before February, give you the best return. Fares on popular routes typically start firming up from the middle of February, as airlines see how fast seats are selling. By Easter, the cheapest fares are usually gone.

Start with the peak weeks. Late July and August are where the savings are biggest, because prices at the last minute can double. A Ryanair Stansted to Palma return that costs £78 in January can easily hit £180-£240 by June for the same dates.

Then lock in September. easyJet from Gatwick to Faro, Malaga and Palma sits at £39-£58 one-way, and the weather is still 28 degrees. Jet2 from Manchester and Leeds Bradford does the same at £42-£65.

Check the cancellation rules before you pay. Jet2 and easyJet let you change dates for a fee, Ryanair's fare differences can sting, and none of them refund the base fare if you simply change your mind. Book what you're sure about, and hold off on anything that hinges on annual leave you haven't been approved for.