Cheap Flights: London - Sydney

5 ways to snare cheap flights from London (Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted) to Sydney.

1. Look online for new seats at 12:01 am

At midnight, most airlines will clear out any tickets from their system that have been booked but not paid for by the due date. So a few minutes past 12 (in the time zone of the airline's head office), you may find some new seats for sale that weren't there at 11:59.

2. Take advantage of "secret sales"

Although it can be tempting to ask travel agents to book it all for you, the truth is that sometimes airlines need to get rid of seats urgently, yet cannot advertise this fact to avoid looking bad.

This is known as a "secret sale". The trick is to ring Qantas (0845 7 747 767) or British Airways (0870 850 9 850) directly to find out the unadvertised ultra-cheap fares from London to Sydney.

3. Look for "copycat discounts"

Also keep in mind that when one airline announces a sale, the other airlines will often copy them. This is known as "copycat discounting". The idea here is that you keep an eye on the other airlines for a few days whenever one of their competitors has announced a seat sale.

4. Fly Birmingham to Sydney instead

Another option is to find cheap international flights from Birmingham, England to Sydney. If you are in London, you could save some money if you take a bus or train to Birmingham that meets connecting flights to Australia.

5. Ask a travel agent to match an online price

Find a great deal online, and then take it to one of the many cheap travel agents. Travel agents have lost a fair amount of business to the internet, and they are keen to do business with you. By dealing with one of the cheap travel agents in your area, you have a point of contact should anything go wrong.