Booking a cheaper flight

LAKE MARY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - If you've shopped for flights recently then you know they are not cheap.

Many airlines are slapping a surcharge on already pricey fares that really add up for families who are looking to book vacations.

Kevin Hogg and his family flew to Florida from Canada for the first time planning using the internet.

"One of the nice things about it is you can pick your seats out. So we were able to get all 5 seats together," said Hogg.

From a quick weekend away to a week-long escape, websites makes it easy to book group flights. Yet it turns out that convenience can come at a cost.

"When you're out there shopping for a family of four, what happens is that airline reservations system- if there's only two or three cheap seats left on the plane, they wont sell those to you. They bump all four people up to the next highest price," says Rick Seany with FareCompare.com .

Seany says that those extra costs can add up. Fox35 investigated by logging onto the web to search for flights from Thursday, August 5th through Sunday, August 8th.

It was discovered that there was a five to twelve percent increase per price per ticket when booking for a family of four versus booking a single ticket.

There are however some ways to save when buying multiple tickets.

"What you should do is shop for one passenger first, even if you're taking four on your trip to see whats the base price and see if there's some cheaper seats, said Seany. If you are, you can split your ticket purchase."

All the airlines say prices fluctuate based on different variables. It's best to start your research well in advance, so you know you're getting the best price.