Last summer the talking point in the travel industry was the 'staycation'. This year with the recent ash clouds and BA strikes, experts are predicting a bonanza of cheap flights. But just how easy is it to find them? Money-saving expert Martin Lewis shows one family how to jump the hurdles and fly for less than a tenner.

The Compton family from Bishop's Stortford love their holidays. And living so close to Stansted Airport provides them with the perfect excuse to take full advantage of the cheap flights on offer. But previously however hard they tried, flights for the four of them would end up costing the earth.

A skiing holiday earlier this year landed the family with an £800 bill for their budget airline flights alone. So where are they going wrong?

Martin Lewis gives the Comptons a master class in finding the cheap flights and avoiding the extra charges that can arguably turn a cheap flight into an expensive one.

After a step by step guide through the often complicated online booking process including tips on how to avoid check in charges, payment charges and other add-ons, the family end up with four return flights to stunning Valencia for a total cost of just £65.

But before they fly off to the sun the Comptons spend a day in Martin's 'travel lab'. He believes there is a science to beating budget airlines fees and with the Comptons' help conducts various experiments. The results are surprising and offer impressive tips on what to pack and what to buy abroad, avoiding excess baggage charges and feeding hungry kids on board without it costing a fortune.

As we follow the Comptons on their holiday to Valencia we also hear from people who seemingly share a love/hate relationship with low cost airlines.

Steve Strachan is a self-confessed champion at booking cheap flights. In the last two and a half years he's been on 37 trips to 21 destinations. And the average price of his ticket? Just over £11.

But not everyone has enjoyed such a good experience when booking with the budget carriers. Mike Wood from Oldham felt he'd been ripped off on a recent trip to Palma. An initial fare for his family of four leapt from £280 at the start of the booking to £525 once he'd included all the extra charges.

We also hear from arguably the most notorious budget airline entrepreneur: Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary, who thinks any discretionary service should be charged if it’s an extra.

"I've always objected to the way British Airways, for example, charges people £300 and £400 and then claims everything is for free. In reality everybody is paying for these services whether they use them or not. On Ryanair you don't pay for the services you don't use. So if you don't check in a bag why should you pay the same fare as a passenger checking in a bag which costs the airlines an arm and a leg? At Ryanair we believe you should charge essentially very cheap air fares and then if a passenger wants additional services which they've always thought of as 'free' - because they were paying £300 or £400 airfares - we ask them to pay for those services. But we prefer they don't use the services, just fly cheaply.”

For further information:

Martin's 'beat budget airlines' tips and tricks

Civil Aviation Authority Industry regulator

Ryanair's charges table