More and more people are shunning traditional holiday companies and instead deciding to use online resources to book their own vacations. If you plan to do this then it is important that you consider everything when booking up in order to avoid making any mistakes. Unlike when you book a package deal with the holiday agent, you must check every detail of your booking to ensure that everything is in order, after all if it goes wrong it will be all your responsibility.
There is no reason to fear however, the key is to understand what details you need to check for and then simply make sure that everything fits together before getting booked up. When it comes to flights there is a lot to consider and these are the key things which you need to focus on.
Websites
There is a temptation to go directly to the website of the airline when booking your flights but this is something you should actually try to avoid. The best thing that you can do is to look on flight aggregator sites such as www.justfly.com, this is a site which scours the internet to find you the cheapest flights, and they almost always come in cheaper than you will find on the airline’s own site. The reason for this is that 3rd party operators are able to buy tickets at the lowest prices which means that when the airline puts them up, you can still secure those low prices. Make sure that you search many different ways of getting the cheapest flights with an aggregator like this one.
Prices
Always check your prices against other websites to make sure that you have found the cheapest out there. You can save money on flights if you collect air miles with your credit card or if you opt to take a flight which has a connection, these are almost always cheaper than direct flights.
Dates and Times
It may sound simple but you must always ensure that you are double checking your dates and times when booking the flights. It can be very easy, especially when you are searching for a number of different dates, to leave the date of your return flight set to a month later rather than in the same month. Once you have bought your flights there is no way back, unless you have paid extra for cancellation protection, so ensure that you have the dates and times of your flights exactly how you want them.
Airports
Another key consideration to make is that you know which airport it is that you want to arrive in. This may sound very simple but many locations have a number of different airports, which are usually pretty far apart. For example if you are going to Barcelona then you should note that there is an airport named Barcelona Girona, which is actually around 50 minutes from the city itself. The same goes for Florida in the USA where you’ll find Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando all in the same state. To avoid extra travel and extra cost, ensure that you have selected the correct airport for your vacation.
Personal Details
If the details which you enter when booking the flight don’t match up to your passport then you could have your reservation voided. This is why you shouldn’t rush when entering the details of yourself and your family, because a simple mistake could have dire consequences. The best case scenario when you make an error with the personal details is that you can change them with the airline, but this will also incur a cost, something which hardly seems worth the extra cash.
Baggage
When booking a flight you will see all kinds of optional extras for sale and in amongst them will be baggage. Often when you find a great price online you may find that it is hand luggage only, not ideal when planning a big trip. Make sure that you first know what your baggage situation is and then look at options around adding baggage to your reservation. It is always cheaper to add baggage when you are reserving than if you have to do so when you get to the airport.
Bear all of these things in mind when you are booking your flights and you will be just fine.
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