How To Book A Flight?

Booking a flight is a simple and straightforward process that can be done online, through the phone or by visiting a ticketing office.

Many people have the impression that a flight booking is a complex process, while it is actually quite straightforward if you understand the process as a set of stages. Basically, it is not a herculean task to get cheap flights and even where one has a problem with time, it is relatively easy to go online or make a phone booking. Most people especially the first-time flyers find booking a flight a daunting task too but with the help of this article, one should be able to book a flight as per his or her wish.

Define Your Travel Plans First, therefore determine some fundamental issues regarding travel. You are not supposed to ask where are you going and for how long?

Is your travel date or dates predetermined or are they somewhat open for some changes?

If you know such factors as destination or multiple destinations, the length of the trip, and the best time to travel, it will be easier to search for the flight.

Choose between having non-stop, direct flights or multiple connections. The non stop flights do not make any intermediate stops en-route to the intended destination. Direct flights actually make intermediate halts but the passenger doesn’t have to disembark or change the aircraft he/she has been on. Connecting flights are the ones whereby one has to get off at a certain point and board another plane for the rest of the journey.

Now it is important to decide on the amount which you would like to spend on the flight and ensure that the price is affordable. Searching flight aggregators such as Google Flights or Skyscanner helps to get an approximate idea of the average ticket prices on your route during the chosen period. This means that if you have to book a room you should be willing to be a little flexible with your dates to the extent of being a day or two behind schedule.

Research Various Airlines When do a search for all the different airlines that pass through your desired destination. Identify the largest carriers, then list any low-cost carriers that may fly the route. For instance, the routes connecting to the European cities are also operated by the full service legacy carriers like Lufthansa and British Airways as well as budget airlines such as EasyJet and Ryan air.

Gather information on the prices, flight timings, charges, types of aircrafts, services offered, and the route maps and frequency, rewards programs, etc. of various airlines through their websites. Think about what matters most to you – a low fare will always be important, while extra space may be a bigger concern in this case. Low-cost airlines also prefer to connect from airports that are located outside the cities, or those airports that are comparatively cheaper to operate from.

Use Flight Search Engines subsequently, for those in a hurry, use the flight search engine which allows for comparison shopping all in one place such as Expedia, Google Flights or Kayak. Enter your departure and arrival airports and date of your preferred period of travel.

It is possible to use broader terms such as New York Paris or specific such as John F. Kennedy to Charles de Gaulle. This is why if you’re as flexible as possible with the airports you’re willing to fly into, the dates of your trip, and whether or not you want any layovers, the more flight choices that will be available to you.

There are filters where you can choose extra parameters such as price range, time of departure, airline, number of stops, etc. For example, you can set a search for morning flights that cost less than 200 dollars on a specific airline.

Certain necessities like if Basic Economy fares allow free carry-on or checked bags are hidden in small prints. Also compare whether the end-to-end travelling time significantly varies between a non-stop flight and a connecting flight.

Set Up Price Alerts To track airfare for your specific dates in the future, you should use the tools of Google Flights and any other searching services with the help of price alerts. When you enter your preferred route details, you’ll be notified of any price decrease through our e-mail or application push notifications.

Thus, sometimes prices can be altered very quickly, especially if you are going to book a flight shortly before the flight’s departure. It is used in finding bargain prices and setting alerts for the best price to be given on flights. There could be blackout dates around the festive period affecting some of these cheaper prices.

If you are using social media, then you should take advantage of Flight Deals. Like the official accounts of bloggers who travel, alerts for the best deals, and airlines on social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter to get information on flight deals and promo codes. In some cases, offers are introduced first through these platforms, before being published on the official websites.

This means that one should be quick in grabbing the flight deals, as the offers are usually quickly closed especially for economically senior routes within the busiest seasons. Another way of identifying a cheap flight is by subscribing to travel mailing lists since they help you know when there is a sale on flights. Subscribing to airline newsletters as well as enrolling to their mailing list and loyalty programs also ensures that you are the first to get a scoop of some of the other really good low fares too.

If you are intending to book the hotel directly, then it will cost you cheaper in comparison to the Online Travel Agencies. Once you have identified the flight that you would wish to book, there are may be other charges or fees that you will have to pay apart from the base ticket price to the airline or even the booking sites. Here are some examples of ancillary services that can be purchased in a short time and often without realizing:Seats and their location, checked bags, meals and beverages on board.

Usually you can buy a flight ticket direct at the airline website or app to avoid additional booking site service charges. Well-known OTAs are Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, kay commission, CheapoAir, and Priceline.

OTAs accumulate the choices in relation to various airlines and they sometimes provide a package of related services. Yet, the direct airline booking may have some pros such as the ability to earn more rewards points. Both are acceptable as long as you are watching out for complete fare prices when using the buses.

Take advantage of the points that come with the credit card. Log into the travel credit card account from the respective issuers such as Chase or American Express to see if you can use your accrued points on your regular spending to cover the cost of your flights. This means that you are able to ‘wipe out’ some of the expense, effectively obtaining points for free travel.

It is possible to compare redemptions rates across the numerous loyalty programs associated with airlines such as Delta, United, American, Jet Blue or Southwest. Be familiar with the dollar point/mile conversion and any restrictions such as a blackout date that may apply to travel rewards.

Using your credit card points is easy although it takes a couple of clicks extra but other than that they work like cash tickets. As long as the original form of payment for the subscription is also retained somewhere in case something happens to it.

Purchase Your Flight Before paying for the flight, always check and double check all the flight details - passenger names, dates of travel, departure and arrival airports, any layover times, baggage allowance, and seat preferences. Ensure you have with you your payment card. You should always carry a hard copy of the confirmation letter with record locator just in case.

Most airlines also provide their passengers with digital boarding passes that are on your phone for ease during airport check-in. Please make sure you carry a hard copy of a passport or any other identification document consistent with that on the ticket for boarding.

That would be it on the basic process of how to go about booking a flight for your next local or international adventure. The fact is that everyone can afford spare several hours for research and get cheap tickets in the end. Happy travels!