Tips and Tricks on How to Book your Flights Online

Some travelers prefer to book discount airline tickets online, while others like talking to an agent and let the agent book their flights usually for a small additional fee. No matter which route you choose, whether you’re looking for domestic or international airfare, it is beneficial to know how to actually look for cheap airfares yourself, so you can know that you’re getting the best deal even if you work with an agent.


Every airline or travel agent website will have some kind of booking engine loaded on their website. Usually the airfares are the same online and when working with agent directly besides the live agent fee. Therefore, it is usually recommended to reserve the flights online yourself to save on the customer rep fees.

Let’s say you need to travel from Atlanta to Frankfurt. All you need to do is to fill the booking engine boxes. First of all, will you fly one way or you will also return to Atlanta? Then check the boxes accordingly for one way or round trip. If you plan to make any stops in between these cities and disembark for a certain time, then you’d need to check multi-city box. Next goes the city names:  FROM: Atlanta and TO: Frankfurt. Then you will see Depart and Return. Here you will enter you departure date and return date. If you can be flexible on dates, make sure you check the “flexible dates”; you will get more travel dates and this means that you can get better discount airline tickets if you travel couple days later or earlier. If there is no such option, be sure to check flights and prices several days or weeks before or after your original travel date.

Sometimes you will also see an option of “nearby airports”. If there are several airports you may fly from or return to, check this box or check the flights from all the possible departure points. Oftentimes, you may find lower airfares from smaller airports.

Next, you’ll need to identify how many adults, children, or seniors will travel. Pay close attention if you travel with children as children under 2y., so called infants, usually do not occupy the seat, and therefore would be charged 10% of the adult price on international airfare and usually can fly free of charge with the United States. You may choose to buy a seat for an infant. In this case, you’d simply purchase an airline ticket for a child as he or she would be 2-11y old. The child would automatically get the seat. Recently airlines have changed some policies and rules for children tickets. It used to be that children (2-11y) would get a discount of 25-30% off the adult’s airfare.  Now most airlines and airfares for children are the same as for adults.

Finally, when booking your flights online, you can enter your preferred airline, if you have any. Note, if you request a particular airline and if there one flight leg operated by a different airline, this flight option would not show up in your result page. Therefore, check both options to get all possible flight results. And the last option you may choose is if you’d like a business or economy / coach service class. Click Submit and you will see the flight options.

When checking the flight results, make sure you pay attention to the layover time, connecting, if any, cities and times, airlines, etc. Pay attention to the dates and follow every flight line departure and landing times to make sure you when and where you land. This will help you determine and choose a flight you want to book.

Now you know it all, and it is TIME to BOOK your FLIGHT!

Flying Across the Ocean can be an Experience Much Different Than Domestic Travel

 

While many around the United States have traveled in the air across the country, or even to Canada and Mexico, many others have never traversed an ocean in flight. This can be quite a different type of flight for people who have never experience it. It is not drastically different enough to make you run out to get travel insurance, but you would need to do some research on find best deals or cheap airfare to Europe, Australia or other continent as it is an experience unlike the four hour domestic flights within the United States.

Most Transatlantic or Transpacific flights are longer than 10 hours, and can last two, three and four times the time of a domestic flight. When traveling over the ocean, it is essential to do your best to make yourself comfortable. You will have a lot of time to kill on this type of flight, and it is in your best interest to be as comfortable as you can the entire way.

You should also bring something to distract you on the flight. While the booking worries like finding a discounted hotel, car rental or international airfare might have passed, now you need to take as much rest on a long haul flight as possible and have the flight as enjoyable as possible. Flying over the Atlantic or Pacific will hours, but you can easily overcome them if you can sleep, enjoy onboard movies, food or simply have activities you like doing. Books, MP3 players and computers can help to keep you occupied as you travel.

It would also be a good idea to pack some snacks as you may find your stomach growling on a flight much longer than you are used to. You should stay hydrated as well. Do not forsake liquids so you will not have to get up to go to the bathroom. Instead, drink water or coffee to give yourself some energy, some fluid and a sense of comfort.

If you are prone to needing legroom, or to going to the bathroom often, or to needing to stretch out a bad back or knees, you should choose your seat wisely. When buying your tickets, be sure that you find a flight that has a seat where you are accommodated. So when you book your flights, especially international airfare, check yourself or ask your agent about possible and available seating options. In addition to stretching, you should also make sure to get up every few hours just to ensure that the blood is flowing and that you are not getting too stiff.

You will also have to get used to the changes that just took place during your flight. You may be entering a different temperature, a different altitude or a different culture. You should be prepared to handle the jet lag, to take on the time change and to adjust to your sleeping schedule. The best advise is to try following the local time schedule from the very moment you land in the destination point. This will help you to adjust to local time quickly.

Whether you choose to book a dream vacation, business trip or simply take a world tour, make sure you find cheap airfare to Europe, Asia, Australia or other continent you choose, hotels that would accommodate your needs or tours to make sure you’re not missing on local attractions. So make your flights as pleasant as possible so you can enjoy the rest of your time at the destination.

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