What To Avoid When Booking A Flight
Before booking a flight, especially through a third-party website, read the reviews, double-check the fine print, and look over any loyalty reward options that you may miss by not booking directly with a carrier.
Tis’ the season to start holiday travel plans to visit family and friends and many will need to book a flight to make the distance. With so many options and resources available within finger’s reach due to the worldwide web, there are several tips you are going to want to make a mental note of before clicking the buy button. Booking a flight through a third-party travel site may appear to have the most affordable options but there are cons that every traveler should have knowledge of prior to locking in a reservation.
According to Travel Noire, there are several common mistakes travelers make when booking a flight through a third-party website. Be sure to not skim past the reviews when researching which third-party site appears to be better than others to book a flight for your upcoming holiday destinations. Pay attention to the reviews that discuss experiences with customer service, travel insurance, and canceled fights.
There are some airlines that will not support passengers booking a flight through an outside third-party website. This means if you do go forward with booking a flight through them and you attempt to cancel your reservation or change your flight in any way, the airline will not support it. When booking a flight through a third-party website be certain to receive an official confirmation of the reservation from the air carrier.
The biggest mistake any traveler can make when booking a flight is to not read the fine print. Take the time to read the policies on refunds, as well as, book the flight with a credit card specially designed for travel, with insurance, in case issues arise during the flight or after with your luggage. Also, when booking a flight try to stick with the major airlines who are more than likely not to have additional costs for luggage, seating, or food.
Another aspect to consider when booking a flight is the loyalty points. If you are a frequent flier or like to add up loyalty points for added perks, you may want to stay away from reserving a seat with a third-party website. Oftentimes travelers are not able to earn these points when booking a flight that is not directly from a major airline.
If you prefer customer service over saving a few dollars, going through a third-party website when securing a plane ticket will be less favorable. Any contact has to be made directly to the third-party website and not the airline. If you prefer having direct customer service then you will want to sway from buying a ticket via any third party outside of the major airline.
A third-party website is resourceful for finding deals and comparing side-by-side prices when researching to book a flight for a future date. Typically the costs are about the same across all the different third-party platforms but when in doubt, it is best to go directly to the major airline’s website and google flights when starting to initiate price comparisons. Skyscanner and Orbitz are pretty good reputable websites if you prefer using a third-party website for booking a flight.
