Start shopping early if you’re booking a flight for any holidays or a wedding or a cruise. There have been capacity cuts on all the airlines these last couple of years, so there will be fewer seats for those holiday flights.
If you’re going on an impromptu trip, you can look and book at the last minute, but if if it is a special occasion like Christmas or Mother’s Day or a wedding or that cruise, booking a flight at least six weeks ahead is probably a good idea.
Internet booking gurus suggest the best time to book your flight online is a Monday or Tuesday. Airlines typically lower fares early in the week and raise them again toward the weekend. Start your quest for booking a flight with a search engine that does a comprehensive fare search…. on a site like Kayak. You should get more flight options with the best schedule and price.
You may save money if you consider driving to a smaller airport. Airfares can be cheaper from those outlying airports and parking may be cheaper too.If your schedule will let you, try to fly on non-peak day. (For instance — in the U.S., avoid the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after… those are definitely PEAK travel days and will be the most expensive.)
Dont limit your search effort to the big search engines. Check airline sites in your search for booking a flight. Airlines pay commissions to other booking engines, so more and more they are posting the best air fares on their own sites. There may be specials that other search engines can’t find. These specials often pop up for a short time, and they’re usually not advertised.
It’s best to avoid itineraries that involve several connections or several airlines.The more stops you have, the greater your chances for missing a connecting flight. You might save a couple of dollars if every thing goes right, but you’ll have a real headache if things go wrong…. and if you’ve got to be there, a couple of extra bucks for a non-stop or direct flight is well worth the peace of mind! Get up early and catch the first flight… it’s the one that is least likely to be delayed.
If you MUST be there for that holiday or wedding or cruise, we suggest booking your flight at least 24 hours before you need to be there. If you have a connection, make sure there is enough time to get to the next plane… even if the first one is delayed. Look for a minimum connection time of two hours.
Weather delays happen summer or winter and the airlines are not responsible for these. They will not compensate you. They will try to get you on the next available flight, but that might not be until the next day, and if you haven’t allowed enough time, you may miss the boat or the wedding.
Be smart when you’re booking a flight online, and your vacation will get off to a good start…. and you are less likely to get stuck somewhere you don’t want to be.
