Booking Made Easy:
Three Simple Steps to Successfully Booking Your Flights
How often do you fly?
If the answer is never, you might be among the estimated 20-30% of the population who feel apprehensive about flying. Many have a fear of flying, or of the incidental things that are part of the process. Claustrophobic individuals have a hard time in a crammed plane cabin, for instance, and those with social anxiety struggle with the chaos of airports, boarding, disembarking, and so on. There’s even the fear of the destination itself being a relative unknown.
For some, these anxious feelings might not even be about the flight itself. Maybe it’s more about the idea of booking your tickets online. For some newbie travelers, just knowing where to start is its own challenge, and overseas weddings or global business trips can put them in a quandary. They want to attend (or it’s required for their work), but the major hassles associated with the logistics make it seem like a Herculean challenge. How do I get started? There seems like so much to do!
The good news is that it’s easier than it seems. Doing some basic prep work can set you up for success. If you know what you want and who you want to buy from, you can zip through the process of booking and buying tickets. Then you can relax and look forward to your upcoming travels with enjoyment and peace. Maybe you can’t control a flight delay, or an unplanned layover. You can take as much of the stress out of the experience as possible by making sure you properly handle the things you can control.
Step One: Be Clear About What You Want
Grab a notebook and pen and write out what you’d like your travel plans to look like. This includes deciding whether you want to only book flights, or whether you’d like to purchase a package deal somewhere that will take care of hotel accommodations, too. If you don’t have a host on the other end of the flight who has taken care of lodgings, it’s important to find something that fits your budget. Many sites exist that offer these package deals, giving you a low rate on your flight and a discount for staying at a particular hotel.
Make sure you look at reviews and compare prices to find the best accommodations to fit your budget and your travel itinerary. The flight deal that you book can help free up funds for the rest of your trip, or at least remove one worry about the trip.
Planning is a Calendar’s Best Friend
Take a look at your calendar. What dates will be the best for you to travel? If you’re on a budget, try to plan ahead by at least six weeks to get the best flight deals. Prices for Wednesday flights are typically lower than flights on other days of the week.
You can also sometimes get great last-minute deals, but you also risk the chance of not being able to get the flight you want if you wait to book it until a day or two before you leave. Are you flexible enough to try this, or do you prefer having everything in order in advance?
Here’s one other consideration: do you want your pet to fly with you? If so, you’ll need to check with the airlines about the kind of carrier you need and whether or not your pet meets the size requirements. Thankfully, pet carriers can keep your pet comfortable and close by, but you’ll have to make arrangements with the airline to be able to keep it with you in the cabin. If not, your pet will have to ride in the cargo hold, which may influence whether or not you want to bring it along.
Step Two: Comparing Flight Deals
Now that you have the basics of what you want in mind, it’s time to open the internet and get the flight deal that’s right for you. Travel sites like Kayak, Expedia, CheapTickets, and PriceLine allow you to compare ticket prices side-by-side. It’s helpful to compare prices on more than one website because the prices can vary from site to site.
You can also do a little research to see if there’s a particular airline you feel most comfortable with. If so, you might get the best deal by going directly to the airline’s website. This might also be a better option for people who will be flying with pets because you can ask the airline directly what they will and won’t allow.
Compare Your Acceptable Travel Items Between Airlines
Airlines have different rules on what you can bring. Also make sure you check what kinds of refreshments are available, which may lead you to bringing your own. Airplane food and drink can be expensive, after all, unless you can find a deal on those, too!
Ultimately, the fewer questions you have to answer during the flight, the less stressful of an experience you will have. This is why it’s important to find out as much as you can before you book the flight. Once that plane’s off the ground, it’s too late to change your mind! This is where the same resources that you will use to find out which flight deal offers the best booking can help you decide which actual airline service best fits your needs.
Once you’ve narrowed down your choices, it’s time to actually book that flight.
Step Three: Hassle-Free Flight Booking
Most people book their flights online. If you’re on the site you want to purchase tickets from, follow the online prompts and enter your payment information when it’s time. Booking USA-based flights is a straightforward process if you’re in the U.S., for instance, but you’ll have to consider things like currency exchange rates for your destination. If you’re not going overseas, booking USA-only flights is a lot simpler of a process and you should find lots of great deals
If you’re still nervous about booking a flight online, call the airline service using the number listed on the website. Many airline services have representatives who can help you make reservations and book flights by telephone. There could be a service charge for this, but it’s also a great way to get all your questions answered in one session. If it gives you peace of mind, this might be worth the cost.
Smooth Planning, Travel Guides, and Airline Deals
Remember that you are not the first to book a flight on this airline. This is why the above sites exist, to help people find the best deals for their needs. Finding the right flight deal isn’t as hard as it seems. There are also a lot of handy travel guides for preparing for these important flights. If information is power, you can be sure to feel empowered if you just do a little research. Find out from others what the experience is like. Ask around; friends or coworkers may have some advice on which companies and methods provided the smoothest travel experience.
Read reviews on websites. You can find out which places have the best reputation for making the travel experience easiest on the customer. Booking the flight doesn’t have to be the hard part. Knowing what you want is key. From there, if you shop around, you’re sure to find the flight deal that will give you everything that you want. Booking the flight isn’t the hard part once you know what you’re looking for. Knowing is half the battle!
Plan Ahead and You Won’t Fall Behind
As you can see, the best thing you can do to simplify the burden of booking and planning a flight deal is to prepare properly. Planning ahead will make the actual booking process and hopefully the entire trip a painless experience.
