Things to Look at When Booking a Flight Online

Your booking sites may not highlight all these points

Compare price: Online booking sites versus airlines

You can book a flight through a booking site but it is recommended to check the fare of the same flight on the airline’s website too. It has been noted that booking directly with the airline sometimes turns out to be cheaper and offers more security. Having said this, online booking sites do come handy since you can use them to compare airfare deals and find vacation packages.

Number of stops

Looking at the price difference versus the number of stops on an itinerary is a good way to look at the value of a ticket. Is it worth it for you to have to connect two times before getting to your destination, just to save a few bucks? It might be for some people and it might not be for others.

Baggage allowance

As airlines continue to find additional streams of income to manage their costs, more and more airlines are charging fees for heavy baggage or even for every single piece of luggage. If you are travelling to exhibit at a trade show, you’ll probably have some material, banners and brochures that could fill several extra pieces of luggage. In this case, going for a slightly more expensive fare that includes more baggage allowance could end up being more cost-effective overall.

Flight time

If you are not a morning person, then be prepared to pay more, as is generally seen in price trends in India. Always keep the flight times in mind when picking an airfare, although in many cases, as a result of bad weather conditions, there could be flight delays that would change those times for you. Also factor in the connecting time if you have to switch planes.

Entering the wrong details while booking

It may be an obvious one, but one of the mistakes to avoid when booking a flight online is to enter the wrong personal information and flight details. In case you did not know, you have to pay a ridiculous sum to some international airlines for getting corrected a simple mistake like a misspelled surname.

Avoid last-minute bookings

Two or three weeks may seem like a lot of time before booking a flight but it is definitely not advisable since you can get much cheaper flight tickets when booking at least eight to nine weeks in advance.

Using a credit card

Another mistake to avoid when booking a flight online is using your credit card. Using your credit card to pay for your vacation may be tempting, but if you really don’t want to be overcharged astronomically you’ll be wise not to use a credit card (use a debit card instead). Credit cards are not a great idea because airlines typically charge anything between 0.5 per cent and 5 per cent per booking. It may not sound like a lot when booking a domestic flight, but 5 per cent per booking on a Rs 50,000 flight ticket means you are losing Rs 2,500.