Buzz
If you're not careful during the flight booking and payment process, you may end up paying unnecessary fees, and in many cases, cheap tickets can turn into expensive ones.
Here are some tips to help you avoid this:
1. Cheap tickets and special offers from airlines are non-refundable and non-transferable. You can change the flight date but will have to pay a fare difference fee depending on the ticket price at that time. These tickets are sold and paid for through the airlines' official websites. So, be sure to carefully consider and double-check the amount before confirming your purchase.
2. Experience shows that when buying tickets for a group, you should never purchase shared luggage for the entire group. If the person named on the luggage ticket decides to cancel the trip for any reason, the planned luggage for the group will be lost.
To be sure, decide whether to buy additional luggage 1-2 days before the flight, as by then the flight personnel are likely to be fairly certain, avoiding situations where the person with the luggage ticket stays at home while the person using the flight ticket doesn't have a luggage ticket.
3. When booking tickets, be sure to deselect default options that airlines often include in the booking process such as additional baggage, insurance, seat selection, meals, etc., to avoid incurring additional costs if you don't actually need them. Remember, these default options will be set for each passenger separately.
4. When booking connecting flights during your journey, it's advisable to space them out by a minimum of 4 hours. Even if the connecting flights are with the same airline, delays in the preceding flight leading to missing the next flight won't be the airline's responsibility. In such cases, you'll have to bear any additional costs incurred while waiting for the next connecting flight (which often takes quite a while).
5. It's not recommended to book cheap tickets for a large group simultaneously as entering data will be time-consuming. Additionally, the limited availability of cheap tickets will significantly raise the overall group cost compared to the cost per passenger for individual tickets.
6. It's advisable to pay for tickets using an ATM card via the Smartlink gateway to save on payment fees (which are often higher when using VISA or MASTER cards).
7. Airlines offering cheap tickets online typically allow seat reservations for a specified period without immediate payment. This gives you time to review the itinerary and related booking information, book multiple segments, invite additional travel companions, or even prepare funds for online payment cards.
8. Information provided during ticket booking such as email address and contact phone number must be entered accurately so that in case of any changes from the airline, you'll receive advisory information. 3-5 days before departure, you must check the airline's website to verify the flight status by flight number to ensure that the flight information is accurate or if there are any changes (e.g., early or delayed departure) to plan accordingly.
9. Completing online check-in before your flight within a certain timeframe (depending on the airline) will help you save time at the airport.
According to regulations of some airlines, pregnant women are not allowed to check in online, but if you are less than 27 weeks pregnant, the airline will accept your online check-in and you won't have to pay additional fees at the counter (for domestic flights). However, you still need to declare your condition to the airline staff to sign some necessary documents.
10. Pay attention to the fact that cheap flights often depart late at night or early in the morning. Consider the benefits or drawbacks that come with using budget services (with minimal service) to see if they align with your itinerary and requirements.
Wishing you all find ideal and satisfactory itineraries.
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Source: Mytour Travel Handbook - By: Youth
MytourSeptember 18, 2013
