The Smart Way to Booking a Flight Online By Harry Raymond Cowperthwaite At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

If you are planning on flying home or vacationing somewhere during the holidays, attending a wedding or going on a cruise, make sure you begin shopping early for flights. In the last few years, airlines have been cutting back on their capacity, which means there are fewer seats available for holiday or peak-season flights.

You can probably get away finding and booking your flight at the last minute if you are going on an out-of-the-blue trip. However, if your family is expecting you home for Christmas or New Year's Day, or you are going to be your best friend's maid of honor at her wedding, or you and your spouse finally decided to splurge on a 10-day cruise, you will need to find and book your flight no less than 6 weeks ahead.

According to Internet booking gurus, Monday and Tuesday are the best days to shop for flights online. It's because airlines usually lower their fares early during the week and then raise them again as the weekend nears. You can begin your search for a great deal on a flight with the help of a search engine like Kayak, which does a comprehensive airfare search. Kayak will turn up a list of flights that have the best schedules and prices.

If you want to save on a flight, you can book a flight that goes out from a smaller airport. The airfares from these outlying airports tend to be cheaper, and the parking tends to be also. If your schedule permits, fly on off-peak days. For example, if you are trying to book a flight so you can be home for Thanksgiving, avoid booking your flight the Wednesday prior to and the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Know that these two days are peak travel days and tend to be expensive.

Search engines aren't the only places you should look for flights. Go to the airline websites. Booking search engines make a commission from the airlines every time travelers book a flight through them so you're likely to find the best air fares posted on the airline websites themselves. Sometimes airlines have specials that aren't visible in other search engines. Typically, these specials are unadvertised and good for a short time only.

Avoid itineraries requiring you to get on connecting flights or switch airlines. You're likely to miss a connection this way. Sure, you save a few dollars if things go well, but what if things don't go so well? If it's only going to be a few extra bucks to book a non-stop or direct flight -- take it! If you can, catch the first flight. It's the flight that's least likely to get delayed.

If you are planning on a trip at the last minute, book your flight no less than 24 hours before you need to be at your destination (e.g., a holiday, wedding or cruise). If you're booking connecting flights, make sure you have plenty of time to get on the next plane even if the first plane is delayed. Search for a connection time of at least 2 hours.

Be aware that the airline won't compensate you if you happen to book a flight that's delayed due to the weather. What most airlines do is get their passengers on the next available flight. However, that next flight may be the next day so if you didn't give yourself enough time and fail to anticipate such delays, you'll miss the cruise or your best friend's wedding. So be smart when you are booking a flight online. Start your search early and book your flight well ahead of time.

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