How to Book Airline Tickets – Do’s and Don’ts

Yesterday when I was trying to book my tickets to New Orleans, I realized that I have a somewhat complicated process when trying to buy airfare. However, it’s sort of become my system for finding the cheapest fares based on my requirements, and it works for me.

I realize that some people aren’t as insane and obsessive as I am when it comes to researching, planning, and saving some money along the way (so you can use it for the fun stuff once you’re actually on the trip), but I think I’ve come up with a few tips that might help even the laziest of travelers find a good deal.

1. Use discount travel sites as a starting point – but don’t book through them.

If you’re booking airfare only, it’s almost never a deal to book through sites like Travelocity, Expedia, or Orbitz. Here’s why: 1. not all airlines are listed on these sites (Southwest and Jet Blue for example). 2. Even those that are, are almost always cheaper if you book directly from the airline’s website.

But, that doesn’t mean these sites are not helpful. Booking a package deal (air, hotel, and car) will often save you a lot of money, and you can do that through these types of Web sites. Also, utilizing these sites first will give you an idea of the going rate for various dates. If your dates are flexible, you’ll often be able to tell which days are cheapest to fly. And even if you have to fly on a specific day, you’ll have a good idea of the going rate so you can bargain shop on the airline websites.

2. Play around with round trip vs. 1-way tickets.

Some airlines want you to book both legs of your trip through them at the same time, so they make it cheaper to book R/T than one-way. Other airlines will be cheaper if you buy separate one-way tickets. And other airlines will be the same regardless. Play around with this and see what you find.

I’ve never booked two separate one-ways on an airline before, but I did for New Orleans. I’m flying out on Southwest from Midway, (so I could get another qualifying flight toward my free one) and I’m flying home on American to O’Hare so that I’ll be closer to my parents’ house for my dad’s B-day the day I get home. And it turned out to be cheaper for me this way than any other combination!

3. Check nearby airports.

Not only for circumstances like the one mentioned above, but sometimes if you have a little flexibility, you might find out you can fly in to one city, do a little scenic drive one day, and fly out of another city. This is especially fun in places like California, where a nice coastal drive would be a great addition to any trip.

TIP: Once you get to know the airport codes, you can also figure out that there are special codes that will search any nearby airport. For example, ORD = O’Hare, and MDW = Midway, but if you enter CHI, you’ll get results for both airports!

4. Always sign up for the frequent flyer club.

I really don’t understand why people don’t do this. Pretty much every airline has some kind of frequent flyer program, and I’m pretty sure most, if not all, of them are free. Even if you have a preferred airline that you will fly 99% of the time, why not sign up for that airline that you’re only flying “just this once.” What if you have to fly with them again? Aren’t you going to be mad that you didn’t get the credit for that other flight?

Some programs are far superior to others. (Southwest’s Rapid Rewards is one of my favorites, because they don’t measure in miles, they measure in flights. 8 r/t flights in 24 consecutive months earns you a free flight. Simple.) But even the ones that make you fly 8 million miles in 3 weeks or they’ll expire on you can’t hurt to join. Just on the off chance you really do need to make a few trips around the world one month.

5. Take extra fees into consideration.

I don’t think I need to go on much about the extra fees that airlines are coming up with lately. Anyone who’s flown even once in the past several years knows that airlines are starting to charge for EVERYTHING.

Do a little research if you’re really trying to save some money. Find out what the airline charges for (checked bags? food? pre-boarding? using the bathroom?) and weigh your options.

For example, if you know you’ll need to be checking a bag, even if American is $20 cheaper than another airline, do the math. It’s $25 for the first checked bag, $35 for a second. And $100 a piece for a 3rd, 4th, or 5th. And that’s EACH WAY.

The costs add up. To check one little bag so you can bring your extra-large bottle of fancy salon-brand shampoo with you on vacation will put you back $50 over the course of the trip. If you really need to bring it with you, consider finding an airline that doesn’t charge for checked bags. (Ahem, Southwest. Ahem.)

6. Learn where airline hubs are.

Most airlines have a hub (sometimes more than one), where the majority of their flights fly in and out. People in bigger cities are spoiled and often get by unaware of this fact, since nearly every airline will fly in and out of them. But have you ever wondered why on a trip from Milwaukee to San Francisco you had to stop in Kansas City? Or why there never seems to be any direct flights on your favorite airline to a certain city? Or why in the world you need to have a layover in DC when it’s not even on the way?

Well, it’s because the airline your flying probably needs to make a stop at its hub first.

Knowing the hubs and where various airlines will fly will help you in your search. Here are a few off the top of my head, although you can probably do a Google search and find many more:

• Houston George Bush International – Continental Airlines
• Chicago O’Hare International – American Airlines
• Charlotte/Douglass International – U.S. Airways
• Washington Dulles – United Airlines
• Milwaukee – Midwest Airlines (although they recently merged with Frontier, so that may change)

You can often figure all this out by looking at a route map from a particular airline, and start to get a better idea of which airlines will offer nonstop routes to your destination.

There are plenty more tips and tricks that you can learn along the way. But the important thing is to remember what works for you. Everyone has different preferences. Maybe you’d rather pay more to get the departure time of your choice. Maybe you don’t care what day you leave if you save an extra $75. Figure out your priorities and your variables, and then play around.

And if you just don’t have the patience to remember ANY of these tips and want to book the first flight you see, well, go ahead and do that too. (Although, if you want to pay me to book your flight for you, email me and we can work something out.) 🙂

Disney Tips

Before leaving for Disney World I asked several people for advice and suggestions for my trip. In response, I got several enthusiastic emails, great articles, and all sorts of wonderful ideas for while I was there. Throughout the entire experience, I came up with my own list of tips – some borrowed, others learned from experience.

Here they are for your reading pleasure, in no particular order:

1. Get the Park Hopper Passes. We usually did one park in the morning, and a different park in the evening. In the middle of the day, we would go back to the resort, either to rest or to get out of the heat/sun/rain. Having the park hopper passes allowed us to come and go as we pleased, and we never had to feel too disappointed if we didn’t stay at a particular park too long. The flexibility was definitely worth it!

2. Get the Disney Dining Plan. It’s just like being back in college! One swipe of your room key, and you are set with a great meal! The DDP includes one sit-down meal, one “quick meal” and one snack per day. And a “quick meal” includes an entrée, side dish, drink, and a dessert. I’m not entirely sure how much it costs to purchase the plan, but meals purchased individually can cost upwards of $20 per person per meal, and it was great to not have to fork over the cash every time. (Also, I read that there’s a current deal where you can get a Dining Plan free with the purchase of a resort stay. Definitely worth looking into!)

3. Always take the dessert. This bit of advice was one given to me before I left. As mentioned above, dessert is included on the DDP. You typically get enough food to fill you up, but you can take the desserts to go. That way, you have a snack when you need it, and you can save money (or snack points) later on! (I highly recommend the chocolate cake with Mickey sprinkles!)

Best Dessert at Disney!

4. Keep a water bottle with you! I wish I had the stats on how many bottles of Aquafina Disney World sells in a day. In 100-degree temperatures, it’s important to stay hydrated, but it’s silly to pay 3 bucks a pop. There are drinking fountains all over the parks and you can almost always find a place to refill your bottle with cold (or cold-ish) water.If you keep a water bottle with you, you can ward off dehydration, save money, AND help the environment.

(*Note: If you do purchase bottled water, please hang on to the bottle until you can place it in one of the recycling bins throughout the parks!)

5. If you’re a pop/soda drinker, invest in one of the refillable drink cups. It may seem pricey at first to pay around $13 for a souvenir cup. However, there are drink stations all over where you can refill your cup for free! Especially if you’re not on the Disney Dining Plan, this is so worth it. You pay $13 (or something close to that) and can pretty much drink for free the rest of the trip. (Coffee and tea are also included in this deal.)

6. Use Disney’s PhotoPass program. Just like at many sporting events these days, Disney has their own photographers walking around the parks taking digital photos of you that you can purchase later. Yes, it’s a way to get more money out of you, but it’s still worth it to let them take your pictures. Here’s why:

• You get a PhotoPass card that the photographers will scan each time they take your pictures. Then all the photos of you can be claimed online into one account that you can share with your friends (free, for 30 days).
• Most of the photographers are really great about also taking pictures with your own camera, so you’ll get some great shots of your whole group that you WON’T have to purchase.
• They’ll capture some really great moments you wouldn’t otherwise be able to get on your own – like this one, from Typhoon Lagoon:

Ridin' the slide at Typhoon Lagoon

7. Bring a poncho. I know, you don’t want to bring one, you don’t want to wear one, and you want to convince yourself it won’t rain. Well, I’m going to tell you it WILL rain, and you’ll either be drenched and very crabby, or you’ll end up spending more money than you wanted to to buy a Disney poncho you didn’t want to buy. If you bring one from home, you’ll save money, and you’ll have a blast riding all the rides when the rest of the park clears out. Our last night was the heaviest rain of the trip, but it was also one of the best nights because we pretty much walked onto any ride we wanted. And you’d be surprised at how many rides will operate in a downpour, as long as the lightning holds off!

Ponchos kept (most of) us dry all night long!

8. Learn how to use FastPasses early on in your trip. FastPasses are free, and will help you get on many of the rides you want without standing in hour+ lines. Here’s how it works:

• Go up to the FastPass ticket distribution box.
• Insert your park ticket/room card.
• Take your time-stamped FastPass ticket and come back any time after that time to get in the FastPass line and skip the wait!

We didn’t start utilizing the FastPasses until the end of our trip, and I really regret not using them sooner to get onsome of the more popular rides.

9. If you’re staying at a Disney property, utilize the “Extra Magic Hours.” Each park has special hours either before opening or after closing on various nights, available only to guests staying at a Disney-owned resort. One night you can even hang out at the Magic Kingdom until 3am! (Normal closing hours are midnight on that night.) You can find schedules for the “Extra Magic Hours” online, or on brochures at the parks/resorts.

10. Make dining reservations in advance. Bookings can be made several months in advance of your trip, and if you try to make reservations at the last minute, you will probably end up disappointed. This is especially true for character dining, but it’s a good idea for ALL reservations.It’s definitely better to make reservations ahead of time and cancel them if you don’t need them, than it is to not have any reservations at all. A few other tips are to eat at off-times if you want to get into a particular restaurant, and keep the Disney Dining number programmed into your cell phone (407.939.3641) so you can call and check in for any last-minute cancellations.

11. Don’t try to do it all. Remember that it’s supposed to be a vacation, not a boot camp. I can speak to this, because on a Disney trip as a child, my mother read a book on how to ride EVERY ride in the Magic Kingdom in one day. (And yes, we did it.) I’ll say this, if you run around like a crazy person trying to do everything, you won’t really enjoy any of it. You’ll just end up with a bunch of really crabby and worn out people. Take your time, take it all in, and and enjoy your vacation.

So, thank you to everyone who gave me such great advice before I left. And to the rest of you, I hope you all get a chance to go to Disney World soon, and that these tips come in handy!

Pack Light.

Anyone who has ever taken a trip has undoubtedly been told to pack light. But, most people also live by the rule of “be prepared.” There becomes a delicate balance between traveling light and being prepared for whatever weather/occasion/emergency may arise.

If you’ve ever read a list of travel quotes, you may have heard the following words of advice by Susan Heller: When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money.

After spending 3 months studying and traveling in Europe and living out of one giant suitcase, I’ve come up with a few of my own bits of advice.

1. Do not take more than you can carry. Yes, there are elevators, escalators, bellhops, flight attendants, and generally nice people in the world to help you get around. But, if you are a healthy, able-bodied person, you should be able to carry whatever it is you’re bringing with you. Elevators and escalators break down. Sometimes people aren’t around to help you. Sometimes you’ll check into a small hotel or hostel with 3 flights of stairs to your room.

So, here’s the rule of thumb. You should be able to:
a.) walk around the block with your suitcase(s) without too much trouble.
b.) carry your suitcase up a flight of stairs (even if it’s not pretty or graceful).
c.) get your suitcase in/out of a trunk or luggage compartment on your own.

2. Never start a trip with your luggage expanded. Many suitcases today have those handy little zippers that can give you several inches of additional room. THIS IS NOT AN INVITATION TO PACK MORE!

Whenever you’re packing for a trip, keep the expander closed. If you can’t fit everything in the suitcase without expanding it, you’re either packing too much or using too small a suitcase.

Have you ever noticed that at the end of your trip, it seems your stuff has multiplied? Either you’ve purchased a few too many souvenirs  or your clothes have somehow become enlarged over the course of the trip. If you followed my rule, you now have 2″-3″ of extra space in the very same suitcase to make everything fit on the way home!

(*Travel Tip: Sometimes if you expand the suitcase, pack it, then close it, you can actually re-zip the expander once it’s shut to squish it all into the original size.)

3. As long has you have your ID and a credit card, you have [almost] everything you need. If you’re anything at all like me, whenever you leave home you think to yourself, “I know I’m forgetting something I need.” Chances are, you probably are. But if you have your ID and a credit card, you can pretty much get anything you may have forgotten.

So, remember, you’re only going on a trip. You’re not moving out. Carry only what you need, and know you’ll be okay if you forgot something.

You don’t want to be the person stuck at the bottom of a broken escalator with an 80 lb suitcase and no one around to help you. So follow these words of wisdom for easier, happier travel.