There are other things to think about] with
air travel then getting through the
TSA lines and
packing well.
Another important thing to think about with air travel is
irregular operations, better known to the public as those
damned airplane
delays and
cancellations. First note: It is
somewhat possible to
avert delays through sensible
planning. For example, try to avoid
making a connection in
Chicago in the
winter. Other then that, if
the weather looks bad the day of your
flight, you will sometimes have
luck if you call the
airline's
reservation number and ask to
reroute your flight.
If a
cancellation happens, your best bet is to get on the
phone and call up
reservations. Unless you're the first
person to get to the
gate agent's desk, you'll probably
wait in line forever there. Also, you'll probably be
dealing with someone who is less
stressed out on the phone, which should work
in your advantage. Also, don't get
mad at the airline
employees. They can't control the
weather, and its not them to blame if that's why it gets cancelled. If the flight is
cancelled due to
mechanical problems or crew
fatigue, don't get mad at the
staff either. They're just trying to ensure your
safety. You don't want someone who can
barely stay
awake flying an incredible
machine, and you definitely don't want to have the
engines brake in
midair.
Some things to note: In the event of a
weather related cancellation, the airline is
not required to pay for a
hotel room for you
overnight. If they feel
generous, they might, but
federal law says they don't have to. In the event of a different
cancellation, you should get
compensation if you are extremely late or your flight is
cancelled. In the end though, the
airline is
required to get you from where your itinerary
started to where it
ends.
Now, onto
booking flights! This will focus mostly on
getting a good deal. You'll generally be able to find the
cheapest ticket from a ticket
consolidator. One of the cheapest
sites is
Priceline. The
problem with some of these tickets is that they
may not earn
miles, depending on what
consolidator you use. Other
suggestions involve
searching for tickets flying into and out of
alternate airports. You can sometimes find a cheaper flight, and might also find flights leaving at
better times. Also, sometimes if you search using the multi-city search instead of the
round trip search, you can find cheaper
itineraries, or itineraries that avoid
connecting in
certain cities (such as, Chicago in the winter).
If you buy a ticket, and the
price later goes down, you are entitled to
compensation from the
airline. You should
call or
write their
customer service desk, and ask for
money back. To make life easier, you can put your itinerary into
Yapta, a website that monitors
itinerary prices. Also, not all seats are
created equal. In order to have a more comfortable flight, you should check
SeatGuru or
SeatExpert when
selecting seats.
Now, onto
overbooked flights. The best way to
avoid getting
bumped from an
oversold flight is to make sure you have an
assigned seat. The first people to get bumped from the flight, are
passengers who are not assigned a seat. It also helps to have
status on the airline, as an airline will bump someone who is a
VBIT (Vacation Bound Intermittent Traveler) versus someone who is an
extremely frequent flyer with hundreds of thousands of
miles on the airline. Also,
higher fares are normally bumped
after people who paid
lower prices for their tickets. If your flight looks like it might be
overbooked, it might
behoove you to get to the
airport early and try to
standby for an earlier flight, if possible.
In the event that they do have to
bump passengers, and your
schedule can handle a
delay, you may want to
volunteer to take a bump. If you decide this, you should
approach the
gate agent at a time where she isn't busy, and
mention that you would
volunteer your seat if needed. People who are
voluntarily denied boarding will often get better
compensation then those who are
involuntarily denied
boarding and you may be
upgraded a class on the next flight.
Also, one might want to consider
flying on
only one airline in order to gain
status. If you know you'll fly more then 25000 miles (the
cutoff for the lowest
tier of most
elite programs on most
airlines) in one
year, you may want to consider booking
all or most of your flights on one airline.
Status on an airline may get you
roomier seats, special
reservation phone lines, special
check-in desks,
bonus miles on your flights, and
priority boarding and security.