Remember when flying was fun? (We can’t either!) At the moment, airline travel is more like the wild west than ever before. Airlines across the world are ‘pre-emptively cancelling’ flights; delays are prevalent; airports and planes packed. Unfortunately, we can’t help you much with any of that. What we can do, though, is to share our advice for booking airline trips.
Pick Your Date and Time Carefully
Sometimes you just have to be somewhere on a particular date. But if you have flexibility, avoid travel on weekends (including Friday and Monday) and around holidays. Also, fly as early as you can in the day. You will get a fresher pilot and flight crew, and a substantially smaller likelihood of delays. We hate getting up in the middle of the night to catch a plane, but we do it anyway. Pay attention to layover times or, at the very least, find out what the next connecting flight is before you book. If you aren’t familiar with the airport you’ll be going through, read up: some make it easy to get from one terminal to another, while others take a perverse pleasure in routing you miles out of your way. If you are moving into or out of the Schengen zone, you may have to go through customs. And in general, everything is moving more slowly these days. So do leave yourself enough time.
Pick your Website Carefully
Using a flight aggregator (e.g. expedia, trivago, skyscanner, travelocity) is a good choice if saving money outweighs all other factors. But remember that you often get what you pay for. We do, however, use them to get a sense of price ranges, and then book directly on our preferred carrier. Airlines would rather you do this, and they often give you a lower price when you do. Hopper.com provides fairly reliable guesses about when prices are due to go up and down. (This used to be more regular but everything in airline travel is in chaos at the moment.)
Pick Your Airline Carefully
Even if you don’t travel much, it’s worth picking one or two airlines and earning frequent flyer miles with them. For us, it’s Delta and British Airways, (an accident of geography rather than because we believe they are better than others). We also recommend downloading the airline’s app, which sometimes gives you small perks. And, if you use credit cards, consider one that earns you airline miles with every dollar you spend. Don’t even get us started about paying for luggage (see our post on packing tips). Delta (with an American Express platinum card) allows us extra luggage because of our flyer status, plus free drinks, access to international lounges, and seat upgrades. All of which make us very loyal customers. That said, a bargain is a bargain: don’t be so beholden to a single airline that you let a real deal slip away. It’s also worth delving into the flight code, beyond just coach and business and first class: some fares are so cheap that you are not eligible for an upgrade. (It may be worth talking to a real human being about this if the airline’s website isn’t helpful.)
We don’t recommend flying on a discount airline (e.g. Southwest, Wizz, etc.) unless you have very little luggage and plenty of time. For us, it is not worth saving $100 on a $1000 flight if it means flying an airline we haven’t heard of, where we have to scramble to get seats. In any case, read the fine print: you may end up 50 miles from the city you intended to get to, as they sometimes fly to secondary airports.
Pick Your Plane and Seat Carefully
We’ve been made fun of for knowing the differences between an MD-88 and a 717 (please!). There is nothing crazy about this: regular flyers know what plane they’re getting on because there are real differences between them in terms of safety and comfort. This may not affect which plane you pick, but then again perhaps it should if you’ll be spending more than a few hours in it. Seat guru has tons of information about planes and seats (and even chargers and headrests), and is well worth exploring if you’re flying on a plane you don’t know.
As far as seats go: there is much more to this than window vs. aisle! (For longer flights we like a window, unless we have a tight connection and then it’s aisle all the way.) Some points to consider:
- Window seats have a natural place to put your pillow; they also give you a bit more privacy.
- Window seats are colder than the center of the plane.
- If you are a restless (or tall) flier, you probably want an aisle.
- If you are in the aisle you will be interrupted by everyone who wants to move around.
- Aisles are closer to the action, so noisier.
- If you get airsick, or if you’re on a route with frequent turbulence, seats over the wings are usually the least affected..
- We always sit as far up front as we can, because we’re impatient. But especially if we have any kind of time crunch.
- If you have small children, you probably want the back of the plane, near the lavatories and with a bit more room to run around.
- Bulkhead seats are best for infants; there are often bassinets available.
A Few Words on First Class
It’s the greatest! But it is usually not worth paying for, even with miles. Business class has nearly all of the same amenities, and is significantly cheaper. Look into the specific planes and seats you will be getting if you’re going to splash out.
What are your best tips for booking airline travel?
