When planning a trip, you’ll likely start with booking your flights.
Of course, you’ll want to look for the best options in terms of price and convenience. However, if you’re not super careful, you might make a few blunders that end up costing you more.
So, let’s look at the most common mistakes when booking flights, and how to avoid them.
Table of Contents
Booking the wrong date
A lot of flight booking sites have today’s date as the default date. This can be easy to overlook, so you’ll want to start the search by changing the date.
If you spend a lot of time going through all of the prices and constantly changing your preferences, then the dates might change, too. Therefore, you’ll want to double-check your dates before you checkout.
Otherwise, you may end up booking the wrong date without realising it.
Once you book your flights, you’ll need to get the best travel insurance of your trip. This way, if you’re unable to travel on those dates due to illness or other unforeseen circumstances, you should be able to get your money back (or at least some of it).
Getting the flight times wrong
Getting the times wrong is a very easy mistake to make, especially when you’re dealing with different time zones.
You’ll also need to take into account seasonal changes. Sometimes the clocks in a country go back and sometimes they go forward, so you’ll want to keep that in mind as it could impact your travel plans.
Booking tickets too early
In most cases, you stand the best chance of getting the lowest fare around 45 days before you travel.
If you’re planning an international trip, you might be able to save some money if you book up to 60 days in advance.
Unless you’re planning to fly during high-traffic periods, such as New Year or Christmas, you can easily avoid paying a higher fare by delaying your booking.
Entering the wrong details
When you are flying on an international flight, it’s important to remember that the information you have on the boarding pass has to be the same as your passport. This includes any middle names or second surnames.
If the details don’t match, you’ll likely be denied boarding. Also, some flights charge a hefty fee for changing personal details.
As always, you’ll want to take your time when entering your details, and double-check all information before you finalize the booking.
