Airline Booking Secrets To Use On Your Next Trip
English: Boeing 777-224ER – Star Alliance (Continental Airlines) (reg: N76021) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
If you go over to Reddit.com, you will find an ongoing Q & A With “TravelAuthority”, a reservation agent for many different airlines. Many questions are being asked and the answers are very informative. The subject range includes working for an airline, the flight benefits, using miles, earning miles, avoiding stupid airline fees, low fares, partner airlines, Skyteam vs Oneworld vs Star Alliance and a slew of other things.
I am listing a few of the really interesting questions.
What’s the best time to shop for a fare, the best agency or website, how far in advance to book…?
Best website: Bing.com/travel – the fare predictor is pure genius. Not even Delta agents have access to that information. A close second would be Skyscanner.
In general you want to book 6 weeks to 12 weeks in advance. Any earlier and the flights won’t be on sale, any later and the others will have already snapped up all the low fares. Award tickets are another animal though.
Is there any special “tips” for international flights and getting the lowest fare?
Does it even help if you book super far in advance? (+6 months)
Unless you’re booking business/first class, booking super far in advance is always a bad move. Airlines charge higher fares for those reservations. It’s just like in the tech world where the early adopters pay more.
What kind of “tips”? Ethical or Unethical? I have lots of both.
Would this be a viable career for someone with a family?
Yes, definitely. The average age of the reservations agents and flight attendants in pre-merger Northwest cities (Minneapolis, Detroit, Seattle etc.) is probably 45 or higher so most of them have families. The hours are super flexible, the health benefits are decent, the pay is solid, and your spouse, parents, and kids fly free.
What airline is the best employer?
If you’re in the US it’s Southwest Airlines. No Question. Highest pay, best benefits, best management.
Delta or United/Continental will offer better flight benefits because of their larger network but that’s about it.
Is there no way to get across the pond cheaply?
I’d look for flights outside of ATL. Unfortunately you’re in a Delta hub and that means they have very little competition. You might try flying from a smaller city too. Sometimes booking from Columbus, GA or a city close to ATL will give you a much lower fare even though that flight actually connects in ATL anyway.
Try Skyscanner. You can also send me a message with the dates, places etc. and I’ll look into it for you. BTW, I don’t get commission or anything.
But $1,100 is about average for a summer round trip to Europe.
What is the fastest way to rack up miles? Credit Cards? Special promos or secret deals?
Credit Cards are the best. Some people run their businesses off their credit cards and rack up millions of miles pretty easily. Suntrust Bank also has a checking account with a Skymiles debit card. that account is nice because the electronic bill pay also earns miles. So you can pay your rent/mortgage via bill pay and get miles for it. And if the person or org you’re paying doesn’t accept electronic payments it mails them a check.
There is a great discussion going on now at this Reddit, Reddit is an active community of people who post the best of the web. You can find pretty much anything about any subject. Search for what interests you and you will an interesting conversation and many links to interesting things. The best part of Reddit is if you ask a question, you will get an intelligent answer from the members who frequent there.
Category: Travel
