Advance Flight Booking - Better than Last Minute Deals
Advance flight bookings have plenty of advantages over waiting for last minute deals. The benefits include cheap tickets, getting the airline of your choice, good bargaining power, choice of seat, easy boarding, and free travel chances. Date : Thursday, January 13, 2011
Booking flights well in advance has countless benefits, especially in terms of netting cheap airline deals. Although, there are certain customer segments who hunt for last minute deals, but this practice should be the last resort rather than the usual way of buying flight tickets. In fact, airlines jack up prices as the take off date approaches. It is a well known fact that someone who has to travel urgently, will go along with the higher prices. Therefore, it is advisable to plan travel well in advance. Here are some of the best reasons for making early flight bookings.
Best Possible Deals
Advance flight bookings offer one the chance to accurately match airlines and prices. This is a splendid way to zero down upon the best deals available in the market. In fact, it should be a cardinal travel rule to fix airline reservations only after thoroughly prospecting and comparing prices. This approach opens up a world of choice and provides a mind boggling plethora of prices to choose from.
More Choice
Besides getting cheap flights tickets, early bookings also increase the chances of getting you the airline of your choice. For instance, it is almost certain that there would be plenty of flights from London at different times of the day to the destination you plan to travel to. So you have greater flexibility to choose your flight as well of time of travel. In fact, you get the opportunity to pay complete attention to different nitty-gritties of air travel such as in flight meals, layovers, arrival and departure times, and the safety records of different airlines.
Better Bargaining Position
Booking flights early also has the potential to offer certain advantages at a later stage. For instance, you buy a ticket for some particular amount. In certain cases the airlines may reduce the fare for many reasons. Make sure that you check with the airline for a possibility of refund of the fare difference. Although, any such refund will be subject to the airline’s discretion and certain terms and conditions.
Peace of Mind
Organising your travel plans well in advance go a long way in negating the chances of last minute jitters. Travel can be a stressful affair and may throw up certain unanticipated challenges. However, early bookings ensure that at least the nagging worry of finding outrageous ticket prices would be the last thing on your mind.
Better Seat Choices
Early flight bookings also let you book the seat of your choice. Most of the airlines allow their passengers to handpick their own seats, provided seats are available. It goes without saying that such a choice would only be available to the person who books early. So, start early to bag your favourite aisle or window seat. Furthermore, this benefit is especially important for large groups of people travelling together who want to have their seats next to each other.
Associated Travel Plans
Another benefit of making timely flight bookings is the flexibility of fine tuning the travel plans concerning your airline reservations. Early bookings give you full command over your travel plans. For instance, you are much better placed to plan your itinerary down to minutest details like arranging your pick up from the airport to finding the perfect parking place.
Convenient Boarding
Those who book last minute flights may not be able to benefit from the online check-in facility to obtain their boarding passes and may have to go through the tedious process of queuing up at the check-in counter at the last minute and bank upon the customer agent to fit them in or add their name to the stand-by list. Those booking early, can do online check-in from the comfort of their homes, arrive at the airport and board their flights in a smooth, convenient and hassle free manner.
Scope for Free Travel
Early booking can even give you the dream chance to get a seat on some overbooked airplane. When airlines find that they have overbooked, they often ask the early bookers to volunteer and give up their seat in lieu of a seat on some later flight. In return, the passenger can be rewarded with a complimentary round trip ticket in the future.
Booking cheap Last Minute Deals - Tips
Although, nothing beats early bookings, sometimes one just can’t help making travel plans in the last minute. Although, tickets cost a bomb during such times, but the smart traveller can still make the best of the situation. Here are some tips for picking up irresistible last minute deals.
Seek Out a Ticket Consolidator
Airline ticket consolidators are in the business of buying a large number of tickets from airlines and reselling the same to the public at large for a profit. There may be a fair chance of finding a consolidator with an unsold ticket. Such a consolidator just might sell the ticket dirt cheap just a few hours before the flight.
Contact the airline
Like consolidators, airlines can also face the situation of extra tickets. The customer service representatives are the best resource to find out information on unadvertised discounts and standby arrangements.
Conducting a thorough online research, being flexible about your travel, and buying a package deal are amongst the other ways to make the most out of last minute travel.
