Buying Tickets – Preparing For Your Trip Abroad
You’ve made the choice to take a trip or move abroad. Now you need to put that plan into action. Buying airline tickets is often one of the biggest hindrances holding people back from taking that trip. It might be the cost. It might be apprehension about flying. It might be not knowing about connections or transits.
This page will discuss what to look for when you’re buying airline tickets. We’ll go over:
Where do we purchase tickets?
This page does not necessarily help you find the cheapest ticket, though this section will discuss ticket prices.
It was common for those in the travel industry, for a long time, to avoid an airline’s actual website to book. The cost of a ticket was significantly more, and there were fewer options available. For the most part, this still holds. However, there are a few caveats for you to consider:
1. How important is airline loyalty to me?
2. Am I checking bags, and if so, how many?
3. Will I need a refund at all?
Let’s address these one by one.
1. How important is airline loyalty to me?
The first question: How important is airline loyalty to me? This is really a question more for those of you who travel several times a year or on vacation versus the freelancer/nomad going from place to place.
Airline loyalty can come with many benefits, from being upgraded to being able to fly for free wherever you’d like. Sticking with just one airline, however, is often not the most cost-effective option when traveling. So if airline loyalty isn’t important to you, we advise you to look outside of the airline website (though that doesn’t mean you can’t find fares with your preferred airlines elsewhere).
2. Am I checking bags and if so, how many?
The second question: How many bags am I checking? This has less to do with the airline than with the fact that many 3rd party sites might create a “hacker” fare. This means you will travel with more than one airline, which may or may not have different baggage policies.
The second factor here is some 3rd party sites have connections where your ticket might include a terminal change. This means, especially if traveling internationally, having to collect your bags and recheck them. When checking luggage, always make sure your bags are checked all the way through to your destination!
3. Will I need a refund at all?
Dealing with refunds through third-party sites can be (and often is) a hassle. They are “just an intermediary” as they say and nothing that happens between them or any issues with the ticket is not their responsibility. For this reason, we generally love tickets purchased through airlines as they are the easiest to deal with. European airlines are bound by EU laws which are highly beneficial to the purchaser in case of delays, problems, etc.
Price
Prices, as mentioned, can be far cheaper on a 3rd party site so if the price is your main consideration, you’ll want to look through different options and on different days.
Flying with one airline and flying non-stop is almost always going to be more expensive. Connecting flights will give you far more flexibility in price as you shop around. More connections, however, do mean more time and possibly more complexity as you travel. If you love spending time in airports then more connections and layovers might be the best option for you if you’re looking for a cheaper ticket.
When do you look for tickets? This can really vary from place to place and season to season. Depending on where you want to go, we encourage you to research the peak season for travel there. For example, Europe is typically less expensive in the winter as it’s cold and gets darker much sooner. The Caribbean has a peak season during winter as the humidity drops and the threat of hurricanes diminishes. Traveling during the low season can help you save on not just airline tickets, but also accommodation. Keep in mind, however, that holidays can drive up prices regardless of the season.
The day you search for tickets can also impact prices. There are competing studies on when the best day of the week to buy tickets is. Often airline tickets are cheapest, at least within the US, on Tuesdays as people are less likely to be traveling on these days. Sunday afternoons/evenings can also be a great time to look as the weekend rush has ended.
Sites we like
There is a whole slew of options these days to buy tickets from, but here are a few we like and use regularly that are not direct with the airlines. Remember these are not based on finding the cheapest tickets, but on sites, that are reliable.
- Airline Sites
- Pros: Your best option for using/earning miles. Easiest to navigate when it comes to having to change your flight or deal with issues that might arise (3rd party sites can be notoriously bad at this).
- Cons: Limited flight options/connections and, on average, higher prices.
- Kayak
- Pros: Kayak has become an industry standard. It offers lots of flexibility in its search options for filtering out results as well as sorting. Can usually match the cheapest flights around.
- Cons: Purchasing tickets will redirect to another site. Do your research before purchasing as not all sites used with Kayak are as reliable as others.
- Skyscanner
- Pros: Skyscanner has some terrifically cheap flights available through all major airlines. Skyscanner also has very customizable search and filtering options.
- Cons: One of the biggest downfalls of this site is that many times, connecting flights have a ‘self-transfer’. This means collecting your luggage and rechecking it. It also means covering the costs of baggage for each airline. Rechecking in with a different airline means yet another round of security and customs/immigration if flying internationally. If time or paying for luggage is an issue, this might not be the best option. Other sites do this too, but it’s much more noticeable on Skyscanner.
- Google Flights
- Pros: Like other major sites, Google offers endless search and filtering options. One of the best features, though, is Google shows you the carbon footprint for each flight. If you’re eco-conscious, this is a fantastic option to have available. Google also has a cool “explore” mode where you can search for trips (by plane or car) for pretty much anywhere.
- Cons: Google has not always been the best choice for cheap flights or it may not have the availability of cheap flights like a site such as Skyscanner.
- Scott’s Cheap Flights (now called Going)
- Pros: Scott’s Cheap Flights offers some seriously awesome deals! It is not, however, a traditional search site for tickets. You sign up and receive deals/emails for airports and locations you’re interested in.
- Cons: Scott’s Cheap Flights does not offer deals from everywhere. It’s less likely to have non-major cities or tourist areas (for example, at the time they did not offer deals from Hawaii – to Hawaii – yes, but not from).
- Priceline
- Pros: Priceline has grown a lot in the last 10 years, including buying out several competitors like Kayak. Priceline does have competitive prices overall with the same but doesn’t offer as extensive of options when searching or filtering. They also offer payment plans for tickets, but we don’t recommend doing that. Priceline makes it easier to switch between types of bookings as well (economy, flex, etc.).
- Cons: They automatically sort by price, which isn’t bad, but we prefer being able to filter by other options as well (time, connections, connection cities, etc.).
- Specific Airline Sites:
- Some airlines don’t offer flights on 3rd party sites, such as Southwest or JetBlue, in which case we recommend going directly to their sites. Southwest, for flying in and around North America, is a great option.
- Sites to Avoid
- Using aggregate sites like Skyscanner or Kayak can lead to ticketing sites that are less well-known. Before purchasing from these, especially if you haven’t before, be sure to review them. Make sure they have decent reviews before just seeing the price of the ticket and purchasing it.
Final Thoughts
When buying tickets, it pays to shop around. Be mindful of dates, connection times, especially internationally, and cancellation policies. Cheaper tickets may be had through 3rd-party sites, but when an issue arises, it may be more difficult to deal with. Airline sites may cost slightly more but are often far easier to deal with in regards to delays, cancellations, and the like.
Overall, there are plenty of options. Shop around and find what works best for you!
Ticket Fares
In recent years, major airlines have found increasingly annoying ways to try and squeeze money out of their customers. This is in order to compete with the uber budget airlines (which people generally like anyway). This has led to new types of tickets, the worst and most infamous being: basic economy.
This section gives you a breakdown of what each section offers to help you decide which fare class is best suited for you and fits your price point. The focus is on what these tickets provide rather than a detailed breakdown of airfare by the airline.
Basic Economy
Basic economy is the newest class of tickets available for purchase. It’s often the cheapest ticket available, but that’s for a reason. One of the biggest and, in our opinion, worst drawbacks of the basic economy deals with seats and baggage. Let’s start with seats.
Basic economy on virtually every airline doesn’t let you choose your seats, at least not for free. Some auto-assign a seat at check-in, and others allow you to pay extra to select a seat, not to mention paying extra for the seat you want. Also, if you want to sit with friends or family? Forget about it. If you’re on a short flight and don’t mind if your aisle, window, or smushed between two randos on a plane? Then, by all means, go for it.
Along with seats (or lack thereof), baggage is an enormous drawback of purchasing a basic economy ticket. With the exception of Southwest, o major airlines are going to offer free checked baggage on domestic flights. Some might even limit your carry-on luggage. United, for example, allows a regular-sized carry-on for most international flights, however, for domestic US flights, you’re not allowed a full-sized carry-on bag and will be charged a $25 gate check fee.
There are other pitfalls of basic economy as well, including, but not limited to, not accruing miles, no changes or refunds,
When buying a basic economy ticket, it’s essential to pay attention to the details! Not all airlines use the same terminology. On some airlines, basic economy might be called economy light, economy saver, or something different. In general, basic economy is only suitable for particular situations. Purchase at your own risk.
Main Cabin/Economy
Whether it’s called main cabin or economy, this is the ticket most people purchase. Economy will usually offer you the best price point for the best benefits.
A Main Cabin/Economy fair ticket offers your standard seats (same as basic economy), but you’ll be guaranteed to be able to bring one personal item and a standard-sized carry-on with you.
With this fare class, you’ll also almost always be able to choose your seat. Some airlines will charge for specific seats, while others will note. This does differ, however, depending on the airline or if it’s a codeshare, you may not, at least not at the time of booking. Southwest, for example, does not let you choose seats until it is time to check in. In this case, you’ll want to check in online as soon as you can to secure the seat of your choice. Codeshares can also be tricky as you might be flying one airline for part of the trip and a partner airline for another segment. You could book a ticket with United with a Lufthansa codeshare. You might be able to choose your United seats but not Lufthansa or you have to head to Lufthansa’s site to select a seat.
With an economy class ticket, you’ll likely get a few more perks over basic economy. You’ll earn more airline points (versus a likely none with basic) and have greater flexibility with cancelation or rescheduling.
As with basic economy, all major airlines have slightly different pros and cons with the main cabin/economy fare. We recommend checking with the airlines on what benefits are offered on this class of fare.
Premium Economy
Many airlines these days also have a section called Premium Economy (some have slightly different names, such as Delta’s Comfort+).
Premium economy comes at a premium (hence the name) over your economy ticket. However, with that premium, you get some definite benefits:
- More legroom
- Priority boarding (usually)
- Early deplaning (or seats located close)
- Priority or dedicated overhead space
- *Delta offers extra amenities
For flights over 4 hours, we always recommend upgrading to a Premium Economy ticket if it’s within your budget. The extra legroom alone on long-haul flights makes the cost worth it.
Business & First
This section won’t go into much detail on these seats, but instead, provide a simple overview because if you are regularly purchasing these fare classes, then our overviews probably aren’t the information you need!
Some flights and airlines will not offer First class fares on all flights, Business may be the only top option. On all flights, both business and first class fares are going to offer priority boarding and deplaning, priority luggage pickup, better amenities (food, headphones, larger screens, etc.), and far more space in your seat. For shorter flights, business and first will be more in the range of nice lounge chairs. The long-haul flights, both Business and First, will offer fully reclining seats so you can truly sleep on your flight and get some decent rest.
Our recommendation for Business and First class fares is to use miles if you are able or to purchase an economy ticket and upgrade later as the cost is often significantly less. As an example, we have purchased tickets for economy and upgraded for $600 a person for long-haul flights from the Caribbean to Hawaii. Overall, the cost was around $1800 a ticket versus the $3500 for a Business class ticket purchased directly.
Managing Connections
Connections can be one of the most frustrating parts of travel, whether you have short connection times, have to change terminals, or, worst case scenario, have to change and recheck in with a new airline or change airports. Each airport worldwide has a mandated connection time that airlines must abide by when assigned tickets. These can vary in range considerably between airports and types of flights.
As we’ve seen, nonstop flights are generally much more expensive and, for many flights, not possible, making connections very common for almost all of us. There are a few critical items to remember as you book tickets with connections.
Connection Times
Making sure you have enough time to get off your flight and get to your next one is key. there are many factors involved, from where you’re sitting on the plane to if your flight leaves or arrives late. Generally, we believe that 45 minutes is enough time between domestic flights (though arguments could be made for less, we don’t advocate for this). Again, weather or technical delays can undoubtedly affect this, but on average, it is enough time to deplane and arrive at your next gate.
Internationally we recommend at least 90 minutes between connections. With international flights, you will almost always have to go through another round of security. While this is almost less busy than regular security checkpoints, it can be more stringent. Germany, for example, will be more thorough than many US security checkpoints.
It is vital to pay attention to your connection times. All airline sites will let you know how long the layover will be, and you can do a Google search to find out security checkpoint times and minimum connection times. Airports must declare minimum connection times; theoretically, connecting flights at these airports must meet that. Again, you might have less time than this for several reasons, but it is generally expected. If you know your connection time will be short, let a flight attendant know. They may help you get off the plane quicker to make your connection.
What should you do with your connection time? If you have an unusually long layover, see below. You can go into the city where you have a connection, but what if you arrive at 11 pm? Paying for a hotel (or perhaps a motel) near the airport might be better than dealing with 12 hours overnight in an airport, lounge or not. A little extra money spent to get some real rest and a shower is worth the cost for many. This does mean having to go through security again, but usually not checking in.
Managing these connection times can make or break a trip. Not giving yourself enough time and missing a connecting flight due to a delay can cause undue stress and occasional extra costs. For us, the sweet spot is around 3 hours with connections. Enough time to get through security (if we have to), use the restroom, grab a coffee and some food, and make it to our next gate.
Layovers
After figuring out your connection times, the next step is to determine how to spend that time.
Layovers are unavoidable in traveling and can be pleasant or horrible depending on the place, length, and your opinion of layovers. An overnight layover can be the worst if you plan on spending the night in the airport. Let’s look at layovers, what they mean for you and your journey, and how you can improve them.
When booking a flight, it’s crucial to see how much time you’re comfortable waiting in between your flights and how you can fill that time. A long layover can be excruciating, but there are ways to mitigate it, but we’ll start with short layovers.
Short Layovers
Many people hunker down near their gate and wait it out. Our recommendation is a bit broader. If you’re waiting an hour or two, waiting by your gate is okay. However, we are always a fan of first finding your gate so you know where to be. From there, find a less crowded area to relax where you can charge your devices or lie down and rest. This isn’t always an option, though, as airports can range in how busy they are. If possible, another option we recommend is finding a coffee shop and a comfy seat and sipping on a beverage until your boarding time approaches.
Long Layovers
For longer layovers, there are several options depending on the length of your layover and where you are. There are lounges, hotels, rest areas, and restaurants.
Lounges
We highly recommend finding your way into a club lounge if you are a frequent traveler. There are several ways to do this.
You can purchase club subscriptions with different airlines. These only work with specific airlines, and you almost always have to be flying with that airline to use their lounge. We don’t overly recommend this unless you fly exclusively with one airline and fly very frequently). Next, you can apply for a credit card that provides lounge access. Some cards provide access always (like the American Express Platinum Card with access to their Global Lounge Collection or the Chase Sapphire Reserve), others like United’s Explorer card, which provides two free lounge access trips each year.
Again, this is an option only if you travel considerably and/or are prepared to pay hefty annual fees on a credit card. Our final option is to pay for a subscription to Priority Pass. They offer three tiers of membership: Standard, Standard Plus, & Prestige. These three offer different tiers; we recommend the standard plan if you travel a little. Beyond that, if you’re going to lounges at least ten times a year, we’d opt for the Prestige plan. The two lower-tiered plans require, up to a point, some form of payment for entering lounges, while the Prestige plan provides free visits.
Airport Hotels
Some airports around the world have built-in hotels or sleep pods. These are not free and certainly not available everywhere, but they are a great way to catch up on the sleep you might have missed on the plane. Research airports to see where a connecting airport might have hotels or sleep pods available.
Waiting It Out
If you do not have access to a lounge or there’s no hotel or sleeping pods available, and you don’t want to (or can’t go into the city), you are left just waiting.
The best action is to find somewhere near your gate or at a lovely coffee shop or restaurant and set up. If you have an extra long layover, perhaps 9+ hours, you might want to find a less crowded area. This means it will be quieter, and you might have more space to lie down and more outlets to charge devices.
These layovers with nowhere to go and little to do mean hunkering down and finding ways to pass the time. For many, it’s just sitting and waiting. For others, it is eating or drinking. For some, it’s wandering and shopping.
Heading Into the City
Lastly, depending on the length of your layover, time or arrival, cost, etc., you might be able to go in and visit the city. This depends on a few factors, such as length of the layover, time of day, visa requirements (if flying internationally), or ease of getting in. If possible, this is a great way to spend a long layover. Generally, a layover of 9+ hours might be needed to explore when accounting for factoring in transportation time and passing through security upon return. Many airports have luggage storage where you can keep bags as you head in and enjoy your stay!
Final Thoughts
Before flying or considering a connection, check out Airline Equality to read traveler reviews on different airports worldwide. Remember that any review site often skews negative as negative experiences stand out more than positive ones. Airport connections can be more enjoyable if you know how to manage your time.
Travel Insurance
If you have been around the last few years, we’ve all been going through a pandemic, making travel insurance even more necessary. Pandemic aside, however, travel insurance is a must for some simple peace of mind.
Travel insurance is really two parts: health insurance and trip protection. We’ll briefly cover each of these to give you an idea of what’s included.
Travel Health Insurance can be crucial if you don’t have insurance or don’t have worldwide coverage. Also, many countries today require insurance due to the pandemic. Let’s take a look at what you might get with travel health insurance. Covering the health portion of travel insurance, you’ll receive an amount for medical care (assistance and expenses) as well as emergency evacuation, and your remains will be sent home should the worst happen. See the photo below for an example of the amounts in coverages. This particular insurance costs approximately $45 a person, a small amount for a large peace of mind.
Along with health insurance, travel insurance offers trip protection for events such as missed connections. If there’s a delay or you didn’t heed our advice above, travel insurance can help you recover the costs of getting a new flight. It can also help with lost or delayed luggage and delays or cancelations in general. Included in the $45 policy seen above are all of these to help you travel with ease.
Many younger travelers often forgo this in favor of paying less money. Still, as with everyday life, you never know what can happen, and travel insurance helps protect you against the unforeseen. It’s relatively inexpensive to help cover such essential facets of life.
Our Travel Insurance page offers greater detail on what you can find in the realm of insurance when traveling.
If you are traveling and are worried about cancellations, lost luggage, medical coverage, or anything else? Worry no more as you book with SafetyWing! SafetyWing offers both health and travel insurance in case you get sick, there’s civil unrest, medical evacuation, and more. You can even add US coverage!
Choosing Seats
Choosing seats is, in our opinion, one of the most exciting parts of booking tickets. We love being able to see where we will be sitting, what kind of legroom we might have, and what the overall layout of the plane is.
You won’t be able to choose a seat on every flight booked. If your flight includes a codeshare, you’ll almost always have to log onto the partner airline’s site to choose a seat. Some airlines will charge you extra to choose a seat, and some seats cost more these days (exit row or premium economy seats – see above, as we highly recommend premium economy for longer flights). Others, like Southwest Airlines, make you wait until a few days before the flight leaves to choose a seat, but everyone has an equal opportunity to get the seat of their choice.
As you choose a seat, we recommend using SeatGuru. At SeatGuru, you can put in-flight information and see what type of plane you are flying on, the plane’s seat configurations, seat amenities, and reviews of seats in different sections of the plane. Once you have this information, it’s time to decide what’s best for you.
There are several important factors to consider when deciding where to sit. Do you have items that need to be stored underneath the seat in front of you? Are you traveling alone? With a friend or partner? With a family? Get up often to stretch your legs or use the restroom? Despise having to get up for others? Do you have a strong preference for window or aisle seats? Are you someone who reclines their seat? SeatGuru can give you information about these choices, but we’ll go over them generally right here.
Initial Picking
Some airlines will allow you to freely choose your seat, while others will ask you to pay for the right to do so. Some airlines are charging now for choosing an aisle or window, while all will charge you extra for premium seats that guarantee more legroom. This usually isn’t a factor in which airline we choose, but it can surprise many.
Bulk Head & Exit Row
Bulkhead and exit row seats offer one big advantage: extra legroom. These seats often come at an extra cost and a few caveats. If you choose a seat at the bulkhead or exit row, you’ll often not be able or allowed to stow items under the seat in front of you. Usually, at the cabin head, there IS no seat in front, and with exit rows, it can be the same, or you’re not allowed so people do not trip while exiting in case of emergency. If you only have one carry-on and/or personal item, don’t mind trying to find an extra spot overhead, or don’t need things from your bag, this seat could be in your best interest. Lastly, sometimes, especially exit row seats, can have limited recline.
Plane Configurations
Plane configurations play a vital role in choosing your seat. There are standard configurations depending on plane types and length of flights. Some common arrangements are:
- 2 x 2 – common on shorter flights
- 3 x 3 – can be found on short to mid-haul flights
- 3 x 4 x 3 – a larger setup for long-haul flights
- 3 x 3 x 3 – common setup for long-haul flights
- 2 x 4 x 2 – another common long-haul flight setup
Knowing the arrangement can help you make decisions on your seat. Let’s take a look at what you may or may not want.
Window or Aisle?
Many people tend to prefer between window or aisle (aisle here), but there are things to consider. Choosing an aisle or window seat means paying attention to the configuration. Be prepared to get up frequently in an aisle seat for those sitting next to you. Having a window, however, seat means you may have to get up and cross over others.
Window/Aisle can also be affected by plane configuration and who you travel with. Traveling solo? Plane configuration isn’t as important, but we recommend any 2 x 4 x 2 or 3 x 4 x 3 and, assuming you’re not picky about windows, taking one of the middle sections in the 3 x 4 x 3 or pretty much anywhere in a 2 x 4 x 2. The goal is to avoid crossing or moving for only one person versus two.
As with traveling solo, traveling in pairs or more is also affected by the plane’s configuration. However, you have more freedom as you will know the person you are moving for or crawling over. If traveling in pairs, you can decide which of you is more likely to get up on longer flights. For families, especially with small children, your family size gives plenty of options for choosing seats, even getting a whole row for your family.
Leg Room and Recline
One quick last note on leg room. Not all seats and planes are equal regarding leg room and seat pitch (airline speak for how far back your seat goes) can vary across planes and seat locations. Again, some seats will not recline (if the bulkhead is behind you) or if you’re in an exit row (or perhaps right in front of an exit row) for the safety of others. As noted above, on long flights, we feel the extra expense
Conclusion
Aside from deciding where to go, choosing a seat can be one of the more exciting parts of booking travel. You should choose carefully and do your research to make sure you are satisfied with where you’ll be spending the duration of your flight.
Award Travel
If you have the points or miles, award tickets can be a great (and cheap) way to fly! For this portion, we will assume you have the miles accrued to book a trip and will discuss some of the logistics of booking award travel. For more detailed information on types of award travel (both hotel and flights), see our loyalty programs page.
Perhaps the biggest drawback of booking award travel is fewer options in airlines and connections. For example, when booking United flights to the Middle East, flights often go through Lufthansa. However, this is not readily an option when using award travel, depending on your destination. Others, like Delta, generally have fewer options when booking award travel. There is also a disconnect when booking award travel on their mobile app versus their webpage.
While redeeming points for a ticket is cheap, it’s not equal to 1 point or 1 mile to $1. For example, a round-trip United ticket from Newark Airport to Heathrow is approximately 57,000 miles. Purchasing that ticket is approximately $1600 which means those are worth about 1.3 or 1.4 cents. So you end up paying more for your ticket over time, but loyalty can earn you great awards and tickets.
Award tickets can be trickier to book during the holidays, and as always, more popular destinations might run you more miles, and peak travel times will also cost you more. One strategy we don’t usually recommend is booking a one-way award ticket and purchasing a one-way back. One-way flights are usually far more expensive than round-trip. Using the same United example, a one-way from Newark to London costs $516 while booking a one-way from London to Newark costs a whopping $1,992! It can save you some money, but we do like booking a one-way ticket with miles when we can get business or first-class tickets, tickets that are usually out of reach of most people’s purchasing power.
Award travel offers all the same benefits as purchasing a regular ticket, from choosing your seat to full carry-on allowances, though items like bag fees do still apply. If you have the miles, use them or save up for that big trip you’ve been hoping for.
Final Thoughts on Buying Tickets
Like many things in life, buying tickets can be very personal. Some do not opt for the cheapest tickets (we do not) and prefer airline loyalty. Others go for the cheapest as possible to maximize travel. If you have rewards, others yet use those to get free tickets or lie flat in an upgraded business or first-class seat. You won’t always find a perfect flight, but we recommend you keep searching!
