Posts Tagged ‘airlines’

Easy Ways to Fly Cheap

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

Author: Jolana Klobouk
Source: ezinearticles.com

Do you need to travel by air?Whether you must attend a special event, like a wedding, want relax and hangout with old friends and family, or just have the adventure of a lifetime, you want to save money.Right?Don’t you want a cheap flight?With the tough economy and the fact that airlines are losing money at an alarming rate, many consumers mistakenly believe the days of cheap and affordable airfare are gone.They aren’t. You just need to know where to look and how to find these cheap rates. How?

Compare airlines.Unless you are flying out of and flying into a very small airport, you should have at least three different air carriers to choose from.Most can choose from at least five.Visit the websites of well-known and budget airlines operating in the United States.You can do this with a standard internet search.Then, request a free travel quote for your intended dates of travel.You should get varying results.Compare your findings.Which airline will get you to and from your destination the cheapest?

Compare online travel websites.Typically, it is cheaper to book a flight directly through the airline, but not always.It will not hurt to visit third-party travel websites, like Orbitz.com.Use the same information you entered above to get a price quote directly from the airlines.Which way is it cheaper for you to book your flight?Don’t forget to include the cost of taxes, fees, and so forth.

Don’t give up.As previously stated, you should check and request free airfare quotes from all airlines directly and third-party travel websites.Yes, this does sound like a lot of work and it is, but it is very easy.The internet allows you to move around quickly.It should take less than an hour for you to get airfare rates from all popular travel websites and all airlines.Keep going because the last place you visit may be the one to save you the most money.

Sign up for email alerts from airlines and travel websites.Technology is cool.Most of us internet users rely on technology and airlines are now starting to embrace it too.Are you a regular traveler or someone who only flies when you get a good deal?If so, sign up for email alerts.Most third-party travel websites and now some airlines offer them.In some cases, you can customize your alerts to include money saving discounts for specific states, airlines, and airports.If you like getting last minute travel deals, this simple step can make it happen.

Be flexible with your travel dates and times.Typically, mid-day and overnight flights are the best.People avoid these flights because they are an inconvenience.No one wants to be on a plane overnight because it is hard to sleep.Vacationers don’t want to lose a valuable afternoon of their vacation, so they fly early.If you can be flexible, you can save money.With many airlines, you are able to shave $100 or more from your flight by departing Wednesday, as opposed to Monday or Friday.

Book your reservations in advance.Many travelers hold out for last minute travel airfare deals.Yes, these do exist, but they are risky right now.Since many airlines are losing money, some have reduced their flights.Since there are fewer planes in the air, those that are up there are fuller.You may be unable to find a flight with an empty seat at the last minute.Not only that, but not all airlines offer last minute travel deals and discounts.Some even raise the price!

Finally, getting a cheap airline reservation isn’t the only way to reduce the cost of your flight.To save money, familiarize yourself with your airlines baggage fess.Did you know that some airlines now charge for your first checked back of luggage? Many do.If traveling with family, condense luggage to reduce the suitcases.Only pack what you need, rely on your carry on bag, and use space saving travel bags.

Be sure to visit http://www.FlyFromCanada.com for more great tips. Flying from Canada? Check out which Canada Airline will take you there!

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How Luggage Gets Lost and What You Can Do

Sunday, October 25th, 2009

Author: Caterina Christakos
Source: ezinearticles.com

Whenever I’m waiting at a baggage carousel for my luggage to come through, there’s always a voice in the back of my mind saying that it’s not going come-that, with the millions of things that can go wrong in an airport, why should I expect my bags to be in the right place? And when you add in all the other annoyances that go along with flying these days, both in the airports and on the cramped, smelly planes, the airlines haven’t exactly earned my trust lately. I’m always half expecting them to lose my luggage simply through sheer ineptitude and carelessness. But, for most of my life so far, I’ve been lucky.

That is, until recently: Traveling from Denver to New York on a major domestic carrier that shall remain nameless, I arrived at JFK only to find-after hours of waiting around, making calls, and dealing with unhelpful customer representatives-that my bags were in Phoenix. Things turned out fine; I got my luggage back within two days. But the experience left me wondering, how does luggage get processed, and how does it get lost? What can do to make sure it gets to the right place?

Where Baggage Goes after Check-in
When checking in, you hand your bag to an airline employee, who affixes a barcode that contains details about you, your address, your flight, and your destination. The bag then gets sent into the inner workings of the airport, where a network of conveyor belts electronically reads the barcode and directs your bag to the correct flight. This is the first area where things can go wrong. Barcodes may be poorly printed or partially obscured, or the check-in person may have entered an incorrect piece of information. In other cases, bags may slip off of the conveyor belt or get caught in the machinery. There are workers to fix these issues, but it may take a while to extract a stuck bag, which can cause it to miss its flight.

After the automated system delivers a bag to its destination, workers wheel them out in bins and load them onto the planes. In many airports, workers are taught to visually verify that the tags match the flight, but this doesn’t always happen, and human error is naturally a factor.

But the biggest trouble area of all is transferring luggage from one flight to another. A single flight may have passengers who will be transferring to as many as twenty different connecting flights. This presents obvious challenges to baggage handlers, but when you add in factors like late flights, bad weather, and tight time crunches, you can see how problems might occur. The good news is that, when bags miss their connections, they’re usually still on the grid, and they can easily be forwarded to their destination on the next flight.

Tips for Preventing Lost Luggage
1. Carry your bags: When possible, the best solution is not to check your bags. Airlines are becoming more strict about carry-on procedures, but if you’re just taking a short trip, pack lightly. Fit everything into one medium bag, and keep it close to you.

2. Put your contact information on your bag: Attach a hand-written tag with all of your contact information. In the event of a barcode error, your hand-written tag is the only way to trace your bag to you.

3. Check in early, and book connecting flights that leave plenty of time: Tight time-frames are the main reason why bags get lost. The more time airline employees have to get your bag to the right place, the better.

4. Remove old barcode tags: This is a no-brainer, but it’s also easy to forget. Even in the same trip, your bags will require new tags for the return journey, so take the old ones off as soon as you think about it.

Caterina Christakos is a published author and product reviewer. Read her latest reviews of seven 7 jeans and joico hair products now.

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