Who do you book your flights with?

[disneyworldfamily]

How do you book your flights? Is there a particular website you like to book through? Do you book through a travel agent?

 

[Mickey1Fan]

I book my own flights. I check the actual airline sites as well as expedia.ca or travelocity.ca

 

[fan1080]

I book with whomever has the lowest price (carrier), and always through a TA.

It's nice to have a TA if there was ever something to go wrong while I'm away, such as cancelled flights, or flight interruptions for various other reasons. The last thing I want to do while on vacation is have to worry about and make alternate travel arrangements.

 

[minnie mum]

Most TA's now charge a fee to book airline tickets (separate from packages). Mine does. So I book directly on whatever site has the lowest fare (airlines, expedia, whatever).

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Our first trip, we booked our flights with Sunwing through a travel agent.

Our second trip, we booked our flights with our accommodations as part of a package through CAA Travel (booked online ourselves).

For all subsequent flights, we have booked them all ourselves online directly with the airline (Jetblue in all cases except for one flight, which was booked with Airtran).

 

[sasamong]

The trip me and my DBF went to Disneyland in California (we're from Vancouver), we booked a package through Hotwire, which included the flights.

This time I'll be booking by myself through the airline company (Southwest).. cross my fingers that i don't do anything idiot.. LOL!

As a child, my parents booked through travel agents and it was much easier (but i think they stopped doing that ever since the travel agents charge more money)

At the end of the day, i think it's just a matter of how comfortable you are with handling stress. If you want stress-free, probably a travel agent.

 

[lifeguardette]

Gina, what's JetBlue and AirTran like??

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Gina, what's JetBlue and AirTran like??

We love JetBlue. They are our airline of choice. We love that all the things we find important are included in our fare and not an additional cost.....advance seat selection, one checked bag per person, TV's on each seat, unlimited snacks. The seats are roomy enough that my DH who is 6' 4" and 290 pounds can still be reasonably comfortable. The flight attendants (with the exception of one flight) have always been extremely helpful and friendly. The planes have always been newer and in great shape.

AirTran.....we were less than impressed. Only flown them once but first impressions last a long time, and I doubt we will be in any hurry to give them another try. The plane was old......the paint was visibly peeling off the nose in big sections. Luggage and seat selection are an extra cost. No TV's on each seat. Flight attendants were rather brusque. We upgraded to business class so we had roomier seating, but the interior of the plane was showing its age as much as the outside was. We got there safely so that made it a "good" flight, but DH's first remarks to me as we deplaned were "next time, we stick with JetBlue".

lol, I must admit.....we are JetBlue cheerleaders .

 

[Disneylover99]

How do you book your flights? Is there a particular website you like to book through? Do you book through a travel agent?

We book our own flights on the Internet. We found our best deals on AirTran and SouthWest as soon as the dates open. We always book directly with the airline.

 

[greenclan67]

We love JetBlue. They are our airline of choice. We love that all the things we find important are included in our fare and not an additional cost.....advance seat selection, one checked bag per person, TV's on each seat, unlimited snacks. The seats are roomy enough that my DH who is 6' 4" and 290 pounds can still be reasonably comfortable. The flight attendants (with the exception of one flight) have always been extremely helpful and friendly. The planes have always been newer and in great shape.

AirTran.....we were less than impressed. Only flown them once but first impressions last a long time, and I doubt we will be in any hurry to give them another try. The plane was old......the paint was visibly peeling off the nose in big sections. Luggage and seat selection are an extra cost. No TV's on each seat. Flight attendants were rather brusque. We upgraded to business class so we had roomier seating, but the interior of the plane was showing its age as much as the outside was. We got there safely so that made it a "good" flight, but DH's first remarks to me as we deplaned were "next time, we stick with JetBlue".

lol, I must admit.....we are JetBlue cheerleaders .

I have flown Airtran and JB as well. I normally love JB and would agree with Gina. But.....but.......but our last flight to Orlando on March 2nd was not great.
Our 8 am flight was delayed til 9:45. Not a big deal. We found out from the desk that we were waiting for a new plane from New York because of mechanical issues. Rather have a safe plane. Well we board, and as we are waiting to taxi lights are flickering. Then the pilot comes on and says they were going to start the planes one engine with the airports power and then taxi to get de iced. Then we were going to sit parallell to the runway and try to start the engine from the first one. Scary, yes. Then of course they say some of the seatbelt lights dont work. My dds tv and my own didnt work, so we had to move to very back away from my hubby and 2nd dd. My hubby was in the bathroom and the lights went out. I couldnt wait to get off that plane. Not usual for JB. This time we are flying Southwest for the first time. A little scared.

 

[Sue M]

I book myself, and start with Kayak, watching fares. I have a good idea of what's a good fare, having done it for years. We fly out of Seattle for cheaper fares. Kayak searches most of the major airlines except SW and Jet Blue, Alligent, etc.
once I find a good fare, I book it on the airline web site. If something changes, like flight times or something it's easy to deal directly with airline. If flights change to times I can't live with, the airlines will rebook at no cost. One time they changed my departing flight from MCO to Houston so that I couldn't possibly make my connection how does that work?

I don't know how easy it would be if you booked thru Expedia or that kind of site.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I have flown Airtran and JB as well. I normally love JB and would agree with Gina. But.....but.......but our last flight to Orlando on March 2nd was not great.
Our 8 am flight was delayed til 9:45. Not a big deal. We found out from the desk that we were waiting for a new plane from New York because of mechanical issues. Rather have a safe plane. Well we board, and as we are waiting to taxi lights are flickering. Then the pilot comes on and says they were going to start the planes one engine with the airports power and then taxi to get de iced. Then we were going to sit parallell to the runway and try to start the engine from the first one. Scary, yes. Then of course they say some of the seatbelt lights dont work. My dds tv and my own didnt work, so we had to move to very back away from my hubby and 2nd dd. My hubby was in the bathroom and the lights went out. I couldnt wait to get off that plane. Not usual for JB. This time we are flying Southwest for the first time. A little scared.

Ugh, I hate stories like this . I am a nervous flyer to begin with.......and these kind of issues are why!

We avoid Southwest for the sole reason that we like to pick (in advance) where we sit, guaranteeing us each an aisle seat. SW's strategy of boarding groups just doesn't work well for our family. And I'm not sure what they offer for inflight entertainment (do they have TV's on each seat?). Their prices have been pretty hard to pass up on occasion, but for us, vacation begins from the time we lock the door and drive out of the driveway until the time we return to the house, so we like to make the journey as pleasant as possible. Generally speaking, Jetblue is the best at making our flights as stress-free as possible.

Fingers crossed that your Christmas trip is smooth sailing! (er, flying! )

 

[greenclan67]

Ugh, I hate stories like this . I am a nervous flyer to begin with.......and these kind of issues are why!

We avoid Southwest for the sole reason that we like to pick (in advance) where we sit, guaranteeing us each an aisle seat. SW's strategy of boarding groups just doesn't work well for our family. And I'm not sure what they offer for inflight entertainment (do they have TV's on each seat?). Their prices have been pretty hard to pass up on occasion, but for us, vacation begins from the time we lock the door and drive out of the driveway until the time we return to the house, so we like to make the journey as pleasant as possible. Generally speaking, Jetblue is the best at making our flights as stress-free as possible.

Fingers crossed that your Christmas trip is smooth sailing! (er, flying! )

I have avoided Southwest for a long time as well. Jury is still out if I will be happy about it. But until I try them I won't know. Friends of ours met us in Florida in March and flew SW down to Tampa, and Airtran home from MCO. Said they had no complaints about SW they got a row of 3 together, only 3 of them, so perfect and right in the front of the plane. As far as entertainment, they don't have TV's. But we will download some movies on the kids tablet, and it really isn't that long just over 2 hours. We usually read anyhow.
I couldn't beat the price for our Xmas trip though. It was $204 return times 4. So $816 return for all 4 of us. I am thinking of bringing a bag with my pillows with the 2 bags free. I don't sleep well without my pillow.

 

[dis_guy]

I think that today the whole system is set up for you to book and manage your own flights with the airline. Our best fares have been with United lately so we book with them. A few years back we could save a bundle by booking our United code share flights on the Air Canada website. They soon noticed this and jacked up their fares to a ridiculous level.

 

[Camshell]

We book either through Expedia.ca or directly through the Alaska Airlines online (if we are using our airmiles). Any changes, etc. after the fact are fairly easy to handle if we contacted Expedia or Alaska directly. We do our own research, and prefer to have control over our reservation and not have to go through a travel agent.

 

[Kogo Shuko]

I normally book my flights myself, but this year I'm budgeting to the extreme and am booking my flight and WDW tickets through a travel agent. He's watching fares to get me the cheapest flight. I simply don't have the attention span to do that myself.

 

[MedicGoofy]

I always book flights myself through the carriers website. I will get comparable prices from other sources, but always go back to book with the actual carrier. I don't worry about hiccups. When flying domestic, it is not a big deal to deal with changes.

However, I have a long and flight intensive trip planned through Europe next year, and will be using a TA (family). Because I am not familiar with how European carriers work, and have many different flights.....if any issues arise, I won't be able to deal with them. As I will be flying (connections) or travelling.

 

[dsneygirl]

We're pretty loyal Southwest fans. Their change and cancellation policies are amazing and so easy. We also earn points and have had several free flights. We probably have 25 roundtrip flights in the last few years and other than a few delays no problems.

We also book directly on their website.

 

[vacation_junkie]

I have flown Airtran and JB as well. I normally love JB and would agree with Gina. But.....but.......but our last flight to Orlando on March 2nd was not great.
Our 8 am flight was delayed til 9:45. Not a big deal. We found out from the desk that we were waiting for a new plane from New York because of mechanical issues. Rather have a safe plane. Well we board, and as we are waiting to taxi lights are flickering. Then the pilot comes on and says they were going to start the planes one engine with the airports power and then taxi to get de iced. Then we were going to sit parallell to the runway and try to start the engine from the first one. Scary, yes. Then of course they say some of the seatbelt lights dont work. My dds tv and my own didnt work, so we had to move to very back away from my hubby and 2nd dd. My hubby was in the bathroom and the lights went out. I couldnt wait to get off that plane. Not usual for JB. This time we are flying Southwest for the first time. A little scared.

We love Southwest...fly them 2-3 times a year minimum. We've never had a problem with any of our flights and never had an issue with their open seating.

 

[lifeguardette]

Do the seats on SW recline? What about inflight entertainment options??