How to plan your flights to meet your needs

One of the most interesting parts of planning a vacation is planning the flights. Why? Because part of the fun is getting there!  We love seeing how much we can get for our dollar on each airline and conversely, how much can be saved by booking the flights at the right time.  There is also a balance between booking at the right time and wanting to ‘feel’ that you have something booked.  It’s important to know when you want to go on your trip and what flexibility you have for your bookend flights when you start planning your flights.  This will make the experience so much easier.  In this post we guide you in how to plan your flights to meet your needs.

Prioritize

You know where you want to go, and when you want to go.  Next question is: How are you going to get there?  Accommodation is important along with what activities.  By booking your to/from for your destination you have the anchors for your vacation.  We look at these as our ‘wrappers’.

How

Do you know what airline you want to fly?  Or do you have air miles or points you want to use?  You are going to need to buckle down and do some research.  Thank goodness for the internet! It will help you plan your flights to meet your needs.

If you want to use your air miles or mileage plan points or similar rewards card, check out the available airlines that participate and if you are going to be able to use the rewards for this trip, and if using the rewards points for this trip is a good value for you.  This is our first step.

Individual airline websites are where you can really find out a lot about schedules, the booking timelines, and the spectrum of available tickets for each flight.  I admit, I don’t necessarily always go for the cheapest flight, but, I do always go for the best value.  

The flights that bookend your vacation are key.  This sets up your trip for you and is how you first are introduced to your vacation.  Make sure you take into consideration duration of flight, if you will need to have connections with different airlines, and if you will be traveling overseas.  We like travelling a lot overseas, so, we invariably fly overnight to get to Europe from Western Canada.  This isn’t the case for everyone.  Are you prone to jet lag?  Do you have a hard time sitting still?  It might be a good idea to break up your flights by inserting a couple days of mini-stays as you travel to your vacation destination.  These can help you acclimate and settle into your vacation frame of mind! Thinking about your needs is what is most important here.

Good or Not?

You’re reading about an airline and like what you see, but, are concerned that they aren’t going to live up to their marketing?  The world now goes to tripadvisor.com to validate these comments.  Check out the airlines’ reviews at any of the following sites (for example):

Tripadvisor: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Airlines

Consumer Reports: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/airline-travel.htm

eDreams: http://www.edreams.com/offers/flights/airline/

Comparison Shopping

You may decide to use a search engine like Expedia, Tripadvisor, Travelocity, or Kayak to see what airlines do the particular to/from you are planning.  These are great tools for doing cross comparisons.  However, I have found that booking direct with the airlines, during their promotional periods garners a greater discount than most of what you will find through these sites. Just keep this in mind. If you are a frequent flier with an airline consider what perks or discounts that may get you as well.

Pricing

It’s important to keep in mind that not all flight tickets are created equal!   Make sure you are comparing like for like when looking at pricing.  Are you a light packer or plan to travel that way?  There may be tickets that support no checked baggage and encourage just one standard carry on.  What time of day are you thinking to travel?  Could you go at a later time and still make your connections?  Check out pricing for the full day for the flight you are looking at – all options.  Also, check and see what day is cheaper.  Some airlines lower the price for midweek flights and increase it on weekends – some are the opposite! 

Monitor

Unless you have booked a lot of flights online before with airlines, I highly recommend you bookmark the airline you would like to fly with and monitor the pricing, or setup a notification on the website (if available) to notify you if there is a price change. If you plan ahead, these pricing fluctuations can show you some significant discounts.

Book

Just do it and move on to the next step in planning your adventure! If you have done the research on the airlines and the pricing, you are likely to be satisfied with the outcome. And, this is a learning exercise. The more we travel the more we learn about what works for us and how to plan our flights to meet our needs!

Check out our other planning tips for travel.