The growth of small airlines has fired competition with the major international airlines so that air travel is now within the price range of almost everybody and serves all markets from the cheap and cheerful to the luxury and all levels in between. The growth of the internet has reduced the reliance on travel agents and (although there is still a place for a good agent in taking the worry and organization from an individual) it is now perfectly possible for a person to examine the internet to find the best routes, prices and airline and then book online for any journey they wish to do. This has the advantage that so much more pre-planning can be carried out prior to finalizing the travel plans that independent holiday and personal travel is now becoming the norm for many travelers.
• 1) Travel on a fixed date and time and often the price is a fraction of the cost. Most of these tickets are non refundable if cancelled but it is generally much cheaper to rebook a new flight and pay for both than to have one open ended ticket. Companies often find this system difficult to come to terms as every penny wasted has to be accounted for but the base line should be the cheapest overall cost.
• 2) Travel on the less busy days of the week and at the less busy times. Go earlier return later. Airports are a nightmare first thing Monday morning or on Friday afternoons with prices at their highest and delays at their longest.
• 3) If you go on an open ticket then flights in Europe often are very close in cost whether they are Economy or Club Class. This is one time when comfort is only a little more expensive.
• 4) Take a look at the Expedia, Lastminute, Ebookers type sites to compare the best rates for a journey from all the scheduled airlines. These sites also allow date changes and time changes to get the best deals.
• 5) Also look at charter deals as these can also now deal with individual or group business parties.
• 6) Check with the Low Cost Airlines directly as these do most of their business directly on the internet.
• 7) If there is a group traveling then ask for a quote directly from the companies.
Airport Lounges
For the permanent traveler there is often the period when there is time to kill before the flight due to having to get there early or delays. Time in an airport lounge is useful and far more relaxing than the fight in the main lounge, there are even shower and washing facilities that allow you to clean and change in many of them. Club Class tickets and above usually gain admission and routine travelers may join an airline frequent flier programme and get enough points for a card that gets you into their lounge provided you are traveling with that airline. However there are organizations like Priority Club which for an annual fee allow you to visit a lounge no matter what ticket or airline you are traveling on. Just show your Priority Card and go. Also some credit cards like American Express enroll their higher value Card customers in such Clubs.
Insurance
There are so many different sorts of travel insurance it is necessary to shop around to get something that suits you. Some of the obvious are as follows:-
• 1) If you fly regularly with one airline check that if they offer favoured deals to their better customers.
• 2) Check with your Bank if they are doing a special deal for there good account customers
• 3) Some credit car suppliers like AMEX give it free on the higher value cards.
• 4) Check with specialist travel insurance companies directly to what they can offer.
Check the items offered. Some contracts offer better amounts if your baggage is lost or delayed. Some offer better compensation when bags are lost for a short time others for longer times. Check the coverage if you suddenly have to go home, Some require immediate doctors certification that you are ill enough to warrant immediate return home before they will pay hotel bills. Some cover the cost of the ticket out not the cost of getting you back at a peak time or the full cost of treatment if ill but only up to a certain value. Previous medical history with a problem often precludes insurance at all.
Basically decide what your needs really are and compare prices for the ones that suit those needs.
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