Why you should be cautious of booking that cheap flight

January 10, 2020

Everyone is always looking for a deal, no matter what the “thing”. When planning a trip, cheap flights are the first thing people want to know how to find.

“What is the best day to buy your ticket?”
“What is the best day of the week to fly on?”
“Should I book last minute to get the best price?”
“Will I get a cheaper rate booking with a travel agent?”
“What website will give me the best rates?”
“Should I book one way or roundtrip?”

These questions are talked about over and over and seem to be in everyone’s vocabulary. We all want the inside information and know that we are getting the best price for our flight. You can Google these questions and article after article will pop up with their thoughts.

When you are booking your own flight, price should only be one of the factors you are looking at. You may see an amazing cheap flights but once you look closer you’ll usually discover why that price is so low. But if you don’t know what to look for then you may end up paying more for your “cheap flight”. So what is it that you should be looking for? Let’s go over them!

How long is the flight?

This is one of the first ways cheap flights will get you…that 9 hour flight, if flown direct, is now a 17 hour or more flight…well that means you are having a very Long layover somewhere. Now in some places you may welcome a long layover to see a completely different city, but if you are not comfortable leaving the airport and getting back in time for your next flight, it could be a tedious layover…and do you want to spend that time in a “holding pattern” in getting to your destination.

There are some absolutely amazing airports around the world that you can spend hours in, but if your layover is not in one of these, you better bring a lot to do.

Is your layover overnight?

If you are fine with a layover, you want to check the time of your layover. Some are overnight layovers, which is why they are cheaper. This will now mean that you are sleeping in the airport, or you are booking into a hotel for the night adding to the costs, let alone the food you’ll want to get while here.

How many layovers are there?

While I don’t mind doing one layover, anymore than that becomes more horrible. It disrupts the flow of sleep, increases your jet lag, and can be stressful.

Are your flights connected?

You want to know this because if you don’t have connected flights you are more than likely going to have to go to baggage claim (assuming you checked bags) pick up your bag, then you have to check in again for the new flight and check your bags. I’ve done this once, and that was enough for me. Not only is it a pain in the butt, it can also be highly stressful figuring out where to go, and if you don’t have enough time in between your flights, it becomes highly stressful. Then that also means that you need to have a longer layover than needed.

Are there checked bag fees?

When travelling long-haul flights some airlines include one checked bag. But cheaper flights/airlines never include a free checked bag and depending on the cost of checking a bag with a cheaper airline, it may be beneficial for you to book the better airline at a higher rate with a free checked bag. This will usually come out even on the price once you factor in the price of the bag.

Does your flight fly into the city you are going to?

When you book with budget airlines they don’t always fly into the main airport, but instead into one that is in a smaller city kinda close. These airlines are sneaky as they put the name of the main city so you think you are flying into where you are going, but then realize that its actually a bus/train ride away. This will cost you more money as you have to pay to get to the actually city you are going to plus you lose a lot of time getting there and be even more exhausted.

So when you are booking your flights, make sure you check out these things before you hit that purchase button. It will save you a lot of hassle, money and stress.