The procedure for booking a flight has evolved over the years. Now you can sit in the comfort of your home and book your ticket online. While this sounds convenient and easy enough, what comes next is choosing the right website for booking the ticket. Keep reading to find out about booking platforms that you can trust your money with.
Booking the perfect flight is like eating the perfect bite. You need to find a delicate balance between the factors of budget, ambience, add-on services, and, most importantly, ease of booking. Multiple online platforms offering to book flight tickets does not make it any easier. You must search the net extensively to find a genuine site you can trust your money with.
However, what kind of site should you trust for making online bookings? Here are the three most popular options:
Booking through An Aggregator Site
An aggregator site collects information/products related to a specific service and posts it in one location. Booking through an aggregator site is convenient, and it benefits the flyer in many ways as well. You can set the flight-filter according to your needs, such as the number of stops, price, meals, etc., and the platform shows you a list of options that match your search. Aggregator sites also let you book flight tickets across airlines, which widens your options.
An aggregator site’s drawback is that it does not allow you to earn miles or loyalty points on every flight.
Go to Official Airline Website
Booking through an airline portal has several advantages. You can filter out almost everything about your flight, including flight duration, landing airport, If you are flying internationally- number of stops in between, and other trip details. You can be sure about getting the genuine price of the flight you want to book, and airline portals are trustworthy as well. Another added advantage is if you are a frequent flyer with the airline, you can join their loyalty program. The disadvantage of this is you get restricted to one particular airline or their alliances.
The disadvantage of airline website booking is that it makes it difficult for you to compare prices between different airlines to the same destination.
Booking Flight Through Airmiles Platform
Airmiles portal lets you earn flight miles every time you book a flight through the portal. Earning miles is very beneficial for both frequent and non-frequent flyers. Moreover, you can avail of multiple benefits such as complimentary meals, seat selection, and more. While most loyalty programs restrict to a particular airline, some travel and lifestyle programs give you an option to fly across airlines.
These portals work just like aggregator websites but come with the added advantage of earning precious miles on your online flight booking. Some programs let you join them for free, making them even more advantageous for not-so frequent flyers. However, frequent flyers can get better benefits such as unlimited lounge access, priority check-in, and more on upping their tier in the program.
Booking Your Ticket Online
While aggregator sites provide you with less pricey options than airline website portals, it does not offer you the added advantage of earning miles on every booking. When looking for flights online, choose the best platform before you start looking for the best deal on the flight. What may look like the cheapest option might come out to be a more expensive one after you include all the hidden costs. Miles can bring down your overall travel cost while offering you many advantages.
