Welcome to the Airline Page
Fly the aluminum tube, the bus with wings, gets you there faster and safer than anything else. Most times you can't beat the price. Who has the time or the gas money to drive. Not much choice is there?
Booking an airline ticket is no different than buying a can of soda pop from a dispenser, but problems can occur when you don't know the ingredients, have diabetes or want something good to go with what you're eating. Careful, don't shake it!
Each airline has different rules of purchase, use and exchange/extension, often more valuable to the traveler than anything else. After all, most airline tickets sold are non-refundable, you can't get your money back! Alternatives vary, but watch out for some airlines.
Anyone who has access to the internet is able to book their own flights, i.e. vending machine. Who can get the best deal to where and when is a shell game that should be reserved for New York sidewalks. Airlines are good at keeping that game going, without the cardboard box. Think you got the skinny? Go for it!
In some markets a Travel Agent may have an advantage because they know what airlines serve what markets and probably know of an airline or two that don't participate in the ETO (Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz) forums.
In any case this is, for the most part, the only part of travel planning and booking where most agents charge a service fee. The fee is modest and can range from $15.00 to $30.00 per ticket for domestic flights and sometimes more for international.
What the Traveler must consider is the value of their time in searching for and booking their flights. There are many times when the Travel Agent can save the Traveler more than the booking fee on either the airfare or off the time they invested booking themselves. For international travel, agents have access to many consolidators who buy and sell air seats wholesale, sometimes saving you a bundle.
Because there are so many venues for the Traveler to research and book their own domestic flights, we will not offer links or booking engines for domestic flights on this site. We do offer one consolidator link and we search over a dozen for you if you contact us.
We strongly suggest to anyone who is unsure of what they are doing, to consult a Travel Agent before committing to a purchase, to insure that the travel timing is correct and that they receive the maximum benefit from their vacation.
If you must do-it-yourself and it's a domestic flight, at least check if Southwest flies there, you won't find it on Expedia, Travelocity or Orbitz and it is, hands down, the best consumer friendly airline in America!
Feel free to contact a Travel Agent now!