Travelling overseas requires careful planning even before the pandemic happened, more so now. But for now, since I have not travelled since the pandemic let me share what I learned before that. I am optimistic things will return to normal again at some point in time.
Most airlines used to open for bookings around 9-12 months in advance in pre-pandemic times (I know this because as soon as I was returning back from one summer vacation, I was already planning for the next on the returning flight itself). This would be the best fare even without any discounts or bargains. It is easier to book if you are sure of your next travel schedule. Summer time vacation was the same for the children and me so I always knew the approximate week and month of travel, even one year prior. Be cautious about booking on airlines that are shaky in their sustainability (as I learned from booking on Jet airways amidst their crisis. Optimism can backfire at times).
If booking domestic flights within India, the Indian railway site www.irctc.com charges the lowest convenience fee for online purchase of domestic airline tickets. One can also register as a member on travel portals that promote membership points and discounts.
I found Skyscanner and Hopper websites is the best for international travel. Scan travel booking portals for choice of travel fares and to narrow down your preferred airline. Then preferably book air tickets on the airline website. Reason being, should you have to cancel for any reason, you would be paying cancellation charges of the airline only. On an online travel portal, you will be paying airline cancellation charges as well as the travel portal’s cancellation fees. This double cancellation charges per ticket, works out to be quite a bit for family tickets. However, if you are sure to travel, then go ahead and book tickets at the online travel portals as sometimes they do offer a better bargain than the airline itself. Also check bank debit and credit card offers for booking.
Make sure that the time gap between two connecting flights is not too tight. If you miss one flight, you will be better accommodated with alternate arrangements, if it is within the same airline. It is always better to keep around 3-4 hours between connecting flights specially if it requires change of aircrafts when you have to recheck in your luggage and go through security check again. For flights within the same airline, they will take care of your luggage shift. For these reasons it is wiser not to book on multiple airlines on a single route of travel.
