In the wonderful world of the internet and travel, there have now become so many sites and search engines available to book your flight, hotel and experiences. This leaves the question, what is the best way to book your flights and anything else travel-related?
Booking with Frequent Flyer Points/Miles
If you have accumulated enough points, booking your flights or accommodation using points is a great way to save your hard-earned money. By saving your money and using points you can also put it towards other things on your trip.
Using the bank portal to book travel
If you have a points earning credit card you may be able to transfer your points to multiple airlines. Popular credit cards that offer airline points are American Express, Citi or Chase (US based). There may also be a section in your credit card portal to book flights directly through credit card provider. American Express has a travel portal allowing customers to book flights, hotels and car rentals using their accumulated points. Simply login to your bank portal and search your selected flights. From there you can compare different flights and the expected points cost. To be completely honest I would not book my flights this way as the bank normally charges the cash equivalent when deciding to use points, meaning you won’t get the best value for your points.
Directly with the Airline
Now if you have a frequent flyer membership with a certain airline booking directly with the airline is your safest option. Members can also transfer their credit cards points to eligible airline frequent flyer programs. Simply log in to your Frequent Flyer program, search your selected flight and compare the points of each flight. Using this method guarantees the best value per point for each flight. Depending on which frequent flyer program you have there may be flights with saver seats, classic seats or reward seats available. These are seats with heavily discounted points but offer the same perks if you were to book via cash or higher points currency. There may also be options on different programs to use points + pay which is a mix of using your points and paying the difference. When searching for flights using points there may also be a fixed cash amount. This amount is for fees and taxes and can normally be charged on points too, however, I have found that it is cheaper to pay the extra fare than to pay the fees and taxes on points.
Using Cash To Book Your Holiday
Popular Websites
Websites such as Expedia, booking.com, trip.com or Skyscanner.com have taken the travel game by storm over the past decade. Skyscanner, Tripadvisor and Google Flights are search engine travel websites that give you the best deal from hundreds of travel sites. These three websites are completely free to use and advertise that they find their users the best travel deals. The travel sites that most commonly display results include Expedia, booking.com and Trip.com to name a few. Expedia offers a loyalty program which members can accumulate points per each booking made with Expedia. These points convert to cash which can be redeemed for flights, hotels and car rentals. Booking.com and Trip.com also have loyalty programs. I have an Expedia loyalty program and have earned $483 to redeem for my next trip.
Travel Agent
As always there is the tried and tested Travel Agents. Travel Agents are amazing and take the hard planning out of your dream holiday. They do more than just book flights. Travel agents book accommodation, airport transfers and experiences whilst planning your entire holiday on a day-to-day basis. The savvy agents also use their expertise to give you advice on your travel goals and preferences. Travel agents usually have offices and most of them work with online clients too so when you find one you can trust, never let them go! Top Tip: You won’t be able to book your travel using points if you decide to book with a travel agent 🙂
There are multiple ways to book your dream holiday, from trustful travel agents to amazing discounts with your frequent flyer program. Suppose you haven’t decided, why not book flights with points and your hotels and experience through other websites to decide which one is best for you. Once you find your main booking partner, you’ll never look back!
Blog That Travels xx