Advice needed when booking flight only

Mrsjobba2

Hi ,
I will be wanting to book flights only for going to America. We need just flights as already have accommodation. Does anyone have any advise - as we are not booking a package we won’t be covered by abta. Is there anything we need to look out for? Should we pay by credit card - would this offer extra protection? Any help would be really appreciated thanks

comeandgo

I book eight to ten flights a year world wide. Yes, use a credit card and buy insurance as soon as flights booked. When buying overseas flights you usually get an option to buy cheaper, non refundable flights or pay a bit more and have flights that you can cancel at little cost.
Look at skyscanner for cheap flights but book direct with the airline involved.

blindman

Mrsjobba2 wrote: »

Hi ,
I will be wanting to book flights only for going to America. We need just flights as already have accommodation. Does anyone have any advise - as we are not booking a package we won’t be covered by abta. Is there anything we need to look out for? Should we pay by credit card - would this offer extra protection? Any help would be really appreciated thanks

Book direct with the airline-easier to sort any problems if they arise.

Go through Quidco\Topcashback to get £££ back if possible.

Get travel insurance as soon as you book the flights.

Compare prices using Skyscanner or similar but do NOT book through their links.

Look at Low Cost Carrier Norwegian.

Look at flying into "nearby" airports for possible cheaper prices.

Yes, pay by Credit card.

Don't forget the ESTA.

Mrsjobba2

Thanks got Esta in place already.

Never used skyscanner before also never used a cash back site either.

Just curious why don’t you book through the links on skyscanner?

We live in northeast, so would need to fly from Newcastle, Manchester, Edinburgh. Think Norwegian only fly from London

Caz3121

Mrsjobba2 wrote: »

Just curious why don’t you book through the links on skyscanner?

We live in northeast, so would need to fly from Newcastle, Manchester, Edinburgh. Think Norwegian only fly from London

Norwegian also fly direct from Edinburgh to Stewart New York
The reason most people suggest booking with the airline is that many of the third party sites do not have live pricing, you may see a flight that looks cheaper that with the airline direct, you request to book, pay the money and they the agency may fail the booking or contact you to advise the correct live price and ask for more (or wait for your money back)
Air Travel forum on trip advisor has many tales of woe with people that have booked through agents and come across issues (although many will have successful bookings, just depends on your attitude to risk)
Google Flights should give a good indication too and tends to have less agents
note that EU carriers (BA, Virgin etc) will offer EU261 protection for delays cancellations in both directions, if you book with a US carrier (Delta, American, United etc) you are only protected on the way out.

jpsartre

Mrsjobba2 wrote: »

Just curious why don’t you book through the links on skyscanner?

Because some of the sites they link to are terrible. The default should be to book your ticket direct from the airline, preferably the airline that is operating your flight.

Alan_Bowen

And if you want to be very money saving wait until 13th January when the current charges for booking with credit cards, often 2% or even more, become outlawed throughout the EU.

Remember if you book connecting flights where the connection is in the US, you will have to go through customs and immigration at your first port of call, so allow plenty of time to transfer. If you fly via Dublin you can go through the procedures before you leave Dublin and arrive as a domestic passenger in the US and save a couple of hours on arrival. Direct flights are more expensive but are certainly my preferred option if available

michele-p

Have a look at Thomas Cook flights - depending on where you want to go. We flew manchester to New York JFK with them, and were very happy with the service. They also do other locations too, did I see an advert recently for Delta from Newcastle to USA, I can't quite remember!

My biggest tip, insurance, make sure it covers the fact you are DIY - so if your flight is cancelled what would happen to your accommodation. I'm not putting you off here, we pretty much always go DIY rather than a package!

Another tip, check and recheck your flights on the site of whoever it's booked with. i booked internal flights from washington DC once, only to find we couldn't check in as they'd moved the flight time forward and hadn't told us. we'd missed the flight! they were very helpful in getting us onto a different flight, to a nearby destination, but still had to hire a car to get back on track!

bspm

We fly to America four times a year and always book our flights through skyscanner, cheaper than booking direct with the airline.

Only time I book with airline is if I am using my avios or virgin points.

Been doing it this way for over 8 years, never had a single problem so not sure why posters are saying there are....

richardw

bspm wrote: »

We fly to America four times a year and always book our flights through skyscanner, cheaper than booking direct with the airline.....

Skyscanner isn’t a travel agent, so who are you booking with?

jpsartre

bspm wrote: »

Been doing it this way for over 8 years, never had a single problem so not sure why posters are saying there are....

Because there are thousands of complaints on forums like Tripadvisor from people that have been burned by (certain) 3rd party sites. As above, you're not booking from Skyscanner and there are 3rd party sites I'd have little hesitation using (although there are always certain downsides of doing so).