Buying a airline ticket online

Outeast1000

I am SP age now and am not sure how to purchase a airline ticket online somebody explain the process to me 

I know you need a debt / credit card to do it what i do not know is how you receive  confirmation of your booking do you receive it by email or text or some other way ?

Voyager2002

You will receive an email.

Some airlines will also send you a text message, but for an additional fee.

Many airlines offer their own mobile "app", which can display your boarding pass, saving you the bother of printing one. There might be discounts available for buying through the "app" rather than the website.

A warning often repeated on these boards: buy only from the airline, not from an online "agent".

Ayr_Rage

It's a good idea to register for the airline's loyalty program and marketing emails before purchasing, no guarantee but you may even get special offers.

Emirates, my usual airline send regular details of offers and the ticket comes as a PDF file attached to an email.

eDicky

Having selected your flight and paid for it by card (ideally direct with the airline), an email gives details of your booking and how to proceed for checking in etc. Your name and passport details will be electronically connected to the flight booking so in the airport you need no physical ticket, just your passport and boarding pass, which can be printed or displayed on your phone. The whole thing can be done on a smartphone if you have one, using the airline's app.

SiliconChip

Voyager2002 said:

A warning often repeated on these boards: buy only from the airline, not from an online "agent".

While this is good advice, if you're not confident about the process of buying from an airline you could consider visiting a phsical travel agent to get them to do the work for you - it's such a long time that I did it that I'm unsure if it costs significantly more than buying it yourself.

Blackbriar_040

Few years back, now!

But I remember getting a quote for flights to the U.S from the Flight Center! 
I had already looked at prices online, but thought I'd see if their was much difference if booking in person! 

I gave the agent the same flight preferences/info, I used on the B.A website. 

They offered to book me the same flight as I had found already, but with a additional fee of £40!

Not bad for for typing in a name/passport number!

DullGreyGuy

Blackbriar_040 said:

But I remember getting a quote for flights to the U.S from the Flight Center! 
I had already looked at prices online, but thought I'd see if their was much difference if booking in person! 

I gave the agent the same flight preferences/info, I used on the B.A website. 

They offered to book me the same flight as I had found already, but with a additional fee of £40!

Not bad for for typing in a name/passport number!

£40 isn't just to cover the salary of the person thats typing it in nor just the 5 minutes they spend talking to you... the expensive building on the high street has to be paid for which is much more expensive than either a large out of town call centre or a small space for a few servers in a data centre. That person has to have a manager, HR person, IT Helpdesk etc, small offices require a higher proportion of management and support compared to large sites due to holidays and sickness etc. They have a desk, chair, computer, the building takes up utilities. 

For all those people you aren't just paying for the time they are dealing with you but all the back office bits, all those enquiries they field but dont convert to a sale. 

There are some positives, they dont have to pay GoogleAdwords for the physical shop in principle but I think its not as clear cut as FC physical stores do also deal with online/phone sales as well as in person... its not like the likes of most banks where the branches only deal with in person and they have vast centralised contact centres dealing with phone and online. 

Outeast1000

eDicky said:

Having selected your flight and paid for it by card (ideally direct with the airline), an email gives details of your booking and how to proceed for checking in etc. Your name and passport details will be electronically connected to the flight booking so in the airport you need no physical ticket, just your passport and boarding pass, which can be printed or displayed on your phone. The whole thing can be done on a smartphone if you have one, using the airline's app.

Do I get the boarding pass in the email ? 

Voyager2002

Outeast1000 said:

eDicky said:

Having selected your flight and paid for it by card (ideally direct with the airline), an email gives details of your booking and how to proceed for checking in etc. Your name and passport details will be electronically connected to the flight booking so in the airport you need no physical ticket, just your passport and boarding pass, which can be printed or displayed on your phone. The whole thing can be done on a smartphone if you have one, using the airline's app.

Do I get the boarding pass in the email ? 

That depends on the airline, but not usually in my experience. With Ryanair and some others you must either print it at home or display it on their 'app' on your mobile telephone. (If you ask them to print it for you at the airport there is a fee of around £40.)

eDicky

Outeast1000 said:

eDicky said:

Having selected your flight and paid for it by card (ideally direct with the airline), an email gives details of your booking and how to proceed for checking in etc. Your name and passport details will be electronically connected to the flight booking so in the airport you need no physical ticket, just your passport and boarding pass, which can be printed or displayed on your phone. The whole thing can be done on a smartphone if you have one, using the airline's app.

Do I get the boarding pass in the email ? 

No, you still have to 'check-in' to get your boarding pass. Depending on your destination it often involves declaring exactly who you are with full passport details, I think it's called API (Advance Passenger Information?). This can all be done online or phone app, sometime in advance of the flight, if you leave it until the last minute at the airport it can cost extra.

NoodleDoodleMan

Do you have a relative or friend who is computer literate to make the booking for you - and subsequently download and print off the boarding passes ?

I suspect you may not be comfortable using a mobile 'phone for any part of the process ?

Therefore the suggestion of using a "High Street" travel agent would be good advice - and they can provide the paper copies of the boarding passes which are the better option IMO.

Can I ask which airline you are looking to travel with - and where you are intending to fly to ?

Certain airlines currently have a very negative reputation for customer care etc. when things don't go according to plan.