[TRAVEL TIPS]The Ultimate Guide to Pick the Right Airlines for First-Time Travellers
It is that time of the year again! Now, for all of us that made travel as a second life, we are already in the know on how to go about preparing ourselves to take those trips, right? We know which flight to choose, which time of the seasons to go to avoid any unnecessary weather outbreak, what to bring, what not to bring, and all of the stuff along those lines. However, for first timers, it might be a daunting task. Fret not, my friend, I have been in your shoes for my first travel out into the world and the nervousness was as real as the sun that time. That’s why, I’m providing you the ultimate guide to make part of your first trip a smooth one. In this entry, we’re going to go through how to get your flight tickets booking from the right airlines out there.
How many airlines are there?
This is similar to the question of the beginning of the universe. There are way too many airlines out there that could take you to your destination. To one country, there could be hundreds of airlines that could do the job for you. I bet that will make you scratch your head on choosing the right one. I’m a fan favourite of Jetstar, so a lot of the examples I would relate to will be based on Jetstar, but of course, it is not only applicable to Jetstar, instead, it’s a pretty general guideline you can use when looking into other airlines out there. I’m just a fan of Jetstar, that’s pretty much it.
What to look out for before sealing the deal on those tickets?
1) Choose your destination
This is pretty clear cut. Do you have a destination in mind? You might find this hard to believe, but there are some first-time travellers out there that go through the airlines first before even deciding where to go. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, maybe different people have different approaches to things, but it’s relatively better and less anxiety to have the exact location you have in mind before you start airline hunting.
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2) One way or Two way?
Okay, there’s pros and cons to these two choices. The good side of going for two way flight is that it saves you the hassle of having to buy the return flight afterwards. You never know when you get too excited booking the departing flight, you might actually forget to book the flight that would get you home. Another thing that most people opt for buying two-way tickets is it tends to be cheaper than buying separately. I ran a little bit of experiment just for the kicks of it through Jetstar where I compare buying two separate tickets and two-way tickets, and it turns out the theory of it being cheaper is relatively close to the truth. Why I say “close”? Because there are cases where a one-way ticket is cheaper than two-way tickets. Impressive, right? This could be a good practice for you to help determine which side of the road you want to go.
3) Read those pesky’s terms and condition carefully
You can’t really blame anyone if you miss out the terms and conditions when you are booking your flights. Never. Ever. Skip. That. Part. I understand the sighing. I sigh too having to read the lengthy and legal-type language that at some point we can only understand 40% of the content, BUT, it is an important part. Be sure to look out about the cancellation policy and the refund policy. That’s very important information to digest. You don’t want to have to cancel your flight and don’t get your money back. That’ll be two things to cry about if that happens.
4) Knowing the perks and benefits could give you either the best or the worst first experience ever
Different airlines have different perks and benefits to their flyers. With Jetstar, you’ll get 20% off for seat selection and baggage fees if you are a member with their Club Jetstar. Other airlines might include class upgrade, first class lounge services, extra baggage allowance and more. These are the kind of things you might want to consider as well if you really want to feel that flying experience to the max.
That’s pretty much the highlights of it. Let me know if you would like to know more, and I’ll keep on sharing some insights to you. Don’t be afraid to take your first step into travelling, trust me, it’s going to be a memorable step, and you would be addicted to do more of it!
Happy travelling, peeps!