5 must-know tips about international flights!

1. While some carriers price airfare on per-leg basis, meaning the round-trip airfare is simply the sum of two one-way ticket (e.g. Southwest), for international flights round-trip tickets are almost the same price as one-way tickets. Sometimes one-way tickets are even more expensive than round-trip tickets. The reason behind this is that airlines know people who purchase one-way ticket aren’t as price sensitive. A good example is business travelers, they have to go somewhere for a meeting or event but cannot be sure when they will fly back.
2. Don’t skip leg on your air tickets! If you skip one leg on your flight ticket, your ticket status will be marked as “no-show” on airlines’ system and you won’t be able to use any of the remaining flights on that ticket. For example, if you purchased a round-trip ticket flying from New York to Beijing on April 1^st and returning on April 10^th. Now if you have an emergency to attend to and missed the first flight. You decided to book a different one-way flight to Beijing and use the remaining flight from Beijing to New York. You check in at Beijing airport and the check-in counter will tell you your reservation is already cancelled. There are different reasons why airlines do this. One of them is nowadays one-way tickets sometimes are more expensive than round-trip tickets. Although it seems smart to buy the round-trip ticket to save money and just use one leg of the ticket, it’s not possible, unless you plan to use on the first leg.
3. Your tickets aren’t issued until you see the e-ticket numbers. There are two types of confirmation: confirmation code and e-ticket numbers. When you call an airline company about your reservation, they usually ask for one of them to locate your reservation. Although both of them will help the airlines locate your reservation, they are totally different. People nowadays purchase air tickets from OTAs (Expedia, Kayak..etc), travel agencies, airlines, or even credit card companies. When someone helps you book an ticket, they must first create a PNR (personal name record) on their GDS(Global Distribution System) there’s a 6 digit confirmation code created associated with the PNR. But the e-ticket no. isn’t created until this air ticket is actually issued and the airline company received the money(airfare).
4. When to buy the cheapest air tickets? Every year there are two peak seasons for international air travels. The first is Summertime and the second is Christmas and New Year. Summer peak season usually starts from late May and last until late August. Christmas and New Year peak season can begin in middle December and last until middle January. If you are not traveling during the peak seasons, it’s likely you can get really good prices.
5. Where to buy the cheapest air tickets? If you are booking a group tour, always ask the travel agent if they offer air-inclusive prices because they usually have group air reserved and they prices are very good. If you don’t like the group flight itinerary, you may book your own too. Although travel agents can’t necessarily give you better prices on Economy tickets, they usually can provide you discounts on Business Class tickets as they receive commissions from the airlines.