Online Booking

[waimarie]

I would welcome any advice, warning or tips regarding making airline reservations on the internet.

In March/April of 2006 I am hoping to travel to NZ, flying from Humberside Airport to Amsterdam and connecting up for a flight to Auckland with a stopover en route.

In the past I have always used a travel agent such as Trailfinders but this time am thinking of making my own reservations online. I have managed to find a suitable timetable using either SIA or Malaysian (from Amsterdam that is, only KLM flies HUY-AMS).

Is there any advantage in my doing this? Do I have any safeguards or would I be better off leaving it to the pros?

[barb1314]

Hi...I have always used the net...AIRLINE NETWORK..to be precise and have had no problems with any flight booked so far.They have a massive choice of airlines and are brilliant on the phone. The only thing I would say is to use your credit card so you are covered by that if anything happens and take out separate insurance...it's always cheaper. Hope that helps you...have a great trip!

[lady_p_gold]

I go to the States a lot and I always book on line. Never had a problem at all. Go for it!

[jno]

I've booked with sites like Travelocity before. But the more complicated the itinerary, the more inclined I am to leave it to some human like Trailfinders to do the work. When I've done occasional double checks, I've always found their fares are about as good as anything I could find myself, and as I say they do all the hard work.

[lou 26]

ive recently started booking my flights on www.A1travel.com ive never had a problem with them and they are the cheapest ive found which is always a bonus!

[dzug]

If you are going to want a stopover in Singapore or Kuala Lumpar then you are going to be better off using a human to book it for you. A straight through connecting flight, then the net may be better.

[Laura-sakura]

If youre under 30 (i think) I recommend STA travel. The prices are good and you can talk to a person over the phone after checking their web. As the other posters have said, I have also never had any problems booking over the internet.

[evo_Rizla]

The last couple of holidays we've pretty much booked completely online, all the way from airport car parking, through flights to hire cars, hotels, trips etc. Never had a problem with it. The only piece of advice i'd give is use a web based email (maybe even set one up for the holiday-saves on junk emails when you get home), so you have access to it round the world, also print off important emails etc. Also as has been said before, use your credit card for it.

DZUG, we thought that when we went to Aus, 2 night stopover in KL, also flying into Brisbane and out of Melbourne so we used one of the high street shops. Flight times from UK and KL changed (looking at Malaysian airways webby they'd stopped the flights we were booked on a while before hand, to which the travel agent said we were wrong when she booked, but then had to phone us a few weeks later). Also the agent had only booked us in for a 1 night stopover for the hotel, so luckly they had the room andjust payed for the extra night. I guess my own fault for not checking well enough.

[funnywebsite]

I have not booked a holiday on-line before but booked car parking at the airport and saved some money. The last time I went on holiday I looked on Teletext and got some prices and took my holiday down to Thomas Cook and asked them to price match which they did. You could try the same with your on-line holiday if it is in a brochure if you can proof the prices. They do not surf the internet though as they don't have access.

[waimarie]

Many thanks to everybody - It seems a pretty wide range of success or otherwise. I quite like the idea of first pricing everything online and then getting a comparison from the pros. Sounds a bit mean though.