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Avoiding flight-booking pitfalls
By Anne Marie Razza
You were all geared up for that mission to the Motor City, but somehow your itinerary had you headed deep into the heart of Texas.
With just a few errant keystrokes, mistakes can get travelers into trouble when they're rushing to complete an online flight booking.
That can cost time and money and cause a whole lot of frustration. But it also can be avoided.
Here are a few pitfalls to watch for:
Double-check your city or airport codes. An incorrect code can route you to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) instead of Detroit (DTW). Keep in mind that some cities are serviced by multiple airports. Chicago (CHI), for example, has O'Hare (ORD) and Midway (MDW).
Orbitz customers who are unsure of a city or airport code have two choices:
- Use the "airport code list" on the Orbot search engine.
- Type in the city, state or country, and choose from a list of airports.
Review the name on the ticket. Travelers' names must match what appears on their government-issued ID, or they risk confusion at security -- or worse, being denied boarding. Once a ticket is issued, airlines do not allow passengers to assign tickets to other people or change names on tickets.
Make sure you're comfortable with the connection time between flights. Although airlines must abide by minimum requirements for connection times, some people may feel they need more time to get from gate to gate.
You are the master of your mouse! If you use a "tracker ball" mouse -- and are selecting from choices in a drop-down menu -- be sure to click again outside the box before scrolling down the page. Otherwise, your action could accidentally be changing your selection in the drop-down menu.
Lastly, look over the flight details before you purchase. Take a moment to review your itinerary before completing the transaction. Then check it again in confirmation e-mails and "My Stuff." An oversight is usually easier to fix earlier rather than later.
Anne Marie Razza is a 24-year veteran of the travel industry.
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