I've only bothered with travel insurance once. That was back when I went with a group tour over to Europe. Since then I've never bothered again.

Really, don't worry. Buying from expedia is practically no different than from the carrier direct once you are at the airport. I use expedia.co.uk all the time for bookings and have never had a problem yet. In fact I have found them excellent, especially when forgetting to charge change fees! 65 flights so far this year and no problems yet... touch wood.

Enjoy the cash saving and all will be fine!

As for travel insurance, it is an ABSOLUTE MUST for those travelling to the states from the UK. The astronomical cost of medical treatment and the liability (sue sue sue) aspects are the reasons why. Try to buy from an internet site rather than overpriced travel agencies. I normally pay £60 for a years worldwide insurance.

dont worry, i've got insurance

thanks a lot for all the reassuring words people, i feel a lot less anxious about it now.

i was just wondering why they're taking such a damn long to take this money out of my account?

i havent seen it come up on my statements, i know for a fact it's 'earmarked' which stops me spending the money i owe them, does it usually take a while for such sums to be finally tansferred or something?

If it makes you feel better, make sure you have Expedia's phone numbers in case something does go wrong. This is in addition to having your intinerary handy. The one time I had an issue, Expedia was very helpful and rectified my problem. Have a great trip!

Are you saying that Expedia hasn't taken the money off your credit/debit card? If they haven't, I'd call the airline and specifically ask them if the itinerary has been ticketed. Just because it shows up in the system does not mean it is paid for. Travel agents are commonly allowed to book a reservation and then pay for it later, should the customer agree to the quoted itinerary.

Might I piggyback a similar question onto this (very helpful!) thread?

I am not a newbie traveller.. but I have recently booked International travel through Expedia for the first time (one through .com, the other through .com.au)...

That booked through the Aussie site (3 flights, OZ/SQ/AC respectively) comes up just fine- complete and correct - on the SQ website using the Expedia.com.au provided confirmation code (6 character alpha numeric)...

The other itinerary (TG/NH/OZ/OZ# operated by AC) booked on expedia.com is impossible to "verify" on any of those airlines websites (most require membership of their own FFP to be able to check anyway, NH allows "guests" to check but the expedia provided conf code is NOT recognized...?)

None of the individual conf codes for that itinerary "work" on checkmytrip either.... Hence my concern....

Any suggestions for other ways to check online? I am reasonably confident that everything is OK (why shouldn't it be?).. but "verification" (as I was able to get for the OTHER trip) would certainly be nice!!

If online checks don't work I suppose I could just call each airline!!

I would call the airlines...probably easier in this case than trying to fumble around with airline websites that you're not familar with.

As for flight insurance...... I have to disagree that it is a waste of money. I always used to think it was a waste until a friend of mine came over from Australia and became terribly ill and had to be hospitalized. BOTH lungs collapsed and he had to have surgery to correct it and a 5 day hospital stay. Without the insurance, the bills totalled over $100,000.00, with his insurance it was all completely paid. He is also a completely healthy athletic person so what happened to him was a fluke. He was very lucky to have the insurance.

money has gone thru now!

i have a 5.5 hour layover in amsterdam, which at least leaves some time if my first flight gets delayed....dont have any plans to leave the airport.....just going to eat some food and read and stuff....

If you like plane spotting and the weather is not too bad you could do plane spotting. I think Schiphol has a viewing area. There is also a small museum which belongs to the Rijksmuseum. So a lot of things to do.

Rules may have changed by the time you fly in January, but currently there is a "one-bag" rule for carry-on baggage at all UK airports. This rule may be relaxed after 7th January at some airports so before your trip it's worth checking the Airport security website as well as the website of the airport from which you fly.

There is also a rule (not just in the UK but in other countries too) about taking liquids, gels and aerosols in your hand luggage. Reading this carefully should minimize any unnecessary hassle at the airpot.

Also make sure that you have your booking code as well as the e-ticket (etix) number with you. You will probably be asked for the address where you'll be staying in the US when you check-in. Make sure you have the address (street address rather than hotel name) handy.

Have a good trip

isnt the booking code just the same as the eticket?

i dont know

i think it appears on my eticket anyway.

Do you mean something like this?
Booking code = 6 digit number/letter
E-ticket number = 13 digit number

In that case you'll be fine.

i got a confirmation email that said also said to do this.....

'For other than UK departure, please check locally with the outbound airline. We recommend that you contact your airline directly to reconfirm onward or return flights 72 hours prior to departure. Reconfirming your first flight is not necessary.'

does this mean just call them and check that everything is in order?

Caveats to tix not purchased directly from the airline generally only matter if you change your ticket/mind for personal reasons. If your travel gets bolloxed due to any airline issues like weather, delays, etc. I've never heard a story about someone being stranded unless they were traveling some small airline that only arrives once a week in an out of the way airport, or they were nasty and demanding at the airport. KLM/NW are partners, I can almost guarantee that you'll be fine no matter what happens, expedia does not to my knowlege sell consolidator fares and the like so quit worrying and enjoy your trip.