questions from a first time flyer...
 

um...i'm doing the whole thing of booking and flying for the first time in january. I am flying to the US from the uk. I booked my ticket on expedia and read all these horror stories afterwards about how bad the service was how randomly things go wrong when you get to the airport....which really made me wish i'd booked from the site of the airline i'm flying with KLM....but i cant really go back now....expedia looked so friendly and professional....:(

just wondering....you frequent fliers....is expedia mostly ok? i really have no plans to change or cancel anything so all the customer service stuff shouldnt matter that much....

they wont do anything weird like randomly change my journey at the last minute and force me to take another route will they?

i'm just paranoid and scared something will go wrong out of my control and i'll be stuck

um thanks....

nixon

Most online sites are fine. The problems come when there are flight changes or delays. Some airlines tell you to go to your travel agent (Expedia in this case), instead of correcting the situation.

The most important question of course, is have you signed up for a frequent flyer program! :)

Welcome to FT!

i guess i'm just in general a paranoid person, i keep thinking of the worst case scenario....me stranded in an airport abandoned by expedia and not reaching my destination.

anyway thanks for the weclome...and no i havent joined a frequent flier thingy, i really look forward to getting to my destination but i'm kind of afraid of the stuff going wrong all the time, hopefully experience will rectify that.

Welcome to Flyertalk and welcome to the world of air traveling. No reason to be worried. Expedia is a reliable online travel agency. Just try to relax and enjoy your first flight. Any further question ask us or take a look at KLM's website.

Welcome to FT!

Enjoy your travel and make sure to join the Frequent Flyer program.
Biggest travel disaster would be not earning the points :p

my question is this....i see the problem is that if the flight is delayed and i miss a connecting flight or something that KLM wont help me because i didnt book with them....but i dont understand that....because expedia is just the travel agent not the flight arranger so why should KLM expect expedia to deal with problems which is not even concerned with.

KLM has to take care of you. They are the carrier you made the contract with. Expedia is just a middle man. So in case of delay it is KLM's responsibility to take care of you.

I wouldn't worry about it. If there is a problem, call KLM and explain it to them. If they don't tell you what you want to hear, call back and speak with a agent that is hopefully more helpful.

Are you flying into the states on KLM and then flying to your final destination on a different airline? If so, this is where possible problems could arise.

HOWEVER...however you look at it there is NOTHING you can do right now that won't cost you money. Most of the time there are no problems so the chances of you having a problem not great.

Also note...when you read about problems on here you also have to take into account how often people fly. If you're taking dozens or hundreds of flights per year, you're going to encounter a problem. Statistically you are going to be on one of those flights. An occasional flyer (like you) statistically is not likely to encounter a problem.

My advice:
-Go to KLM's and verify your reservation. Make sure everything is correct. Go to www.seatguru.com and choose the best seats you are able to.
-Get to the airport early. Make sure you have proper documentation to get through immigration. KLM will want to check your documentation and if you don't have what you need, they will not let you board.
-If you can, don't check luggage (if the airlines don't touch your luggage they can't loose it...it isn't likely going to happen but it can happen).
-Be at the gate exactly when it says to on your boarding pass. Wait your turn to board. If they are boarding first class and you're traveling in economy, don't board.
-Be patient at all times

Have a good trip!

Don't forget your travel insurance.

Waste of money.

I certainly agree!

I've never knowingly bought travel insurance. Since I try to travel on my preferred alliance, or on reward tickets, the fees for cancellations are usually much less than what the insurance costs.

In fact, when/if I die on a trip, they can plop my carcass in that country, or send my tin full of carbon bits to wherever. ;)

It depends. Travel insurance is not only for luggage, but can be helpful in case of medical emergencies. I don't know how this works in the UK, so OP has to check this first, but I guess it's gonna be a good thing for him to do.

Only the annulation insurance: that's almost always a waste of money...

It certainly isn't waste of money for some of us...

Any Aussie who travelled to the US (in particular) without travel insurance that included very high (unlimited preferably) medical cover for one would be a twit. Cover for aeromedical evacuation.. likewise.. Liability... likewise.

If you simply meant cancellation insurance then yes, I tend to agree....

The cover I buy (religiously!) for my US trips includes that... but I buy it for the other coverages...

yeah i switch from KLM to northwest airlines at Amsterdamn schipol airport. i feel like everything is correct on the site because i typed in my code and my details came up on their site.

yeah i know there's nothing i can really do...it only worked out a small amount cheaper than from the airline so i just feel like if i'd have doen a bit more research about expedia i wouldnt have to worry so much.....but i guess many people use expedia and get through to their destination fine. Also many of the problems seemed to be in regards to trying to cancel or change the dates of flights.

Maybe it's just jitters as oppose to paranoia. :D And like everyone said, don't worry too much about it.