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.

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....:confused: 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?

One more bit
 

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.

Most airlines no longer require reconfirmation. They used to decades ago. I think the travel agent is telling you to reconfirm to cover themselves. You can call the airline if you like but they'll just tell you it's unnecessary.

ah well that's good, thanks for all the help!

13 days to go!

Have a great time! And "report back" if it isn't too much trouble...:D