The delight customers often feel when purchasing cheap fares, be they cheap airplane tickets or cheap vacation packages is often later tempered, if not completely offset, by the frustrations of later dealing with rude fellow passengers, a seemingly forever growing list of airline fees, and/or stressful delays.
The following are ways to improve your flying experiences:
Select a flight departing in the early morning since such flights are less likely to be delayed. A pleasant side plus is that fellow passengers are often too tired to get unruly early in the morning.
Deal with any airline reservation problem quickly. Most airlines allow customers up to 24 hours to change a ticket without paying onerous fees.
When selecting which airline to fly on you should look at an airlines frequent flier program, the convenience of the times it flies to your desired destination, and the price being quoted.
Be aware that passenger comfort is another important factor to consider. There is a significant different between airlines seat widths and seat pitch (which is the space between a passenger and the seat of front of him). If flying coach, JetBlue seats offer the most leg space. Its satellite TVs in front of every seat can reduce stress during turbulence and keep kids entertained.
The location of a passengers seat can make a significant difference. SeatGuru.com provides plane layouts for every major airline, providing information on everything from leg room to nearness of the bathrooms.
Print your boarding pass 24 hours prior to departure time, after first confirming that your seat assignment is still the one you want. Airlines sometimes change plane size and your current seat assignment may be undesirable. Airlines typically release exit row seating 24 hours in advance so you should see if you can switch seat assignments.
Passengers generally are able to save on checked baggage fees by purchasing checked baggage tags online. Also, if you find that you are on a particularly crowded flight, you might want to check your luggage planeside where most airlines do not charge a bag fee.
If a passenger discovers that his seatmate is particularly irritating, he should ask to be moved elsewhere if space allows.
Finally, if a formal complaint is warranted, send an email directly through the airlines website. Airlines are obligated to respond to complaints in writing. Depending on the response, you can follow up by registering your complaint with the Department of Transportation by going to http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/.
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