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Choosing an airline

If you’re flying domestically, choosing an airline is easy.  Your choice will probably depend on price, number of connections and departure time.  But, if you’re flying internationally, choosing an airline can be a whole new ball game.  US residents are familiar with most airlines being the same.  Not true overseas.  You should do your research before booking on overseas carriers.

Here are a few tips:

  • Safety
    That’s a pretty important one.   Usually you don’t give airline safety much of a second thought.

    You would be surprised at how many countries don’t give full attention to airline safety.  The FAA updates a list of those countries and their compliance level to generally accepted airline safety rules each month. And don’t think that these are just third world countries that have issues. Belize, Uruguay, Paraguay and others were on the list as being “insufficient” in December 2010.  You can find the list by clicking here.

    The International Air Transport Association (IATA) also requires it’s member airlines to submit to continual safety audits.  You can see of those who have passed this audit on their website.

    The EU also publishes a “blacklist” of airlines that are prohibited from flying to EU countries due to their being “unsafe to operate in EU airspace”.  That list is updated frequently and can be found by clicking here.

    Airsafe.com also tabulates in-depth information on airline safety, including crash and safety statistic by airline.

    A couple of years ago we were flying from Singapore to Sulawesi, Indonesia (on a major Asian carrier).  As we were on final approach for landing (in a rainstorm, no less), we passed a mountain with a large (think 3-4 story) cross on the side of the hill right outside the airport.  That was the site of an air crash in 2007 where a small airline’s 737 crashed into the hillside during a storm.  A few seconds later, we did a “touch and go” on the runway as the pilot thought it was “unsafe to land” during the storm.  That pretty much brought safety to the forefront of our minds. 

  • Seating
    Before booking on an unfamiliar airline, you should check out the seating plan for that airline.  Many discount carriers abroad, try to cram many more seats into their cabins that traditional US or EU mainline airlines.  For example, EU discount carrier EasyJet’sseat pitch is 29″.  Most airlines average 32″-33″ of pitch.  Seat pitch is the distance between seats. While 3″ doesn’t sound like much, if you’re much taller than 5″10″, you’ll notice a pretty good difference in leg room.  Also, some discount carriers use narrower seats, so they can fit more seats across.  If you think you lack elbow room on a mainline carrier, wait till you get to some of the discount carriers.

    A good resource on seating is SeatGuru.  They have seating plans and information for almost every airline worldwide.  They also identify what are the “best” seats to sit in in the cabin as well as the “worst.”

  • Airline Alliances
    When booking on any airline, you should check to see if they are part of an “alliance” or partner of an existing airline that you may use frequently for domestic travel.  If so, you can probably earn miles in your regular airlines frequent flyer program, plus get some of the same benefits you get on your regular airline.  There are several different alliances, but the largest worldwide are the Star Alliance, SkyTeam and OneWorld.  If you can earn miles by flying another airline or get additional perks, it may be worth paying a slightly higher fare.
     
  • Non-Stop or Many Stops
    You should always look closely when booking itineraries to see how many stops your flight may make before it gets to it’s final destination.  For a few bucks more, you might be able to take a non-stop flight, which means you’ll be able to spend more time at your final destination vs. time in the plane.  If it seems like you’re making too many stops, make sure to check other carriers that may get you there faster.
     
  • Dependability
    The last thing you want while on vacation is to have your flight cancelled or delayed.  Who wants to be spending time in an airport when you could be on the beach or on the slopes.  You should check the on-time performance of the air carriers your considering using for your flights. FlightStats, can not only give you on-time performance and cancellation statistics for most major airlines worldwide, but they can also give you information for specific flights, routes, times/dates or even how often flights are diverted.
     
  • Restrictions
    Before booking, you should check to see if the airline you’re thinking about has any restrictions on how much luggage you can bring on board, how much luggage you can check, what type of sporting equipment you can bring, etc.

Comparing airfares

With airlines trying to get every nickel from every passenger, it’s important to compare airfare.  Just checking airfare on-line may not give you an accurate picture of what you’ll actually be paying for your air travel experience.  Many airlines quote only the airfare portion of your trip, which doesn’t include many add-on fees.  Unfortunately, this means you’ll have to do a bit of research and some handy calculator work to see what really may be the total cost of your trip.

So, here’s a quick list of fees you will want to investigate before you make your final airfare selection:

  • Luggage fees
  • Carry-on luggage fees
  • Overweight luggage fees
  • Seat selection fees
  • Early boarding fees
  • Food & Beverage fees
  • Cancellation/Rebooking Fees (Should your plans change unexpectedly)
  • Taxes & Surcharges

One last thing to check is to see if you can earn miles on the airfare you’re paying.  Some airlines have lower fares in exchange for not giving you any mileage credit in your frequent flyer program.  Most airlines list eligible fare classes to earn miles on their websites.

Benefits of airline loyalty

There are benefits to airline loyalty. Loyalty can bring perks.  Depending on how loyal you are, depends on the number of perks you’ll get.  If you have no loyalty, then departure time, flight time, number of connections and more than likely price become your first consideration when booking airfare.

It’s definitely no secret that “great service” is hard to come by with an airline.  (OK, OK….if you fly JetBlue, Southwest or Singapore Airlines that might not be true.)   But giving most of your business to a certain airline, can have it’s benefits.  And, the value of those benefits can add up quickly if you fly even just a few times a year.  On most airlines, you can check at least one piece of luggage for free by flying just a few trips a year.  If you fly 6 round trips a year, that can save you $300, assuming you pay $25 for the bag for each leg of the trip.  So, even if you paid $25 more per ticket for those 6 trips, you’re still saving $150.  Of course, the more you fly, the more benefits you get.

We fly United or Star Alliance carriers almost exclusively.  We use other airlines only as a last resort.  Why?  Because we have a top tier flying status with United (1K).  Now, it’s not that we LOVE the airline by any means.  But since most of our air travel departs from Denver, a large United hub, they have the most convenient flight times and gateway destinations than any other airline at the airport.  Luckily, Southwest and Frontier also have a large presence at Denver, so it keeps United’s airfares to most destinations reasonable.

So what do we get for that loyalty?  Well, quite a bit actually.  We can check up to 3 bags free each to any destination in the world.  We can also carry an extra 20 lbs per bag than other passengers (which comes in handy when you’re flying to far flung destinations).  We’re at the top of the list for domestic upgrades and should we have to ride in “the back of the bus”, we at least get seating with expanded leg room.  On international trips, we get 6 “free” business class upgrades per year.  Now, we don’t always get those upgrades, but most of the time we do.  We get to board the plane first.  Now, you may not think that’s great, but with everyone trying to carry on vs check a bag, it’s a lot nicer when you’re assured if getting to store your bag right above your seat vs half way back in the plane.

Another advantage of being a loyal customer to one two airlines, is that you have the potential to receive better service, should something go wrong.  Should a flight be cancelled, airlines will usually give their frequent fliers first crack at open seats on the next available flight and probably will automatically rebook them.   Everyday customers will simply have to take their chance, probably stand in line with the masses and hope that they can get on one of the next two or three flights the carrier has available.  Loyal fliers also usually get a special customer service number to call vs being sent to the foreign call center for assistance.  When a problem arises with your travel, it can be very helpful to talk to someone who’s familiar with the way the system works.  These calls usually go to “seasoned” airline employees who have worked in a domestic call center for years and can get you’re issue resolved quickly.

So, is loyalty worth it?  Well, you really have to decide if you want to put your eggs in one basket.  We’ve been flying United for almost 10 years and while the airline is just so-so at treating it’s premium passengers well, they are getting better.  And, if we added up what that loyalty is worth, it’s certainly worth more than the extra $20 or $40 we may spend on a ticket from time to time.  Since we fly to Asia quite a bit, I can tell you that as much as we may complain, those complaints go away when we’re sitting in Business on a 17 hour flight to Singapore at a mid-range economy fare instead of being scrunched up in the back of the buss in Economy.

As airlines continue to add fees for just about everything you can think of, loyalty to one or two carriers does look like it will become more and more advantageous.  If you’re just starting out traveling and aren’t sure who you’ll be loyal to, you should still sign up right away for the airlines frequent flyer program so you’ll start earning credit for what you do fly.

Before booking your airfare..

Before you purchase your airline ticket, here are a few things to consider before making your reservation:

  1. Pay with a credit card.
    While the financial health of many airlines has greatly improved, you never know when a carrier may decide to stop flying due to bankruptcy or other financial or regulatory issues.  When you pay with a credit card, you’ll at least have a better chance of getting your money back on your airline ticket should something go awry.  You should also heavily consider buying travel insurance to protect yourself as well.
     
  2. Make sure you have enough time between flights if your buying airfare from more than one carrier.
    If you’re buying more than one airline ticket for your travels, make sure you allow enough time between connecting flights between the two different carriers.  If the flight on one ticket is delayed or cancelled, you may lose all the money spent on your second ticket if you can’t make that flight.  It’s always a good idea, when possible, to book all of your flights on one ticket, even if it’s with different carriers.  Most airlines have what they call “interline” agreements with other carriers, that allows you to do this.  This can protect you if there’s an issue with any flight on the ticket.
     
  3. Review the airlines cancellation/rebooking policies.
    Just like considering the price of an airline ticket, you should also review the airlines cancellation and rebooking policies before you fly.  It may be worth paying a bit more for a ticket, if they have a better policy.  You never what may happen on your trip that could cause you to make a change in your ticketed itinerary.
     
  4. Check what type of equipment they’ll be flying to your destination.
    Don’t every assume you’ll be taking a large plane to your destination.  If you don’t like flying in small planes, it’s always worth checking to see what type of aircraft your airline will be flying.  Especially if you’re headed to a smaller destination.