What is booked first, the long-haul flights or the ground arrangements?
Time and time again I see people booking flights on so called “Specials” and then have to bend the ground arrangements around the non-refundable, non-changeable airfares. So what is more important here, the 24 hour flight if it’s Australia to Europe or the week to a month or more, ground arrangements?
Get your priorities right. Are you not going to see, smell, touch, taste and hear the destination? The airfare difference between one special to another special is three-fifths of stuff all in the greater scheme of things. So get your itinerary to a point of certainty before booking flights. Airbus will soon be giving away the double-decker A380’s so there is a massive amount of capacity. And over capacity means one special is nearly always followed by another. Before you jump on me, there are exceptions like school holidays, Easter, Christmas and Chinese New Year Etc. If you are going to book it yourself get the land arrangements’ in order first.
An efficient itinerary saves time and money but it’s all in the planning. I strongly suggest you talk to a professional travel agent, but you have to find a good one. And a good one will have ideas you hadn’t thought of and open doors you can’t. More importantly they get your travel dreams to a point where air and ground arrangements go hand in hand and can be booked virtually together.
I declare my hand that I have worked for an airline, a tour operator and currently own a travel agency.
Mr Jones
