Which Airline Is Really The Best?
Pick up any newspaper or watch any news channel and many timesyou will find something about the airline industry. Populartopics range in how gas prices affect airline prices, the latestmerger or bankruptcy claim, an airline crash or problem with aflight and even terrorist attempts. Airlines even capture ourattention by running airfare specials in the newspaper and onTV. The funny thing is, you dont even pay attention to theseadvertisements unless you travel often or are planning a trip.So which airline is the best anyway?
There are a lot of things to take into consideration whendeciding which airline is the best for you. Price is usually abig factor for most travelers. There are a few things toconsider when thinking about price. If you live near a hub foran airline you are certain to be able to get better fares. Thinkabout if it is worth it for you to travel to a larger airportrather than taking a flight out of the airport that you live 10minutes away from. If you are only saving about $50.00 it isprobably better to just take a flight from the airport you liveclosest to. Remember, you need to think of gas prices andtraffic – both of which are on the rise.
Consider being flexible in your travel days to receive the bestprices. If you can leave mid-week, then you are more likely toreceive a better deal than if you were to fly Thursday – Sunday.These are the busiest travel days so the airlines take fulladvantage of this fact. Airlines also run special deals if youare more flexible with your departure schedule. This includesthe time that you want to leave too. Early morning flights -very early morning flights – are often less expensive thanmid-morning or evening flights. Think about rush hour traffic.If you leave before rush hour in the morning, or after rush hourin the evening youll most likely land a better deal.
The best time to book your own flight online is
Tuesday eveningsbetween 12 and 1 a.m. Airlines computers change their fares atthis point and this is when they are available to the public tobe purchased. If you catch an airline just right, then anyone ofthem can be the “best” when it comes to pricing. There isnt anyone airline that consistently has the best prices. Although, thediscount airlines like Air Tran and Jet Blue tend to be cheaper.But these flights are only available in select areas so manytimes you cannot fly these airlines.
Another factor to look at when deciding which airline is thebest is the percent of flights that they have on time. These arethe results of one survey that was conducted:
Hawaiian Air Jet Blue Southwest ATA United Sometimes its betterto drive than to be stuck on a flight that is delayed. Considerthis on shorter distance flights.
Carry on luggage has become more popular with travelers becausenobody wants to be caught without their clothes and people wantto get off a flight and go – not wait around for their bag tocome round the corner of the luggage carousel. This is howairlines ranked for lost baggage:
1) Hawaiian Air
2) Jet Blue
3) Southwest
4) Alaska Air
5) Continental
Its also pretty frustrating when you have booked a flight andyou arent allowed to get on it because someone overbooked theflight. How does that happen anyway? Heres how the airlinesranked on passengers that were denied boarding:
Jet Blue Hawaiian Air United American Airlines US Airways Sowhich airline is the best? Everyone is going to have theirpersonal opinions. But according to this, you should book a tripto Hawaii right away or else fly Jet Blue whenever possible.
About the author:
Find more information about airlines, quotes, last minutebooking and more at http://www.airlineb.com
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