Travel 101: The ins and outs of booking

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/01/2025 (591 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

My sister, who lives in Edmonton, came to visit over Christmas. It’s been several years since she had taken a flight, and at one point during our visit it dawned on me that non-travellers or infrequent travellers might not be aware of the current reality of airports and airlines. For those who are brand new to travelling or who haven’t been on a plane in a long-time, here is a Travel 101 primer to get you up-to-speed and on your way.

While you can still call an airline or travel agent to book a ticket, bookings these days typically happen online. Either directly through airlines or through third-party travel sites such as Expedia, for example. While third-party sites sometimes offer slightly better prices, my preference is to book with an airline directly, even if it costs more. Here’s why:

If you ever find yourself in a bind regarding a purchased ticket, airlines will only help if you booked through them – not if you booked through someone else. This leaves third-party sites limited to the customer service they can provide after purchase. Booking directly through an airline will give you access to the airline’s customer service system. This is something I once found out the hard (and expensive!) way. Since then, I only book with airlines.

When booking a ticket, each flight has different fares you can purchase – from bare-bones economy to mid-level premium to cushy business class. Each fare comes with different benefits, and higher fees will get you things like advance seat selection, complimentary bags, or extra points towards rewards programs. (By the way, whatever airline you choose, sign-up for its rewards program before you book and start earning points with your first purchase.)

Before choosing a fare, take a close look at the options for flight changes and/or cancellations. The most basic fares don’t usually allow changes and cancellations. Mid-range fares do offer these things but will also charge you an extra fee to change or cancel. If you do have to cancel – again, depending on the fare you purchased – you’ll either get y0ur money refunded or be provided with travel credit.

It’s important to be aware of the airline’s baggage policy at whatever fare you selcted. As of Jan. 3, 2025, Air Canada is charging for carry-on bags in addition to charging for checked bags (which has been its practice for a long time now). Many airlines outside Canada already charge for carry-on bags, so it won’t be long before WestJet and other Canadian-based airlines follow suit.

When you book your ticket, you’ll have the option of providing an email address and/or mobile phone number to receive notifications about your flight. Be sure to sign up for these, as they’ll keep you in the know about schedule changes, flight delays, or anything significant. You can also download the airline’s app and monitor the trip’s details as the dates get closer.

If you signed up for notifications, you will receive one for the online check-in option for your flight 24 hours before the flight’s departure time. During this window, you can also make or change your seat selection if your fare offers it, or pay for selection if it doesn’t. You can also pre-pay at this time for checked bags. So then, when you arrive at the airport, you’ll just have to print off bag tags from a kiosk, find the bag drop, and away you go.

Even if you checked in online, you can still print boarding passes at the airport if you want – either at the same kiosk as the bag tags, or at the airline check-in counter. Or you can opt to use digital boarding passes through your email, text, or in the airline’s app.

More to come: My next Travelations column will share more Travel 101 tips to better prepare you for airlines and airports in 2025.