Prague Hotels

In the good old days when business was booming and credit cards were still giving out cash, it was easy to buy a plane ticket. But when you look a little more closely, these less extensive tickets are non-refundable, their use is more limited and there will probably be “conditions” to meet before you can order. That means it’s a caveat emptor situation. You have to get your magnifying glass out and see what the catches are. One of the standard problems is change fees. Many of the offers are for some weeks or even months in advance. People check their diaries and decide they are free. But life is never fair. Circumstances change. So you pick up the phone to change the date and you’re told, “That’s no problem. When would you like to travel?” Except you find you can only change to flights on a Tuesday when there’s an ‘r’ in the month, and there’s a fee of $150 per person to change the ticket. These charges are a way of recovering lost profit. Airlines gamble that enough people will need to change their tickets so they can get the usual revenue for a fully loaded plane even though a proportion of the passengers were originally sold tickets at a discounted price. These “hidden” fees are increasingly common. This adds to their bottom line. The fact that all these changes may damage reputations in the long term does not change the short term need to cover costs. So when you’re looking for cheap air flights, whether domestic or international, always remember the old rule, If it looks to good to be true, it usually is. That means you have to be on the alert to protect your interests. Never just go by the first quoted price. Check-in at the airport, pay a charge. In a year’s time, this may be a public relations disaster, but if the airlines are still solvent, this was a good way to sell cheapest flight.