Chinese New Year is coming up in mid-February and it turns out that I have the entire week off. You know what that means: Vacation trip! This post is going to highlight a few different ways I try and book travel. These tips can be used by anyone, not just those living in China — so enjoy!
Flights
As I almost always fly United, I get to enjoy the benefits of elite status which include things like choosing seats in the extra legroom section at time of booking when flying coach class, extra checked bags, and upgrade opportunities all for free. In fact, after flying over 1,000,000 on United, I get to keep those benefits for free. (Or at least until they change the definition of “United MileagePlus Gold” status to something less than what it currently is.) Typically my flight search starts with the airline’s website as they typically do have the best prices.
If I don’t see flights with good connection times, routings, prices, or even types of airplanes I want to avoid (777-300, for example, if I’m sitting in coach as it’s a really tight squeeze to fit in that seat as United has 10 seats in each row compared to other airlines that have only 9) I will look on other sites:
- Expedia.com, Kayak.com, and Ortbiz.com are good choices that most people know about
- Priceline.com is good if you’re looking to set your own price and see if any airline takes the bait — but be warned, you get what you pay for here
- Google Flights. What the what?! You didn’t know that you can search for flights on Google and have an option to buy them? Keep reading below.
Google Flights
Click on the link and give this example a try; you’ll see how to use Google Flights to search for and book flights, and usually you’ll find the lowest or close to the lowest price. This example we’ll use Google Flights to book a flight on United Airlines so you know that you’ll be booking an “016” ticket and be able to get credit to your MileagePlus account.
Enter in the destinations you want to go to or even click on the “Explore Destinations” link to see where you can head to and for how much via a map view. (Pretty neat!) Add the dates; you’ll see the list on the screen update with options. The prices displayed in this list are round trip, not one way (unless you selected the one way option).
Once you find a flight you want for your outbound leg, click on it and you’ll be able to choose your return leg. When both legs are chosen a few different purchasing options are presented, including the potential to book directly on an airline site such as United.com. If you use the link to the airline’s site, be sure to log-in so your account will be properly credited with the flights!
Where I’m Going
I was able to use Google Flights to find a trip for Chinese New Year 2018 to San Francisco for $600 less than what booking directly on United.com was providing as search results. My routing is not direct as I have a connection in Osaka, Japan, (KIX airport), but that’s OK by me as I get to spend some time in Japan (I love that country) and get to fly part of my trip on an airline partner of United’s I’ve never been on before — ANA.