How do I get a Plane Ticket?

 Awh, yes. I remember the first time I had to buy a plane ticket. It was very scary to be honest, there was so much panic during the process. To be honest the panic was completely unnecessary, only now because I’ve done it so many times! 

Step 1: Pick your Desired Dates

Picking your dates for your trip is automatically the first step (obviously). You can not get a price on your flight without any. Flight prices change every single day. This is not an exaggeration! Sometimes it feels like I’m part of an auction. 

Step 2: Google, google, goooogle

Google is an amazing tool, you can use it for almost everything. What you’ll do is, hit the search bar and type “flights to” your destination. Tons of travel sites will appear and you just pick one. My favorites are Delta and Travelocity. Simple, easy, fast. Very American.

Step 3: Make a Decision!

Once you have picked what travel site or flight site, click on their “flights” option. Travelocity has several options complete with pictures, click on that airplane and a booking screen will appear. It will have the options of where you will be departing from and where your plane will arrive. There will be a “dates” option, calendars will come up and you pick when you want to leave and when you want to return. After you do this, you will have to pick how many travelers, and whether or not it’s a one-way ticket, round trip, or multi-city. Everything will be right there on your screen for east navigation. 

Step 4: Pick That Flight!

After you’ve completed step 3, a ton of flights will pull up. Complete with departure times, specific airlines, and cost. What about returning flights, you ask? This is the tricky part. If you have a very specific time frame you want to return home, you may have to go through a couple different departure options. There’s no magic time option button, so you won’t know what time the flight actually returns. But it will ask you to select a returning flight after you’ve picked your departure. I realize that I’ve slightly contradicted myself, BUT you most likely will have to search through a few different flights, because their returning times do not appease your schedule. You just have to hope there is one that is almost in your desired time frame. You’ll understand this once you actually go through the process. 

Step 5: Book and Pay 

Once you’ve found a departure and a return flight, you will check out and pay. You will need your debit/credit card and driver’s license or official ID. Toward the end of the transaction, you may be asked for flight insurance. I highly recommend this option. It’s usually under $30 and a bank saver. This is necessary in case for some reason you have to cancel your flight, you either get your money back or you get credited for another flight. The facts are in the details. Always read everything. I got “got”  once and I’ll always regret it. 

Step 6: Check your Email!

Check your email for confirmation. If you skip this step, you’ll be in trouble. After checking out your flight, you’ll be sent a confirmation number. Archive these emails so they are easily accessible. It wouldn’t hurt to screenshot or write down this number. Again, it’s absolutely necessary. This email will have your itinerary, along with your confirmation number, it will list your flight gates and all the important times and dates. 

Where is your physical ticket?

When you arrive at the airport there are several kiosks. But first there are stations with each airline name and you will go to whichever one you had booked. You can’t miss them. You can either go to the desk and the employee will print your ticket, or you can go to the self serve kiosk. With the kiosk it will ask you questions, type in the appropriate answer. You will need your confirmation number for this. After answering all the questions, it will print you your ticket.