How to Compare Airlines
To go someplace far away as quickly as possible, there is no faster way than to take a commercial airline. While it is true that you may suffer the hassles of high prices, long security lines and frequent flight delays, travel by jet is still efficient and safe. You can find the best way of flying by comparing the different airlines.
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Instructions
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Compare prices. The fastest way to find airlines going to a particular location is to use a travel site like Travelocity (see Resources). By entering a city name and dates of travel, you receive a list of scheduled flights. Make a note of the airline names as well as the aircraft type. To find the latter, click on the "On Time" link next to the flight number.
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Compare seating. You'll find a comprehensive list of seating charts for each airline on SeatGuru (see Resources). Choose the airline name from the alphabetize list and then choose the type of aircraft. A diagram for that plane will appear with the measurements for seat pitch, seat width and number of seats near the top. Moving your cursor to individual seats displays a popup of information including the seat's pros and cons.
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Compare cabins. Each airline's website reveals everything from seat design to baggage requirements. In the case of Continental, for example, this information is under "Onboard Amenities" in the "Travel Information" menu. Among the things to look out for include fees for checked baggage, seat amenities, frequent flyer rewards and security restrictions.
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Compare service. Every airline claims to have the best service, while newspaper reports curse them all with mismanagement. The only way to know for sure is to read the impartial reviews of previous passengers. Check out SkyTrax (Airline Quality), where reviews are alphabetized by airline name with each one containing a rating from one to 10, whether it's recommended or not, the value for money and a text description (see Resources).
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Tips & Warnings
Visit the websites of the individual airlines for more information. The name of the site is typically the name of the airline flanked by "www." and ".com." For example, Continental's site is "www.continental.com."
Resources
- Photo Credit Wexdub: Flickr.com
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Comments
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kosmosfl
Sep 17, 2009
It depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking just for a good deal, then you probably won't mind flying on a average airline. But if you are looking for quality, then your choices are different. In the USA, I recommend Virgin America or Continental for quality. Southwest, Spirit and Allegiant for price (although in most cases they have the same fare as the major carriers). And for truly amazing carriers (int'l), try Emirates, Malaysian, Singapore Airlines, Air Tahiti Nui and Qatar Airways.
