Can You Book Flights Over The Phone? (The Pros, Cons & Tips)

It seems as though everything is done over the internet these days. But for some people, talking to a customer service agent over the telephone is much easier.

But when it comes to travel, can you book flights over the phone?

Yes. You can book a flight over the phone and there are lots of advantages to this such as special offers and expert advice.

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What Are The Advantages Of Booking Flights Over The Phone?

What happened to the good old days of one to one customer service?

You can do everything nowadays by clicking a few buttons online but I feel that this lacks personality.

Booking flights over the phone pros and cons — Booking flights over the phone advantages

When you book a flight over the phone, you’ve got an expert on hand to help you with the experience.

If you’re new to booking flights or simply want advice, this can be very advantageous.

What’s More – When you book a flight over the phone, you can sometimes get access to special offers. This is usually the case when you use a small specialist agency and the deals they can give you might not be available online.

Even if you call up and find out that the deals aren’t right for you, at least you’ll know.

On top of this, it’s often easier to get special rewards like specific seats or no booking fees as you’ll be able to negotiate these things with the call operator.

If all of that wasn’t enough, I often find that there is less room for error when booking a flight over the phone.

This is because you can double check information with the person you are speaking to and if there are any problems, these can be dealt with during the call.

Tips For Booking A Flight Over The Phone

It might not always be the best way to book a flight as sometimes there are deals online that will be more advantageous.

Advice for booking a flight over the phone — Tips for booking a flight over the phone

However, it’s always worth exploring every avenue so check out my top tips on booking flights via telephone.

Make sure you’ve got a pen and paper at the ready to note down any important information. The airline will likely send you an email or paper confirmation of your booking but it can never hurt to make your own notes.

Be prepared to ask a lot of questions. When booking online, you’re usually prompted to think about certain things like baggage allowances, seats, in flight meals, and other extras. However, on a phone call, you’ll need to be ready to ask the right questions at the right time.

Before you confirm a booking, be sure to find out whether there are any fees involved such as a fee for booking over the phone or cancellation charges.

Ask the agent whether this will be a ticketless booking. Most flight bookings are now all done digitally but it is still possible to get a paper ticket, although this may come with an additional fee.

If you are using a travel agency or consolidator, it may be possible for you to reserve a seat for up to 24 hours free of charge. You may tell the agent that you’re going to look at other options and this can often prompt them to offer you an even better discount.

While travel agencies and consolidators are not permitted to advertise flights as being ‘the cheapest’ online, they can provide you with this information if you ask for it over the phone.

When using agents or consolidators, make sure that you get all of the airline information before ending the call and check whether there are any restrictions.

Booking A Flight: Online vs Telephone

One of the main reasons that businesses are keen for customers to make purchases online is that it saves on man hours.

Booking a flight different ways — Booking a flight (online vs telephone)

Having to staff a call center for booking flights costs a lot more than using an automated website where customers can self serve.

For this reason, you’ll usually find that most of the best deals can be found online.

What’s more, as I mentioned earlier, you get a more personal experience when booking over the phone and this is reflected in the cost of the ticket.

That’s not to say that a good deal can’t be found when booking over the phone but it’s not as common as when booking online.

Should I Use An Agent Or Call The Airline Directly?

A big question for a lot of travelers is whether they should go directly to their chosen airline or use a travel agent.

The answer is simple; more often than not, you’ll get the best price when you book directly through the airline.

However, I would urge you to still perform searches with various agents as there are some good bargains to be found. It’s just that they’re much fewer and farther between.

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Final Thoughts

Booking a flight can be a headache when you do it online. For this reason, a lot of people want to speak to an airline representative who can make the process simpler.

The good news is that it is possible to book a flight over the phone but it can sometimes be a little more expensive.