10 rookie mistakes people make when booking a flight

You’d think that as long as you had money to spend, a destination in mind, and a decent Internet connection, booking a flight would be a piece of cake. Instead, often the opposite is true.

I see you over there banging your head on the computer keys, struggling to make sure you’ve searched every option and weighed every possibility only to discover—the moment after you hit purchase—a significantly lower fare.

I see you and I’ve been you. The good news is that, while mistakes happen, there are things you can do to make sure that it’s the exception and not the rule. These tips will help:

Booking a Flight to the Wrong Place

The Mistake: Flying to the wrong city.

How to Avoid It:  Check and then double-check.

I’ve done this one: Sat smugly awaiting a flight to Orange County (SNA) airport only to discover hours before leaving that I’d somehow booked to San Diego (SAN).  I blame the crazy people who set up the airport code system, but the blame game won’t help you if you make a similar mistake. Instead, skip your gut check and do a real check to make sure that the code on your ticket is actually the place you want to go. Tip: Want to go to Florence Italy? You want (FLR)—not (FLO), which is Florence, SC. And HON is Huron, South Dakota, not Honolulu (HNL).

Trying to Book Your Own Ultra-Complicated Flights

Mistake: Booking complicated flights yourself.

How to Avoid It: Consider a travel agent.

Just because you have the Internet doesn’t mean you always have to use it. If you’re losing patience trying to find a flight, there’s no harm in reaching out to a travel agent to see if their help might be worth your money. I did an around-the-world trip and relied heavily on an around-the-world flight specialist back home to help me find the best fares as I went…without the headache of trying to figure out each leg, or wondering when and where I’d need a visa for entry.

Not Clearing Your Cookies

Mistake: Pulling all-night search-a-thons for the fare you can't actually buy.

How to Avoid It: Clear your cookies, switch browsers, or buy it when you see it

The jury is mixed on whether the tracking cookies that search engines leave on the sites you visit are smart enough to raise the price on you if you leave a booking site and come back later. Still, there are those who swear by it.

Why take the risk? Clear the cookies on your device before every new search (or switch browsers). Even better: Know what you want to pay and stop looking when you get close enough. Sure there’s a chance there’s a better deal out there, but there’s also a chance you’ll lose the deal (whether to evil cookies or just another consumer) if you wait.