5 Common Errors Travelers Make When Booking Flight

If you’ve ever had to book your own flight and got stuck in the process, you probably know how anxious you must have felt, trying to find what went wrong. Certain common errors can quickly take a travel experience from mild to worse within minutes, and to avoid falling victim, these are 5 booking errors you must avoid when booking your next ticket.

Ready to discover some of the common avoidable errors travelers make while booking flight tickets? You’re about to. What’s even unnerving is how a simple click error can be the difference between where you’re supposed to land and the destination you find yourself. Want to know how this happens? Keep reading to find out.

CHECK OUT: 10 COMMON TRAVEL SCAMS TO AVOID IN 2025

Misspelling the Name on the Ticket

One of the common mistakes people make while booking a flight ticket is to misspell their name. This may seem like a simple mistake or oversight; however, this can ruin your entire trip and allow you even miss connecting flights that you’re supposed to catch up with. Since the name on your passport and ticket has to be exact, you’ve got to make sure you’re super careful when booking.

While the consequences of the misspelling might not be so obvious if you have enough time before your flight for customer care to fix it for you, the story might be different if you’re ready for takeoff when it was noticed. In most cases, you may not be allowed to board especially if there’s no connecting middle name on the passport and ticket to prove it’s you.

To avoid making this error, it’s best to do any of these two things; first, allow an expert agency like Vecta Travels attend to your booking needs while you focus on other things. Secondly, if you must do it yourself, ensure not to do it under pressure and make sure to cross-check every detail before finalizing your booking. If you ever have to book a flight under pressure, the best thing you want to do is not to book a flight in that condition, as the likelihood of making a costly typo is high.

Do not penny-pinch

One of the biggest booking mistakes you can make is to penny-pinch on your flight fees. While this is not to encourage overspending, choosing the cheapest ticket for your route might mean having to deal with more than you’re willing to experience. A lot goes on that you might not be ready for and if you’re travelling with family, you might have to deal with even bigger issues. Things like layovers and airports stops are common with such tickets, also you may be sacrificing comfort and legroom on the flight, so don’t do it. The best is to travel with a trusted agency and you won’t be making any of these flight mistakes.

Booking similar name destinations

This one can be really painful if you discovered that you picked a wrong destination while booking your flight because of name similarity. If you’re trying to book an international flight from London to Lagos, you want to make sure you specify the right Lagos, so you don’t pick a wrong destination. Usually, people make mistakes like selecting Lagos at first sight, without verifying if it’s Lagos Nigeria for instance, and not Lagos in Portugal, or some other destinations.

One traveler confessed to making the mistake of booking a flight to Austria instead of Australia, now how much do you think that mistake would cost? Another factor you must also pay attention to is the airport you want to arrive in, when arriving in a state with multiple airports, ensure you select the right airport depending on the location you are going, picking the wrong airport can cause a huge dent in your finances, and even cause you a lot of stress if it’s a location you’re not familiar with.

CHECK OUT: 5 TRAVEL TRENDS TO LOOK OUT FOR

Booking Immediate Connecting Flights

Sometimes people make the mistake of booking a connecting flight that takes off in less than 30 minutes of landing from their initial flight. While this might look like a good way to save on time spent at the airport, it can become a messy situation when your initial flight gets delayed for unforeseen reason. In such cases, you may miss the flight and you might not be able to reclaim the cost of your flight ticket. Your best bet is to book a connecting flight on the same ticket preferably for at least 90 minutes to 2 hours after you’re due to land. While this may seem like a little lag when all goes smoothly, you’ll be grateful for it when there’s an unforeseen flight delay.

Not double-checking Baggage policy

Most low-cost airline airlines have strict baggage policies and you must review the details of your flight ticket to be sure how much extra luggage it covers. You run the risk of paying more for your baggage than you paid for the flight ticket if you don’t read the fine prints regarding your airline’s baggage policy. Rather than go through the hassle of paying excessively for your baggage, your best bet is to go with a flight that offers more lenient baggage policies or fly light.

The above mistakes seem so common that you may almost assume that you can’t make any of it until you find yourself in the situation. Want to be the smart one not avoiding all these errors? Work with us today to make your flight smooth and error-free.