How to find out the availability of plane tickets. How to find out the availability of plane tickets and their cost. How to buy a cheaper air ticket? Are there any discounts

Modern technologies are actively developing. Thanks to them, you now only need to spend a couple of minutes to find out the availability of seats on a plane and the price of a ticket. In this case, you do not need to make a single call. Almost all airlines with their own resources have special services. With their help, passengers will learn all the relevant information about it several weeks before the flight. Now everyone has the opportunity:

• choose the best places for yourself;
• purchase air tickets;
• see virtual seats of the plane;
• book air tickets for the required time and much more.

What do you need to do to check the availability of plane tickets?

First, open the websites of all the airlines you are interested in and search for cheap tickets. Most often, when you open an official resource, a search form appears at the top. It will need to be filled out. After this, an automatic search for tickets in the direction you have chosen will occur.

The system will display a table with all the necessary data. Since cheap tickets were a priority, they will take the first positions in the search.

After completing the operation, you just need to compare prices and choose the airline that suits you. Now we are faced with the second task - to see the empty seats on the plane.

We choose a good place for ourselves

How to find out how many plane tickets are left? Go to the website of the airline that flies to your desired destination and use the search system. Fill out the fields in the form:

• where are you flying from?
• where are you flying;
• departure date;
• return date (if a round-trip ticket);
• number of passengers;
• preferred class of service.

Click the “Search” button. At the next stage, the system will tell you what flights there are in this direction and how many tickets are left in each class of service. Availability can be viewed three days before and after the specified date.

To find out about availability of seats on a given flight, passengers can contact the airline office directly or call the call center. In this case, the passenger is provided with accurate information and, if desired, a ticket is booked, including for the desired seat.

What to consider

In order for the flight to give you only positive emotions, without bringing any negativity, do not forget to fulfill simple but quite effective conditions:

• The best time to buy tickets is Wednesday, Tuesday and Saturday. These days, most airlines are reducing the cost of flights;
• Friday is the most inconvenient day for departure. In addition, Sunday is also not recommended for returns. This is due to the huge passenger flow. Consequently, the cost of services increases sharply;
• The seasonality factor plays a big role in the availability of air tickets. For example, if you want to fly to Europe for the Christmas holidays, then prepare to pay twice as much. However, by flying to Turkey in winter, you can save a lot of money;
• Find out if you can purchase a ticket in advance. It would seem that the earlier it was purchased, the lower the cost. Moreover, knowing the approximate departure date, it is easy to register your work schedule. But there is another side to the coin - cheap plane tickets may appear at the last moment. Availability of seats and ticket prices can be tracked using special services;
• transfers and plane tickets. Availability of seats and ticket prices also determine this important factor. Prices for services are often lower in cases where there is a transfer. During a long flight, you will have the opportunity to relax and also stretch your joints well at the transfer airport;
• You can save additional money on the cost of the flight if you choose a cheap class and cross out additional services. One way or another, the flight attendant will offer free drinks (non-alcoholic). In this case, it is recommended to take a light but satisfying lunch from home.

Thanks to these simple but effective tips, you can easily find inexpensive plane tickets.

Business people often have to travel by plane for work - it has become a part of life. Therefore, the right to quickly find a cheap round-trip ticket makes your work much easier.

On the Internet you can quickly find a considerable number of websites where you can look up available seats and cheap plane tickets. It is worth checking out the availability and cost of tickets in advance so as not to overpay for purchasing a ticket two hours before departure. Let's figure out how to get this information online.

How to find out the price and availability of air tickets to the best seats

Thanks to current technologies, finding out the availability of flights today is as easy as shelling pears - it only takes five minutes of free time. There is no need to personally visit the ticket office or even call the airport for advice.

All existing airlines now have services on their websites that give users a chance to find out all the details about their intended flight before purchasing tickets.

You can book a flight and see the availability of seats not only on the website of the airline you are interested in - there are special online aggregators for searching for air tickets (aviasales), and the prices there are the same, since the service receives a commission from the ticket sold from the air carrier itself. There you can find the cheapest tickets and special offers, as well as find out the number of remaining seats.

After purchase, an electronic ticket is sent by email. possible after online registration using your e-ticket number. Otherwise, check-in will take place at the airport as usual without choosing a seat.

Let's move on to a practical solution to this issue and figure out what needs to be done to find out the availability of cheap air tickets and their exact cost.

How to look for cheap flights

First you need to do a basic . This should be done in order to guarantee that you can find a cheap air ticket for the flight you need.

1. The first thing you need to do is fill out the form on the website. You will need to provide some information in several fields (direction, expected dates) and start searching. It is carried out for all airlines offering air tickets to your chosen destination.
2. When the search is completed, the system will display a table with information. There will be a sorted list of ticket prices. In other words, airlines selling promotional tickets will be at the top of the list, and more expensive tickets will be at the bottom.
3. After completing this simple procedure, you will only need to choose the airline whose tickets are cheaper.

This is how you can find out whether plane tickets are available and what their cost is. Now all that remains is to find out the availability of good places.

How to choose the right seats

To find the most comfortable seats on an airliner you will need:

• go to the website of the airline of your choice and register;
• resort to the service of choosing seats on the plane.

Typically, all air carriers have a similar service, which becomes available one day before departure. After passing through, you will be shown the cabin of the plane, where occupied and empty seats will be marked in different colors. Checking the availability of seats should be done immediately before booking a ticket, since after a certain time the situation can change radically.

The nuances of budget flights

In conclusion, when looking for cheap air tickets, it is recommended to pay attention to budget airlines. In Russia, the following air carriers offer the most favorable prices:

• "Russia";
• "Victory";
• "Ural Airlines".

When buying a cheap ticket, it is recommended to clarify the restrictions imposed by the carrier. For example, the Pobeda airline offers very low prices, but provided that a person is traveling lightly, without luggage, you will have to pay extra for transporting a suitcase or bag that is larger than the permitted dimensions of hand luggage. This offer is not suitable for tourists, but for business people who fly on business trips almost every day, this is the most suitable option.

Accordingly, when choosing a cheap ticket, you need to clarify the flight conditions, and not just blindly rejoice at your luck.

Is it possible to buy an air ticket at a price significantly lower than its normal cost? Why do air tickets cost different on different days? How to get last minute flights? What are the benefits of an expensive air ticket? How to check the availability of tickets and the cost of plane tickets? This, and more, will be discussed in this article.

In total, there are 452 airports in Russia, both federal and international (70 airports).

The largest are:

• Domodedovo (Moscow);
• Sheremetyevo (Moscow);
• Pulkovo (St. Petersburg).

The following deserve special attention:

• Koltsovo (Ekaterinburg city). It stands out for its large number of shops with unique souvenirs - skillfully made products from various materials, including precious stones;
• Airport in Irkutsk - with a small chapel inside;
• The airport in Nizhnevartovsk - with its “Walk of Honor” for air pioneers;
• Domodedovo - with its own spa, the chapel of the Archangel Michael and even a mosque;
• Sheremetyevo - with an Orthodox church and two chapels.

For some airports there is an urgent need for repair and restoration work. To a high degree, the renewal process is accelerating thanks to the holding of world-scale events in Russia.

Also, construction of new airports is underway. For example, “Platov” (near Rostov). The start of its work is planned for December 2017.

List of Russian airlines

Among the most popular air destinations, the top three are invariably:

1. Ukraine;
2. Moldova;
3. The Republic of Kazakhstan.

The top ten includes countries such as Montenegro, Belarus, Bulgaria, Germany, Spain, Turkey and Uzbekistan. Their positions are not as stable as those of the top three, and change somewhat from year to year.

When are there promotions and sales on air tickets?

There is no specific date range that airline discounts are likely to fall within. However, each stock has its own logical rationale.

Based on this, there are patterns in which cases air ticket prices may cost less:

• When a new flight is launched;
• When there is a shortage of passengers in any direction.

The next section is devoted to how to use this.

• Study the specifics of your field. Each country has its own characteristics and the months in which tickets have the lowest prices. This is due to many factors, including weather conditions, holiday periods and vacations;
• Leave your details on airline websites in order to receive timely notifications that a discount company or sale has started;
• Participate in bonus and affiliate programs from airlines;
• “Prepare your sleigh in the summer,” or start choosing tickets in advance. It’s best to do it a few months before the planned date;
• Track prices for the newly opened destination and seize the moment of discounts, because, most likely, the cost will soon increase;
• If the price seems unrealistically low, rush to buy a ticket - this may turn out to be a system error that you need to take advantage of (do this after reading “What to remember when purchasing a ticket” at the end of this article);
• If there are direct and multi-part flights, choose a complex route over a direct flight. For example, when planning a trip to Estonia, fly to Pärnu, and from there take a bus to Tallinn. By analogy, you can think of a “complicated” route to any other country. Direct flights are certainly convenient. But comfort comes at a price;
• Pay attention to charter flights;
• Give preference to budget airlines. For example, “Victory”. Pobeda Airlines is one of the youngest, but already quite popular low-cost airlines. Pobeda provides comfortable flights at low prices. Pobeda Airlines services include accompanying children, seats with increased area, VIP lounge, etc.;
• Do not neglect offers with transfers and long waits (remember that direct flights without transfers are usually more expensive);
• Choose a fare with a minimum baggage allowance. We don’t need any extra expenses;
• Please note the “both ways” option. Sometimes it’s cheaper to pay for round-trip air tickets than one-way tickets;
• Use the “Incognito” mode in your browser or anonymizers to prevent bias against yourself and attempts to manipulate yourself by smart Internet search programs;
• Use special services that provide a list of all available flights for a selected date and allow you to choose cheap air tickets.

Quickly search for air tickets online at Aviasales

Search for cheap tickets on Aviasales using:

• Low price calendar;
• Technologies Magic Fare (last minute tickets);
• Low price map;
• Special offer search tool.

Low price calendar

Step by step:

1. We indicate where and where we are going to fly;
2. We provide approximate dates;
3. We vary the duration of the trip;
4. Let's see what options there are.

The most profitable dates are highlighted in green. If you click on a date, you can see all flights available on that day.

You can also see which months in the chosen direction will be the cheapest.

To choose the best option for yourself, there are filters specifically designed for this.

Technologies Magic Fare (last minute tickets)

The Magic Fare tool allows you to find tickets for up to 30% less than their regular price. Data updates occur every half hour.

Step by step:

1. We indicate the place of departure/arrival and time of year;
2. Click the “Show tickets” button.

Aviasales.ru is one of the giants among ticket search services. Ideal for anyone who needs an air ticket. Only Skyscanner can compete with it. Opportunities - compare ticket prices from 728 airlines!

Main advantages of aviasales:

• For convenience of working with dates, a calendar is provided;
• It is possible to compare prices by varying the duration of the trip;
• Price comparisons can be made both by month and by day;
• The presence of a special filter to further refine the search parameters.

Conclusion: aviasales is the best of the best today.

Things to remember when purchasing a ticket:

• Always pay attention to the conditions for returning or rescheduling;
• Find out how you can change or cancel your booked air ticket;
• Please be aware that ticket prices may increase at any time;
• Remember that the final cost will be higher than what is shown on the website (surcharges are added);
• Keep in mind that some of the services are not included in the quoted price (selection of seats, meals, etc.);
• Make sure that the baggage allowance in the selected fare suits you;
• When purchasing air tickets, office addresses and telephone numbers of the selling airline, just in case, take the trouble to find out;
• Pay attention to your passport - you cannot buy air tickets if it is expired;
• Before placing an order, double-check that the selected date is correct: day, month and year. There is no more annoying moment than the one when you realize that the ticket you bought turned out to be... for next year.

Let the surprises be only pleasant. Successful flight!

Today you can buy a plane ticket without leaving your home or office. The ticket in this case is only an electronic confirmation of the agreement between the passenger and the air carrier about the flight. At the same time, to get on the flight, you don’t even have to print out the document; you just need to show your passport. Therefore, many are very worried when using this booking method: the money has been debited from the card, but the ticket, in its usual form, is not in hand. What if you were deceived?

What is E-ticket

An electronic ticket (E-ticket) at its core is simply an electronic record on the server of the air carrier that operates the flight. The record contains the personal and passport data of the passenger, the number of the flight for which he was registered, the place and airport of departure and arrival, the start and end time of the flight.

The last thing you need to worry about is that the ticket might go missing. This information is stored in the airline's database for a long time, and the likelihood of losing the reservation is zero. Even a computer failure cannot affect this, since the data is duplicated in the archive and can be easily restored.

And payments occur almost simultaneously. The buyer receives confirmation by email in the form of an itinerary receipt, which is evidence that the ticket was actually purchased.

If the itinerary receipt has not been received, you can view it by opening your personal account on the booking website.

And it’s better to print out the receipt; the document may be needed at passport control to confirm the availability of a return ticket when flying abroad.

In addition, a printed electronic document will not allow you to forget your flight number and departure time.

The receipt also contains all the necessary information about the upcoming flight, which you can check so as not to worry.

It is important! The legality of the document is confirmed by the reservation code - a code consisting of six characters (letters and numbers).

Video – E-ticket – electronic ticket

How to check E-ticket

First of all, you need to check immediately after payment and receipt of the check. It is necessary to pay attention to the presence of the passenger's last name, booking code and flight number on the receipt.

It is important to ensure that your e-ticket includes payment or booking confirmation information.

But even this cannot always relieve passengers from worrying, so there are three ways to double-check that the air ticket booking is indeed confirmed:

• use the check service on the airline’s website;
• call the airline and check availability of reservation through the operator;
• track the ticket status on the reservation system website.

On the carrier's website

To make sure you have a reservation, you need to go to the website of the company that operates the flight and enter the necessary data for verification.

Almost all major airlines and agents now have booking verification services.

To do this, you need to know the reservation code, the passenger's last name and ticket number. Some sites also offer to enter an email address to which the response will be sent.

As a rule, you just need to indicate the reservation code as well as your last name (in Latin letters) for the system to confirm the reservation information.

Action algorithm using the Aeroflot website as an example:

If you purchased your ticket on an intermediary website, for example, on the One Two Trip website:

1. First, let’s check the data in the itinerary receipt; to do this, go to your Personal Account and open the “My Orders” tab in the top drop-down menu, or open the e-ticket that was sent to your email inbox.
2. The ticket status must include the following information: “Confirmed”. If this is not enough to remove all doubts, look at who is flying and write down the reservation number.
3. Next, go to the airline’s website and check the booking confirmation by entering the required data.

If you only have the ticket number, and for some reason cannot provide the remaining data, you can check the ticket exclusively on the carrier’s website; some of them provide this opportunity.

Note! In cases where the booking was made not directly with the carrier, but through intermediaries, information about the ticket during check may be missing or the ticket status may be indicated incorrectly. In this case, you need to use other verification methods.

Video - How to check the authenticity of a purchased airline ticket

Call the airline or agency

Checking an electronic air ticket by calling the phone number listed on the website quickly removes all doubts, since a living word is often believed more than confirmation via the Internet.

If there is a failure when paying for a ticket and you cannot be sure that the payment went through, the safest thing to do is to check your booking details with the airline or agency through which the ticket was issued by calling the hotline.

It is better to call even if you did not find information about the reservation on the carrier’s website, or if the status of the document does not contain a confirmation mark.

To verify, you need to provide your last name and reservation code (reservation number) to the operator. After which he will either confirm or deny the presence of the reservation. Almost all major airlines and agents provide a free hotline call.

Through booking services (GDS)

As a rule, intermediaries who sell plane tickets connect not to airlines, but to reservation systems.

On the Russian market, the largest GDS (Global Distribution System) companies that provide reservation services are Amadeus, Gabriel, the Russian Sirena, Saber and Galileo.

Small budget companies and Low Cost carriers until recently booked tickets for their flights themselves, but recently they began to attract additional sources to receive clients and began to enter into agreements with GDS: they offer their resources to the systems, and they, in turn, offer them flights to agencies.

Company	Image	Description
		The most popular GDS used by travel agencies around the world to book flights, hotels, transfers, train travel, and river travel
		Provides users with information on seat availability, carrier rules, prices and schedules, and also provides reliable travel information
		The most popular system for booking flights, hotels, cars and travel services. This system has the largest number of Low Cost companies operating international flights
		The company books passenger transportation and manages seat availability
Sirena Travel		Russian development - a system for booking plane tickets

The system of booking through intermediaries is that they sell tickets, receiving a commission from GDS. When purchasing a travel document on the intermediary’s website, the passenger also receives a reservation code in the system.

It is important! To check information about an electronic ticket, you must enter not the airline's reservation code, but the GDS reservation code and the passenger's last name as indicated on the electronic ticket.

Most often, the system reservation code is indicated on the ticket, but if you cannot determine through which resource the reservation was made, it is better to call the company and clarify this information with the operator.

Having found out the code and the system through which the reservation was made, we open the website of this system.

1. Here, a window for checking the flight immediately opens on the main page.
2. You must enter the code and last name in Latin letters.

The second way is to check all booking systems; there are not many of them, and therefore this can be done quickly.

When checking, it is important to pay attention to the “Confirmed” status; only this mark indicates that the global reservation system has confirmed the issuance of a ticket for a specific passenger.

Status "Confirmed"

How to protect yourself from fraud

You can protect yourself from fraud when paying for an air ticket only by using the services of trusted agencies or booking tickets directly on the airline’s website.

It is best to choose flights on search engine sites, which have a very convenient selection system. It reflects all possible flights from various carriers and agents, whose offers you can compare and choose the most suitable flight option.

It is important to understand that the search engines themselves do not make the booking; they only show all possible flight options, and then redirect to the websites of intermediaries or carrier companies. Therefore, using a metasearch system, it is convenient to familiarize yourself with offers, select the most suitable flight by price, duration, connections and departure time from airlines or agents, and complete the booking itself on the websites.

It is better not to purchase tickets on agency websites that are not present in the metasearch on search engine sites. If they work without the involvement of search engines, it is very difficult to confirm their reliability.

It is important! When faced with fraud, the first thing to do is contact the police and contact the bank to return the payment. Banks usually try in such cases to help return money to the client and also get involved in the investigation of fraud.

Video - Electronic tickets

When a ticket from carriers is more expensive than from agents

Quite often it happens that the cost of tickets for the same flight is higher, while agents offer lower prices.

This is understandable: agents reduce the price due to large commissions from booking systems or airlines, the size of which often depends on the sales volume of a particular agency.

This is a good marketing ploy to attract customers. Agents often sacrifice their profits to attract more buyers.

There is no reason to worry if it is a trusted agency that appears in the metasearch results; as a rule, only reliable companies can afford this.

If an error is detected during verification

Even the most pedantic people are not immune to errors when entering data during booking. There are typos in the writing of passport and personal information.

If an inaccuracy is detected, it would be correct to immediately call the airline’s hotline number and clarify what to do in this situation.

Possible solutions to the issue:

1. The airline makes changes to the electronic ticket, but the passenger has to pay a fine for reissuing it.
2. The error is corrected by airline employees without any penalties.
3. The airline turns a blind eye to errors in the data, and the passenger is allowed on the flight without making changes to the ticket.

Video - What to do if there is an error on your tickets

Several years ago, it was necessary to make a lot of efforts to get a comfortable seat on an airliner - people came to check-in long before the opening, and tried to negotiate with airport employees or airline employees. The development of computer technology has simplified the procedure for booking a place you like in just a couple of mouse clicks. In this case, you won’t need to go to the airport, you won’t even have to get up from the couch.

By clarifying several rules for choosing seats on an airplane when issuing electronic air tickets, any user will be able to ensure the most comfortable flight conditions. Most airlines provide this opportunity on their official websites. Many search and booking systems for air tickets do not allow you to select a seat at the same time as booking air tickets, but then you need to indicate the desire for a specific seat with a note or call the resource managers.

You can reserve a suitable seat number today, without even waiting for online check-in, which opens only a day or two before departure. By confirming the order and receiving an air ticket by email or opening it directly on the website from the Personal Account, the passenger gets access to a selection of available seats on this aircraft for the selected flight. The procedure can be done even before paying for the air ticket.

Then, again, two options are possible - a plan for the location of seats on the plane will either open in a pop-up window on the site, or will be sent by email. This plan will show empty and occupied seats in different colors. Having chosen what you like, you need to click on the corresponding square with the mouse cursor, then save the selection using the desired button on the monitor screen.

The right to book a seat on a plane if you have an air ticket issued and purchased via the Internet is provided by almost 200 Russian and foreign airlines. The largest and most reliable of them are very popular:

• "Aeroflot - Russian Airlines";
• S7 (“Siberia”);
• Ural Airlines;
• UTair;
• SWISS;
• Lufthansa;
• Emirates;
• Etihad;
• Qatar.

It should be remembered here that some air carriers, for example, Pobeda Airlines, provide a similar service for a fee. If you choose to fly with British Airways, you'll need to pay $16 to reserve your seat in advance if you choose Economy Class comfort and travel time is less than 3 hours. Selecting seats on longer routes will cost the passenger $32. A similar service for a business class cabin will cost about $100.

At the same time, experienced tourists advise against early booking a place in favor of saving money. All categories of seats belonging to superior comfort classes are equally comfortable and are located in the bow of the airliner. Before reserving a seat, you should familiarize yourself with the relevant clause of the rules of a particular air carrier, which determines paid or free early booking.

You can also go the traditional route by politely asking the airport employee to provide the desired seat if it is available. Most often, passengers are met halfway. Self-registration, online or at the counter, will also help you decide on the choice of a seat from the remaining free ones.

Quite often, passengers, having opened the seat layout of the aircraft, are surprised to find that most of the most comfortable seats have already been reserved, although sales have only recently opened. Frequent flyers are aware of this fact - many seats are closed for booking by airlines, holding them free until check-in.

Sometimes passengers become adults accompanying small children, women expecting a child, people of advanced age or with limited physical capabilities, or simply tall citizens who find it very uncomfortable to fly with their legs tucked under them. In this case, properly instructed air carrier employees place such passengers in reserve seats, since this category of customers requires increased comfort during the flight.

In this case, the following attempts can be made to improve the situation:

1. Arrive at the airport terminal before check-in begins, taking the first places in the queue, and present the problem to the employee, calmly asking, if possible, to vacate one of the comfortable seats. Typically, passengers who communicate adequately with staff are able to travel with the greatest possible comfort in the chosen class.
2. Having settled down on the airliner and waited for boarding to finish, you need to look for the remaining free, well-located seats. As a rule, they remain on most routes. Having chosen a seat, you should call the flight attendant and ask her about the possibility of a transfer. In this case, there are no problems with changing places.

Reserving a specific seat in luxury classes, as already mentioned, is pointless, since the service implies a higher cost of air tickets, and therefore more comfortable seats. There is enough space between them to stretch your legs and recline the back. An exception may be the passenger’s desire to receive a specific seat that he has used repeatedly.

Reserving a suitable seat on an aircraft during the e-ticket purchase process sometimes involves additional financial costs. The online registration procedure will help you create a reservation for free, during which the system automatically prompts you to select and save the desired place.

Thus, 48-24 hours before departure, depending on the air carrier, you can check in for the flight and at the same time reserve a good seat for free. The only drawback is that by this moment all the more or less successful places may already be occupied.

Information is not displayed on electronic airline tickets, since they are sold by the number of seats in the cabin. But having received the boarding pass after checking in for the flight, the passenger will find the seat number on it. You can find out the required information by calling the hotline or call center of the airline that sold the plane ticket. To make a request, you will need to tell the employee the reservation code indicated on the air ticket form or the number of the ticket itself.

When choosing a suitable seat, you must first carefully look at the cabin layout and seating arrangement, since it varies in different airliner models. In this case, you need to take into account the distance to the front seat, the presence of a mechanism that allows you to unfold the backrest, and also where the seat is located - at the window, in the middle or near the aisle. Traditionally, the seats next to the aisles are more comfortable, although there are also those who like to watch the flight through glass.

How to choose a seat on a plane