What the Travel Industry Doesn't Want You to Know

Working in the travel industry has made me somewhat travel phobic. For most of the seven years I've worked in travel, I've been tasked with providing resolutions for customers' whose trips went horribly wrong. And while the percentage of trips sold through my company going wrong is miniscule compared to the amount of sales we do, when it's your trip that's affected, percentages don't mean a thing.

Here are some tips to help make your travel experience go a little smoother.

Beware of those too-good-to-be-true type fares. Too often a low fare will be offered on a travel website and the limitations of that fare make it almost impossible to book flights for the dates requested at that advertised fare. This leads most people to worry that they've been the victim of bait and switch tactics with the company offering one fare to attract you to the website then switching the fare while you're booking.

Most companies do not practice bait and switch tactics.Most people don't realize when they are attempting to book flights at these low fares, that the trip they're attempting to book doesn't actually qualify for that fare due to the fine print restrictions, like the fare only being good for flights leaving on Monday and returning on Friday. Most travel companies will offer these fares and rely on the consumer to read the fine print.

Once you find a fare you can live with, there are all sorts of potential problems between making your reservation and actually boarding the plane. Seat selections are critical. Most carriers overbook their flights as a matter of practice. The airlines need to maximize the cost effectiveness by sending those flights out as full as possible. They insure this with overbooking. What a lot of people don't realize is seat selection has a lot to do with who gets bumped from the plane in an overbooking situation. Those without assigned seats are usually the first chosen. If you're choosing seats and you pass on the middle seat in hopes that you can land an aisle or window seat at check in, you might be passing yourself right off the plane if it's oversold. The good news is most carriers offer incentives to customers to give up their seat voluntarily.

Almost as critical to seat selection is making sure to keep track of any changes the airline might make to your schedule. While most travel companies have reliable schedule change notification systems in place, it would be terrible to show up for a 3:30 pm flight with just barely enough time to check in, only to find out the flight now leaves at 3:15 and even though the plane is still on the ground, they've closed the door and will not allow anyone else on. This happens so often it is frustrating because it is the most preventable issue we deal with.

Confirm your flights the night before or the morning of the flight. Even if you've used a travel company like Travelocity or Orbitz, double check directly with the airline; sometimes the lines of communication between the airlines and travel companies break down and schedule change messages don't go through as they're supposed to. Don't get caught between the airline and your travel company playing "pass the buck". Empower yourself and call the airline to confirm your current schedule.

It is also a good idea when booking hotels to be mindful of the cancelation policies. All too often a customer will book the lowest rate offered on a travel website, not realizing that the rate comes with a deposit and a 12 month cancelation policy. Effectively, you're booking the reservation inside that cancelation penalty window and there's no backing out once it's booked. You will be charged in full and no amount of charm from your friendly neighborhood travel agent will convince the hotel to refund your money.

Travel doesn't have to be the nightmare it can become when things go wrong. There are steps the traveler can take to assure the smoothest possible experience. It's worth the time and extra effort .