It's always wise to make sure you're fully aware of the meaning of any terminology relating to a flight you're thinking of booking, whether you're shopping for deals online, over the phone or at a travel agency. If you're searching the Internet for cheap air fares and find yourself confronted with the term "Web only," you may have stumbled across a bargain, but you need to cast a wary eye over the restrictions attached to the offer in question before proceeding to checkout.
Definition
- Airlines and travel brokers have less overhead to cover when they make sales online. They sometimes pass a portion of the money they save by selling flights on the Internet to their customers in the form of Web-only deals. If you buy your air travel tickets online, the company you book with doesn't have to spend money on things such as staff members dealing with your purchase or travel agent commission fees.
Restrictions
- Web-only deals may be cheap, but are not always flexible. They often are offered for a limited period of time for specific travel dates, and typically are nontransferable and nonrefundable. If you book with an airline that lets you change a Web-only flight, you usually have to pay through the nose for the pleasure. Check the terms and conditions of Web-only deals before going ahead with a booking.
Cancellation Insurance
- If you want to protect yourself against losing out in the event you were unable to take a Web-only flight, avail yourself of a travel insurance policy that includes trip cancellation coverage. This would reimburse the cost of your flight and any other expenses linked to your travels, such as hotel accommodations, in the event you were unable to travel because of illness or a limited number of other unforeseen circumstances.
Time to Buy
- As a rule of thumb, Web-only tickets typically become more expensive the more of them an airline or travel broker sells, and may disappear completely once a certain quota has been sold. As such, you'd be well advised to act quickly if you come across a deal that seems too good to be true. If you leave it a day or two to make your booking, you could find your window of opportunity has closed.
