Sigh - I need a holiday. Everyone keeps telling me that Prague is
the place to go, so it’s on the internet I hop.
EasyJet first - ’the web’s favourite airline’ (geddit?). The front page
was straightforward, and I decided to view a few of the information bits
before I tried to book. I discovered that I save one whole pound by
booking over the internet and, having had the fare structure explained
to me, I clicked on ’reservations’.
Ah. EasyJet doesn’t actually go to Prague. I didn’t pay attention to the
advertising - but it’s a nifty site anyhow.
So the Prague flights I’ve seen advertised must have been from Go
(www.go-fly.com). What a pretty site! Elegant, yet incredibly
informative. And the first words that flash up on the front page?
’Prague for pounds 100 return.’ Perfect.
Once I’ve had the five types of fare explained, however, I’m told no
flight is available when I want to travel.
I try for the following weekend and am offered a ’flexible’ fare (the
most expensive). But scrolling down, I find that only one outbound
flight is available - so do I go alone, then? Scrolling further, it
appears that there is no return flight available and I’m offered no
alternative. Sorry, Campaign, I’m moving to Prague.
OK, forget the airlines, let’s go to the online travel agents. I
remember a colleague waxing lyrical about www.flightbookers.com, so I
gave it a try.
My computer didn’t like that one and it crashed (not a good omen). I
tried again ... crash. OK, I’m superstitious. Third time lucky? Nope.
Crashed again.
On the fourth attempt, the site sprang to life. I entered my query and
it gave me four options, the cheapest, at pounds 132, was British
Midland. It seemed like a flexible fare as well, so if I am beguiled by
the place, I can stay a while. Let’s do it.
Unfortunately, the reservation system was ’temporarily down’. Sigh.
Back to my internet search engine. As I hit the ’travel’ section, a BA
banner ad proclaimed ’easier online booking’. It certainly seemed simple
enough once I entered the site, but as I submitted my query it sternly
admonished me for making ’several errors’. Goodness - I do
apologise.
Tried again: success. The price? pounds 539.20. Eek! OK, that’s for two,
but it’s still pounds 269.60 each.
Flightbookers may have pipped the others on price and options, but the
site was slow and tricky, with no way of checking availability while the
system was down. So perhaps I should be more flexible with my timing and
go back to the lovely Go site.
Now the problem is: who do I Go with?
