A first-timer guide to booking international flights: passport dates, name matching, what a PNR is, how connections work, and what to do if you miss one.
Published 23 Jul 2026 · Updated 21 Aug 2026 · FlyLemo
Your passport expiry date is the first thing to check, before you look at a single fare. Many countries refuse entry to travelers whose passport expires within six months of the trip, and a passport renewal takes longer than any flight sale lasts. With that done, booking an international flight is a sequence of small, checkable steps. Here they are in order.
Read the full routing before you compare numbers. Look at total travel time, the number of stops, the connecting airport, and whether the whole trip sits on one ticket. Two separate tickets can be cheaper, but if the first flight runs late the second airline owes you nothing. On a single ticket, the airline has to get you to your destination.
Connection time matters more internationally. If you have to clear immigration and re-check bags at the connecting airport, which happens on arrival in the US and Canada and in some other countries, anything under two hours is tight. A fare display will usually flag a self-transfer or a change of airport; treat both as a reason to keep looking unless you know that airport well.
Type the name exactly as it appears in the machine-readable line at the bottom of the passport photo page. Given name and surname in the right fields, no nicknames, no dropped middle names if they appear on the passport, and no accents the booking system will not accept. Name corrections after ticketing range from a small fee to a full rebooking, and some fares allow none at all. This is one of the things a FlyLemo agent checks by hand on every booking before it is ticketed.
Two different numbers arrive after a booking, and people mix them up:
Save the confirmation as a PDF or screenshot. You may be asked for it at check-in, at immigration, or at a connecting airport with no Wi-Fi.
International economy fares usually include at least one checked bag, but not always, so read the baggage line. Seat selection is often free at online check-in and charged before that. Special meals, where offered, must be requested at least a day ahead through the airline.
Arrive three hours before an international departure. Long-haul check-in usually closes 60 minutes before the flight, and bag drop can close earlier. On arrival, follow signs for immigration, collect bags, clear customs, then re-check if you are connecting. Immigration officers commonly ask where you are staying and for how long; have the answer ready.
On a single ticket, go straight to the airline's transfer desk or customer service counter, and call the airline while you walk there; the phone queue is often shorter. The airline rebooks you on its next available flight at no charge, and if the delay was within its control you can ask for a meal voucher and, for an overnight, a hotel. Keep every receipt. On separate tickets you are buying a new seat, which is why the single-ticket rule above is worth paying a little extra for. Booking through FlyLemo gives you a second line to call: our desk is staffed around the clock and can see the same rebooking options.
