You made your booking with your travel agent and they sent you your itinerary but you see there are some portions of your flight that you have waitlisted on. What can you do? This is very frustrating if you are trying to finalize your travel plans; it's also the difficult part of the job being a travel agent in Taiwan. With Chinese New Year only three months away I thought this month it would be a good idea to write about some things you should keep in mind to make your chances better of getting your seat confirmed. Chinese New year is the busiest time of the year for travel in Taiwan and if you don't have a flight confirmed well in advance chances are good that you will be stuck on this island.

Make your reservation well in advance.

This seems like a no brainer but it's amazing how many people wait until a week or so before Chinese New Year to book their flight and are surprised that they can't get on a flight any where. Making your reservation four to three months ahead of Chinese New Year not only ensures that you get the dates you want for your flight but usually ensures you of a better fare than the people who waited until the last minute. Not all airlines publish their prices this far in advance but your travel agent should know the traditionally cheaper fares and book you on those flights.

Join an airline frequent flier program

All airlines offer frequent flier programs that are easy and free to join. These programs enable you to collect travel miles that can be redeemed for free flights and seat upgrades. If you are waitlisted on a flight and are a member of that particular airline's frequent flier program you should have a better chance of getting your seat confirmed. Make sure you have your travel agent input your membership number at the time you make your reservation.

Be flexible with your dates on the original booking

Being able to depart a few days later or earlier as well as being flexible on your return date can make a big difference in getting a seat confirmed. Departing and returning during the week is always an easier seat to get and in some cases it can be cheaper.

Stick with your original reservation

If you have been waitlisted on a flight you are at the bottom of a list and will continue to move up the list as other people change or cancel their bookings. If you change the date of your original reservation you will move back down to the bottom of the list, so stick with your original date if you can.

Reserving the same flight with another travel agent won't increase your chance of getting on a flight. In fact it will decrease your chances; the airline can see that you are double booked and won't move you up in the list until you have cancelled one of your reservations. As well in most cases once an airline knows you are double booked they will cancel both of your reservations if you don't cancel one of them; again stick with your original reservation.

Tell your travel agent that you really want the ticket

Travel agents make a lot of reservations for their customers that get cancelled. So you should let your travel agent know that you really want the ticket and once it's confirmed you will pay right away. This will ensure that your agent works a little harder to get your flight confirmed.

Upgrade your ticket

By upgrading your ticket I don't mean to business class, or first class but rather from a 1 month ticket to a 6 month ticket. This usually means that you will have to pay a little more for your ticket but can make the difference in getting your seat confirmed.

That's it for points to consider when trying to get a seat confirmed when waitlisted.