When it came time to actually book our tickets, I thought it would be as easy as picking the best value itinerary (in terms of dollars and time) and entering passenger and credit card information. Not so! A quick google search got me started at Momondo.com, which searches all of the various flight aggregators (Orbitz, Expedia, etc...) for you. I also gleaned the valuable nugget that it is important to clear your browser cookies and use private browsing when searching for flights, otherwise the men behind the internet realize you want to buy a ticket somewhere, and every time you search they raise the price a bit. I wanted to analyze my options, so multiple searches were absolutely required. I followed that advice and then began manipulating our search variables to find the best value itinerary. What I wasn’t keen enough to notice was that one of the flight aggregators included in the search, Kiwi.com, was consistently WAY cheaper than any of the other flight aggregators (like $660 per ticket vs. $2400)! I blindly continued agonizing over which of the itineraries was best; 2 legs with a 22-hour layover, or 3 legs with the long flight during the night, or during the day, or arriving in the morning, or the evening, or, or, or. I really just wanted there to be one right answer, but there wasn’t. You simply cannot win when traveling to the other side of the world with two tiny humans. Anyway, I managed to get past the decision paralysis and pick a reasonable itinerary; it was then that I realized Kiwi.com was absurdly cheap compared to any other option. So, of course, I googled them. Horrible reviews. They break the rules of travel agents, “connecting” flights that don’t actually connect (meaning, the airlines do not have code share or interline agreements) so if your first flight were to delay or cancel and you miss your “connection” nobody at a ticket counter is going to rebook you on the next flight. It is entirely your fault that you missed your flight. They did claim to have a “Kiwi Guarantee” essentially stating they would reimburse you up to 200% of your original ticket price in the event you miss your “connection” and have to buy new tickets, but that didn’t come close to covering the potential cost of buying tickets last minute, and reviewers claimed the fine print requirements were impossible to satisfy and actually qualify for reimbursement. So, now what? Pay four times more (to put it into perspective, $2k vs. $8k)? Or do what everybody says not to do and book individual flights on multiple itineraries? I made the executive decision to book individual flights directly with each airline (avoiding the hassle of dealing with Czech-based Kiwi.com) and pay a little extra to get fully refundable/rebookable tickets on our 2nd and 3rd legs of the trip. I’d like it think it was a genius plan, as the cost of doing this was even less than what Kiwi.com offered and we should be able to get immediate customer service at the gate with the FLEX tickets. Fingers crossed we don’t need to test just how genius this plan is, but I’ll be sure to report back if we do!