Flights, seats & check-in

Seats are allocated at check-in unless you pay to choose them. Airlines will generally try to seat under-12s with an adult from the party, but on a full flight the only guarantee is a paid seat selection. Our advice: on a short hop, save the money; on a long-haul flight, or if sitting together matters to your party, pay for the seats and put the certainty in the price. Tell us what matters and we will price it both ways. Read more

Confirmation and your ATOL Certificate, where one applies, arrive as soon as you book. The travel documents themselves typically arrive in the last few weeks before departure, and the exact timing depends on the operator or airline. Worth knowing: Jet2 is a ticketless airline, so the flight details on your Jet2holidays documents are your ticket. Before every trip we send you a rundown of what you should have in hand, so nothing is missing on the morning you leave. Read more

As soon as the airline opens it, which is typically 24 to 48 hours before departure; we tell you the exact window for your airline in your pre-departure notes. Two habits worth keeping: check your flight time again in the 24 hours before you fly, because schedules move, and screenshot your boarding passes rather than relying on airport wifi. Read more

For a short-haul flight with bags to drop, two hours before departure; for long-haul, three. Add margin for school holiday peaks and early morning departures, which are the queues that catch people out. If you are flying from Leeds Bradford or Manchester at peak times we will tell you what the security situation has actually been like lately, not what the airport's website says. Read more