I am a dumb and nervous would-be traveler. I booked a flight

>>1179470
>There are many people who use these sites successfully, and it seems that there are many more who have only bad things to say about it.
No, that's dumb, otherwise these websites would have gone down eons ago.

Nothing too bad.
It's only complicated when you have to cancel your flight or change it, if everything goes to plan, normally it's no problem.

>and that took honest to god less than 2 hours.
Completely normal. Waiting 24h to return booking details online ? What kind of nigger company would do that ? It's all automatised.

>I don't have any seat numbers assigned to me yet
You do that when it's time to web check-in, usually the day before departure. You will receive an email to do it.
If not done online, you will do it when you check your luggage in at the airport anyway.

Everything seems to go alright OP, no need to worry so far.

I'm in the same boat as you are OP. I've only ever booked directly from airlines and got boarding passes from them. 20 days until my trip and I have ticket numbers for each airline and my Expedia E-Ticket. It feels so weird not travelling with a boarding pass.

The person above is right in that booking seats is usually for 24 hours before your flight. Also, some websites will SAY that they are not compatible with Expedia bookings for online check-in, but it will actually work if you enter the booking number they gave you for the airline. I'm in this situation now with Aer Lingus.

Also, one of the benefits of booking with Expedia is that all of your flights are booked under a 'single ticket'. The airline should forward your luggage to your final destination so that you don't have to arrive, collect luggage, book in luggage, run through security etc. Just double-check this when it's being checked in though as it's better to be safe than sorry.

>>1179470
This isn't 1998 anymore.

I just bought an international ticket with Delta last week. I used to some low airfare website, found a cheap flight, and then went to the Delta website and booked it in under 5 minutes.

Confirmation email came within 2 seconds.

Haha I was exactly like you earlier this year OP. Was my first time buying online with Skyscanner. I constantly checked the airlines' websites and even called the company that processed my booking just to reassure me.
You're all good man. As long as your flight details come up on the airline's website, it's all good. Don't worry too much.
Just check again maybe a 2-4 weeks before your flight if there are any changes (usually they'll be the ones to inform you)

>>1179471
>Waiting 24h to return booking details online ? What kind of nigger company would do that ?
I've heard stories of people not getting booking details for more than 3 days, sometimes even right before their flight date. I guess it could also be user error in these cases, seeing as most people who can afford to travel are usually old people who can't work their way around a computer anyway.

>>1179493
I actually booked through ExploreTrip (oh shit nigga what am I doing), but I plan on taking a single carry-on anyway. My trip isn't very long, and I ain't got time for luggage bullshit.
Thanks for all your input, guys; you've quelled most of my nervousness.

Now, should I book my hotel like, right fucking now? Obviously, the best reason to do this would be to get the lowest possible prices. However, so many hotels/booking sites say they're non-refundable. And it would be pretty damn shitty if my flight booker fucked something up and I couldn't catch my flight, and suddenly I'm stuck disputing the flight charges, and having to eat the non-refundable hotel charges. Am I being a worrywart again?

>>1179702
> hotel booking
Either go for a AirBnb with dem flexible cancellation fees,
or go to booking.com, they have many hotels which are pretty chill on late cancellations.

Also, you'll see during your flight, but the bulk of travelers are not old people at all so that bullshit excuse does not apply. It's just that people are stressed out because tickets cost a lost of money and they don't know if they are doing it right (like you do now).
But it's alright, no need to stress out if it's the first time you do this, you'll learn.