We’ve all heard horror stories from our friends—and have many of our own—about certain airline experiences. With the sheer volume of flights scheduled around the world on any given day, it is a statistical certainty that there will be the occasion snafu, and sometimes it’s your flight’s turn to have the bad day, and sometimes...

When you travel frequently, you become very familiar with the airline game: which days of the week are more likely to have lower fares, which airlines charge extra for checked baggage—even which airlines still give out free snacks. But when it comes down to booking your airline tickets, are low fares or airline loyalty perks...