The recent flake rate of online dating is alarming, so there are a few things that I do to reduce flaking that I want to share. You're more than welcome to share yours to help out newbies also.

1. Only set the date a few days in advance. I'm lazy and time bridging is a pain in the ass. With this, the girl will less likely to forget about the date.
2. Do not set a date with a "maybe". If she says "let me check my schedule" or "i'll get back to you" or something similar shows her intention to want to meet up, then it's okay.
3. Avoid texting too much in between. I throw in 2-3 hook texts to keep her interest and things fresh. That's about it.
4. Build more attraction before asking her out. The more invested she is, the less likely she will flake.
5. Make her make some small commitments. Using the same concept as above to make her invest more. Usually I'll tell them to bring something (EX: Don't forget you're in charge of sneaking in gummy bears)
6. Make it a fun date. This one is self-explanatory.
7. Laying traps. If I feel the girl will likely flake, I'll lay down traps. Usually it's qualifying traps, such as "you're not one of those shady girls who flakes are you?". I always associate flaking with some other bad traits so they'd be less likely willing to hurt their pride.
8. Stay calm if she flakes. If you've invited her out the RIGHT way, which means telling her to join you not asking her permission, then there's nothing to sweat over. You're already doing the stuffs anyway whether if she shows up or not. Most of the time, I don't respond to their flake text or call ever, they know they did something bad, let them sit on it then respond a few hours or a day after as if you were having fun and forgot about it.

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I agree that most of that is good advice.

I'd change the qualifying trap to something more along the lines of:

"Will you be pissed if I totally flaked on you?"

then gauge her response. Just from the point that attractive guys, like attractive women, never get flaked on.

My style might be different than a lot of others. But i've found the best way is to build as much attraction before asking her put as possible.

When I first started online game, I was getting a lot of flakes. Quite honestly, in the past year I've not had one.