Christopher Elliott, in his debut as a podcaster using the (small) screen name of The Armchair Traveler, provided three suggestions for getting the very lowest air fares. You can see his podcast for a bit more info (and check his website for a steady stream of consumer-oriented travel information), but here are his three favorite online sources for the best air deals:
- Kayak, an aggregator that assembles info from other sites
- Expert Flyer, a subscription service that compares all possible air fares for a specific routing. This service offers a five-day free trial in case you want to check it out.
- Airlines' own websites, specifically citing Southwest Airlines
Sometimes, of course, cheap is not the only criterion. I checked airlines' own websites when I recently booked flights between Denver and Los Angeles to connect with a Swiss flight. Only the two airlines that hub in Denver made any kind of sense. Frontier had the cheapest roundtrip fare ($209), but outbound, I would have had to endure a seven-hour layover at LAX -- on top of reaching DIA, waiting for my domestic flight at DIA, flying to LAX, making my way through LAX, a long overnight flight on Swiss International Airlines (albeit anticipating a good night's sleep on the plane), going through light-touch Swiss immigration/customs procedures, waiting for a train and taking three trains to reach a small Swiss resort. Needless to say, I didn't book that itinerary.
United had convenient connection on the way out and not excessively expensive ($289 reoundtrip) considering that it spared me that killer LAX layover, but the my return, I would have arrived at LAX too late for the last non-stop to Denver. I would have had to fly between LAX and Denver via San Francisco or spend a night in Los Angeles and come home the next morning. I ended up booking two one-way fares -- $269 DEN-LAX on United and $109 on Frontier (LAX-DEN). Was it the cheapest? Not at all, but it is the only combo that made sense in other respects. Sometimes, a traveler's gotta do what a traveler's gotta do -- even if it is a little more expensive.
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I've found Kayak to be useful. I'm pretty locked in to United to keep my Premier Exec status, but sometimes I can't get the United site to show me all the permutations available on a given flight. (Like the layover issue you describe, sometimes I prefer to have a connection in through a specific city rather than a different one, to avoid connections through places that might leave me stranded if the flight is late (because those cities don't have a lot of flights through them). Anyway, Kayak let me explore detailed options.
ReplyDelete-- Andrea
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ReplyDeleteThanks Joan, for this link to this site that seems oriented to fares from and within Australia.
ReplyDeleteHey these are fantastic deals for booking cheapest flights for my holidays!!
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