Archive: Booking Flights Online
Many report saving big bucks by booking their flights online. How did you use the web to save money in planning your trip? Here's what you thought:
German sites & Ryanair
Cheap flights are found easily on german websites — but with the fall of the dollar, it doesn't work out; but they are always about $100 cheaper: odopo.de, expedia.de, cheaptickets.de
Also, for the cheapest intercity/country flights go to ryanair.com. they between select cities, and often require a bus to get to the small airport, but you'll pay $10 to fly from barcelona to milan.
Marika <email>
MT USA 02/11/04
airline tickets
Just want to let everyone know. I have been frustrated for 2 months trying to find an affordable flight from Boston to Nice, France. Finally I took someone's advice on the page and went to travelocity.co.uk. I saved over $900 when compared to travelocity.com and expedia.com.
Katie <email>
Marblehead, Ma USA 02/11/04
Flying to Europe
I have been looking for tickets Portland to London for two months and only found overpriced tickets. I just booked two tickets at Travelhub.com, saving $300 over the least expensive fare perviously found
Ryan <email>
WA USA 01/23/04
Good on-line ticket site
I booked a trip departing Wichita, Kansas arriving Brussels and returning from Barcelona for $767 total at www.bt-store.com. The price was appx. $200 less than other sites.
K Hogan <email>
Wichita, KS USA 01/21/04
Munich Airfare
I was persistent and kept searching for airfare from Detroit to Munich in
Jan 2004. $324.RT. Hotwire worked again ! Also Priceline booked us in a
4 star Michelin rated Marriott for 60.00 per night!! Search daily...things
change fast !
Stan Rozycki <email>
Cleveland , OH USA 01/12/04
Travel to Europe
Best deal going right now is SAS's 2 for 1 special to Europe from any gateway city..just booked 2 RT tickets to Madrid for $ 860 from Seattle...also we get to overnight in Copenhagen both ways ! GO to SAS website or call 800 221-2350 to book
Tom <email>
Seattle, WA USA 01/12/04
Frequent Flyer - on line or on the phone
I recently went to the Northwest Airlines web site to find two tickets to Prague with a stop in Amsterdam. Using the web site I could not find a seat even using the 100,000 mile "rule buster" option. So I called NWA and was able to get 2 tickets for 100,000 miles that fit my schedule. The customer service person was very patient and worked hard to find a way to make it work. I did have to give up non-stop flights, but it saved me $1,900 on one ticket.
Marv Vikla <email>
Minneapolis, MN USA 01/09/04
AA airfare/hotel deal
I received an online offer from American Airlines. They are advertising "4 Days/3 Nights As Low As $341* Per Person At Thistle Euston Including
Air!" Travel between now and March 31st. The $341 price is from JFK. Slightly
higher price for some of the other Thistle hotels (I've stayed at the Thistle
Tower, it was comparable to a Hilton). Price jumps substantially from other
airports, but might be worth a look if you are interested. http://aav5.aavacations.com/specials/mp_eur030530thistle.asp?ADID=NE8
John
Springfield, IL USA 01/06/04
Beware of online price increases!
I almost booked a trip through Travelocity.com from Philadelphia to Zurich
via Frankfurt. The first price quote was $299+. After I selected dates and
round-trip flights, the price jumped from $299+ to $1334!. I sent Travelocity
a question as to why the huge jump but have received no answer as of yet.
Be careful online and read the final price before you book!
mike
plymouth, pa USA 01/05/04
Gatwick versus Heathrow
There is a myth that Heathrow is more convenient than Gatwick. The Gatwick
Express train to Victoria Station takes only a half hour whereas the Tube
from Heathrow to Victoria station takes at least that long or longer [although
the Tube is quite a bit cheaper]. We once took Icelandair to Heathrow's
European terminal and thought it was a total dump. The Heathrow Express
train to Paddington Station was nice but it put us still way north of where
we wanted to be (Kensington). The bottom line is that you are not missing
a thing by flying into Gatwick versus Heathrow.
Doug Ellingson <email>
Chanhassen, MN USA 12/24/03
For Those Domestic Euro Flight Booking Troubles
For those having trouble finding reasonable fares for domestic Europe flights,
try booking through European counterparts of US travel planning websites
such as Expedia and Travelocity. While planning a trip from Frankfurt to
Berlin, the fare was about 236.00 USD on Lufthansa.com, and even higher
on Expedia and Travelocity. Using Travelocity.de, Travelocity's German affiliate,
my fare was 119 USD. You can use the money you save to visit a spa to relieve
the stress of booking a flight on a website with a foreign language. I do
not speak much German, but with an online translator open next to me, I
made it through. For Germany, try www.travelocity.de or www.expedia.de.
For the UK, try www.travelocity.co.uk or www.expedia.co.uk. For France,
try www.travelocity.fr or www.expedia.fr. You can also try going through
Canada at www.travelocity.ca or www.expedia.ca.
Gray Roberge <email>
San Francisco, CA USA 12/21/03
More on Student Tickets...
I totally agree about studentuniverse.com. I used it to get tickets
from San Francisco to London. They were $200 cheaper than anything else
I could find and I had no problems. Of course you do have to be a student
(or faculty). Sadly I have graduated. But as long as you buy your tickets
before you graduate, you can use them when you are no longer a student.
So now there are no excuses to not do a Europe Grad Trip! Go for it...
Nicole
CA USA 12/19/03
Priceline.com Tickets
Today I purchased from Priceline.com 3 round-trip tickets for March 21 to
March 30 - from Sacramento, CA to Paris, France for $489.23 each including
$25.00 travel insurance! Excellent price....although there is a stop-over
in Houston both ways.
Sarah <email>
Rocklin, CA USA 12/12/03
Student Tickets
If you're a student you can get excellent fares to major European destinations
(even to some minor ones) by going to studentuniverse.com and registering.
No fee or card is required and I have found some great fares on major airlines
(e.g. $600 from Portland, OR to London on American during late summer '02)
many times. Change fees are also much less than normal fares. For example,
on the ticket mentioned above, the fee was all of $25 when I had to come
home a day earlier, as opposed to $200 on a regular ticket. The one thing
to note is that you absolutely must be a current student. When you register,
they call your school and check your enrollment status before you are allowed
to buy from them.
David Jarvis <email>
Portland, OR USA 11/11/03
Airline websites
Lately what I've found to be the best method, both for domestic and international
travel, is looking up the desired airfare on the travel agent websites such
as Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia what have you, then make notes of the ones
you might consider,and go to that airline's own website to actually book
the flight. The airlines always seem to offer the same prices as the general
sites but usually add incentives like extra frequent flyer miles, and may
even offer special deals not found elsewhere.
By the way, I got in on the British Airways special mentioned below and
booked RT L.A.-London for $298. That's cheaper than a lot of domestic
flights. My mom and I leave March 30. I'm very grateful to my hubby for
that one; he heard the commercial on the radio 2 days before the deal
expired.
Daisy
L.A., CA USA 11/06/03
Problems Booking Online
Last year I was planning my trip to Europe over the summer, and like most
of you I searched all over the Internet to find the best deals. I want to
caution everyone to be very careful! I found the best deal on Hotwire.com,
$590 from Ontario (CA) to London Gatwick, I was thrilled! I arrived at the
airport a little early, and was one of the first people in line when the
ticketing desk opened. It's a good thing I was, because the whole thing
was about to go nightmarishly wrong.
The woman behind the counter told me that the website had screwed up my flight. They had me flying from Ontario to Houston, then transfering me onto a flight that was going FROM New Orleans TO Houston. My return flight was just a random number that wasn't even a flight at all! I looked at her, dumbfounded, and asked "But how could they just make that stuff up?" and she responded "It happens ALL THE TIME, that's why we recomend people don't go through those web sites." Luckily she helped me get Hotwire on the phone and get everything straightened out.
My advice to people who buy their tickets online
is to call up the airline once you know the flight numbers, to make sure
your itinerary works. If it doesn't, call the online company right away.
It is a fixable problem, but not something you want to deal with the day
you leave.
Allison <email>
Sun City, CA USA 10/13/03
Double Check Your Dates
If you book online, be very careful. I was confused by the part about leaving
the US on one day and arriving in Europe the next (okay, I admit I was trying
to multi-task at work). I ended up booking the wrong departure date and
had to pay $100 per ticket to change. What I really needed was a travel
agent to repeat my dates one last time before I booked!
USA 10/08/03
Cheap Italian Airline
If you're flying to or from Italy, check out www.volareweb.com for super
cheap fares. They have limited European cities, but the prices start at
10 euros.
Rachel <email>
San Francicso, CA USA 09/26/03
another deal starting with yahoo best fares
i too used yahoo best fares and was able to book a roundtrip
flight to london for $199 from charlotte, nc that is positively amazing
no other site (cheaptrips, travelocity, orbitz, cheapticket, etc) could
get me that deal. i do also suggest that once you get the lowfare listing
from yahoo, go to the actual airline site where i was able to save another
5.00 that yahoo had tacked onto the price of the ticket...i'm sold...sometimes
it is best to go directly through the airline!
marcia
charlotte, nc USA 09/18/03
cheaptickets.com
If you check back often (I checked every day) you can find a deal on overseas
tickets, but they dont last long. When I was looking for tickets from San
Francisco to London earlier this year, it was going for around $600 every
airline I looked. One day I went to cheaptickets.com and I found the exact
dates and times I wanted for a non stop flight for $440. I snagged them.
They havent been that cheap since. We're leaving for London next week!
Laura <email>
Fremont, CA USA 09/11/03
Cheap Tickets to Rome
Definitely check out Travelocity (AOL Keyword Travel) often. My husband
and I were just able to get two tickets from Minneapolis to Rome (through
Philadelphia) for $363 round trip each plus about $40 taxes. These fares
are availabe from November 2003 through April 2004.
Connie <email>
Minneapolis, MN USA 09/09/03
Stay away from STA!
Budget travelers, do yourselves a favor: don't buy with STA Travel. They
may have good prices (although I found much cheaper fares on www.aerlingus.com
later), they are no help whatsoever if something goes wrong. I bought a
return ticket with them from Chicago-Zurich-Salzburg. When I called SwissAir
to confirm the return flight, I was informed that Swiss no longer flies
out of Salzburg. I received no notification of this from STA.
I had to take a LONG train ride to get from Austria to Zurich in order to catch the Zurich-Chicago flight. STA denied any responsibility for this, and refused to refund the money I had paid for the Salzburg-Zurich flight. After contacting Swiss, they sent me a letter authorizing a partial refund from STA. I called STA, and they said they had no record of me! So I had to explain the entire situation again. Their process was for me to send in the original ticket, and I would get the refund. Surprise, surprise, they LOST my ticket!!! Good thing I had a return receipt from the post office, so I have confirmation that it was delivered.
It has taken many, many phone calls, and finally they said that I will get a refund sometime in February (after the validity date of the ticket expires, whatever that means). In my experience, the staff at STA are inexperienced, even "ditzy", and at times downright rude. I would advise travelers to go directly with an airline itself, thus avoiding the annoying middleman.
For my trip this fall, I bought a ticket from Aer
Lingus. They have very reasonable prices! Also, check out www.swiss.com
for their youth fares (under 25 years old). I hope my frustrating experiences
with STA can serve as a warning to other travelers!
djs
IL USA 09/02/03
Double Check Online Tickets
Just an FYI for anyone using SAS (Scandinavian Airlines). On July 30th my
mom and I booked my flight (Seattle-Copenhagen-Düsseldorf) using her credit
card on the SAS site. The website asked for my info and then asked for the
cardholder's info separately. So I gave them my Mom's name & billing address
as the cardholder just like they asked. Now, a month later, we just found
out the charge never showed up on her card. I called them and turns out
their system tried to charge the tickets on my mom's card using MY name
& address, so my reservation never continued through their system to the
ticketing dept! Arggh!
Luckily this flight was not selling out quickly. But what if we hadn't
checked on this?! No one called me to notify me of this problem! I would've
shown up at the airport and THEN found out I had no actual ticket?! I've
always heard good things about SAS (never flown w/ them yet), but be careful
if you get your tickets online. Absolutely verify the full transaction
within a couple of days!
Debbie
Seattle, WA USA 08/27/03
Airfares to Europe
I was like many of you who were frustrated with the high cost of airfares
to Europe. I tried all the discount websites and spoke to friends who live
in Europe and the U.S. who travel a lot, however, I had to figure out what
was best for me. I found a great website http://www.cheaptravelnetwork.com
I found a great fare for my trip to Italy in Oct. The best part about this
site is that you are hooked with a local flight consolidator and there is
an 800 number so you can book your flight over the phone. At the site you
are asked for your flight information and within 8 hours, you receive a
quote for a fare to your destination. I actually received my quote within
20 minutes. It was much cheaper than the fares that I had found on the other
sites. Of course flying during the week is much cheaper than on Friday Saturday
or Sunday so keep this in mind when making your travel plans. Good luck
and have fun.
RC
San Diego, CA USA 08/16/03
I took Felicia's advise and checked out economytravel.com for my October
honeymoon to Milan. While tickets at every other "discount" website were
$980, I got a fantastic deal at economytravel - $698. Maybe it is not the
world's best deal ever, but it IS affordable, and now I know I am going
to Italy for my honeymoon! Thanks, Felicia!
Erin <email>
Denver, CO USA 07/28/03
Watch out for a German based company called Sky-Tours ( www.sky-tours.com ). I thought I got a great deal for my early July trip: Boston-Rome, non-stop, R/T for only $445. It took over three weeks for tickets to be fedexed, and I thought I was all set. In May, just to be sure, I called Alitalia (ticket issuer) to make sure all is indeed ok, and to my surprise they informed me they had no such flight number, and suggested I call Delta (their "partner"). Delta informed me that due to Iraq war, many of their flights were cancelled, and my tickets are invalid. Both Delta and Alitalia told me there is nothing they can do and I need to contact the travel agency.
I had a very frustrating
experience remedying situation with Sky-Tours. My initial e-mails have gone
unanswered for days, and there was no phone number on their website, only
a fax. Through research, I finally found a phone number in Germany, and
it took several attempts until I spoke to someone. Days later they told
me they re-booked me on another Alitalia flight (stopover in Milan), and
asked me to return tickets before issuing new ones. Five weeks later I got
new tickets (Two weeks before my trip!). I then immediately took the tickets
to Logan airport Alitalia counter and they verified all is ok. I am convinced
that unless I had checked, I would have gone to airport on day of flight
with worthless tickets! Very frustrating experience, but actual trip went
great. My advice: ALWAYS check with airline on your flight bookings!
Jim <email>
Boston, USA 07/16/03
Keep Searching - OFTEN!!
Keep searching. I've been searching for months. I was kicking myself for
not booking Baltimore to Frankfurt via Icelandair at $625 back in the spring for
a July departure. I had resigned myself to the now $700 price range until
last week when I started searching from Philadelphia, 90 miles away, nonstop
flights. It paid off as I found through Expedia/SideStep a fare of $585
through USAir. So I decided to first join their Dividend Miles program.
I wound up using their search by price feature at www.usairways.com and
got two roundtrip tickets to Frankfurt from Philadelphia for $472 each inclusive
of taxes. This is for a late July departure, on a Saturday, non stop!! Yes
I have to drive 90 miles to the airport instead of 8, but it saves me at
least $200 a ticket for myself and daughter. Yippeee! Prices do change
daily and my Saturday departure actually brought the price down from a T-Th
departure. I don't know why it was less on the weekend, but I'm happy!
Momof7 <email>
Baltimore/Washington area, USA 07/02/03
Finding a good airfare to London
I have been searching like a hound dog for weeks trying to book a trip from
LAX to London-Paris in late August. I used Side-step, Expedia, Orbitz and
a bunch of look-alikes. They all wanted 790 or more R/T. But I got the killer
deal at Hotwire for 590 R/T flying into London-Gatwick. Keep looking and
you may find what you look for.
Matt <email>
Los Angeles, ca USA 06/26/03
Amsterdam low fares
I booked throug Kuwait airways for 319.00 roundtrip going to Amsterdam!
The only thing is - you had to go for two weeks or more. Now I am searching
what exciting things to do in October in Germany.
Glory <email>
Chicago, IL USA 06/23/03
Stayed up All Night Searching
My son, 13, is going to England with our Cathedral choir in July on British
Air. My hubby and I thought it would be great to join him near the end of
the trip and go to Italy to see our niece. I spent last night until 5:30
am searching prices at Orbitz, Travelocity, CheapTickets, Expedia, British
Air, Icelandic Air, Priceline, etc. (being very creative in departure points,
times, etc.) and all of them were in the $625+ range for round-trip London.
Our problem is that we had to change our son's ticket to leave at a later
date with us instead of the church group and we were told there would be
a fee to change his date. Also was told it would be cheaper for son to fly
back to US from London instead of Italy. I finally ended up going with the
group's travel agent. She was able to waive the $100-$150 change date fee
for our son and get us tickets for $687.64 each (fees included). We figure
with the waived change date fee, our price would be around $612.54 each
and the 3 of us will be flying back together on the same flight. Now we
need to figure out how to go to Paris, Venice, Rome and possibly Pompeii
cheaply once we are there...without running into strikes!
Jeannine Twardus <email>
Newark, DE USA 06/19/03
air line tickets
I've just booked an open - jaws trip flying into Manchester and out of London
through a travel agent. I looked around online to see what kinds of prices
there were and then went to see Rochelle. She gets paid to figure this stuff
out and my time is valuable. Checking the Internet, several sites at that,
everyday is certainly not the best use of my time. However, like every professional
you see in your life, your travle agent has to be someone you trust and
are comfortable with. I like Rochelle and I trust her judgement.
Emma <email>
Canada 06/17/03
Ryan Air a great Deal
After looking for flights from England to either France or Germany and finding
decent prices, I stumbled upon the Ryan Air website and found that from
London to Hambourg the price was 9.99 pounds, using the next day/ previous
day flights button, I found a flight the next morning for .99 pounds. It
ended up costing me 44 pounds taxes included for my companion and I!!! What
a deal!
Cynthia
CO USA 06/07/03
Summer sunshine growing airfares.
It was my own fault. I had been watching the airline websites from March
through May. In April I had been drooling over June departure $400 RT. I
now kick myself for not making my reservations at that time! About a week
or two ago, the $400 fares kicked up to $800-1200 (for the same departure/return
dates). Yikes! These look like the regular 'peak season' fares. Does that
mean the airlines are no longer having trouble filling flights? Did their
mini-recession end some time in May? Maybe the fare sales will start again
for the end of peak season.
John
Springfield, IL USA 05/31/03
Persistence Pays!
I recently booked a flight from NYC to London in late July. I was having
the same trouble as others. Cheap fares disappearing within hours. However,
I kept checking daily and was able to snap up a RT on United for $414 (tax
and fees included). Check frequently and be ready to buy immediately. I've
heard that Tues-Thurs the services post better prices than on the weekends.
Robert <email>
Stamford, CT USA 05/30/03
Orbitz "phantom" fares
I just recently booked plane tickets to Europe through a competent travel
agent after having a less than wonderful experience with Orbitz and other
online ticket services. The Orbitz site would show prices significantly
lower than what I could obtain from a travel agent. But when I "accepted"
the price, one of two screens popped up: either the flight was "unavailable,"
or the lowball price of $555 jumped to $900+. Because of this, and also
because one member of our party was flying on another day, I found the travel
agent to be the best at accommodating a "split date" itinerary. This entire
episode has left me a bit skeptical of some of the online ticket deals we
read about here and elsewhere.
John Russell <email>
Charlottesville, VA USA 05/24/03
Great fares, and great customer service
I really need to put a good word in for the folks at Icelandair. After going
back and forth with Expedia about the botch-job they did with my tickets,
Icelandair had the problem solved in no time (and saved me over $700 that
Expedia wanted me to fork over), and they couldn't have been friendlier.
For anyone looking for good rates to Europe, I would really recommend using
Icelandair, as you can also do a stopover (up to 72 hours) in Iceland as
well, although once you get beyond mid-May, hotels get pricey. Go in about
March or April, although I hear they have a great Christmas celebration.
Their website is www.icelandair.com. To book a stop-over in Iceland, click "Advanced Search," and then check "Multiple Flights" (or whatever it is).
I can't wait to take my next trip with them.
Amanda Finley <email>
Clayton, MO USA 05/16/03
Check airline websites
I got two roundtrip tickets from San Francisco to Amsterdam on Air France
for $492 each (short stopover in Paris), that price includes all fees and
taxes. The sale was advertised on Air France's website which I just happened
to be visiting. I returned two days later and that rate was no longer available
for the dates I selected (depart/return on Saturdays in June). It pays to
check the airlines' websites frequently since they sometimes have a big
sale that lasts only a few days. I was about to pay $749/each for two tickets
on KLM so this saved me $500!
novey <email>
Mountain View, CA, CA USA 05/06/03
Airfare
I just scored my ticket from Portland, Oregon, to Zurich on Lufthansa (fast...only
a 12 hour flight) for $726. This is far and away the best internet fare
I have found for this flight. I got it through sidestep.com.
Claudy <email>
Salem, OR USA 05/02/03
Use a travel agent
I spent a month shopping on-line for the best airfare to France from Portland,
Oregon during the peak tourist season. I am going for two months, and
all the supposed on-line deals required a thirty day return trip window.
I tried all the on-line sites listed here.
I finally contacted a travel agent and he found
me a fare that was $800 dollars cheaper than anything they could offer
on-line, plus only one connection! I also got a great line on some places
to stay. I say, take advantage of the travel agent's expertise. It is
well worth it.
Jeremy Norton <email>
Portland, OR USA 04/30/03
Great Airfare
Check out www.economytravel.com. I went to Europe last year for two months.
I flew into and out of Amsterdam from Philadelphia. My ticket was a little
over $800, on British Airways. Today I booked a flight from Philadelphia
to Rome for June 1st, coming back at the end of June, for $445 before taxes.
I got the times I wanted and the trip is nonstop. Tickets are going quickly
so I advise to book now. Ciao!
Felicia <email>
Phila, PA USA 04/27/03
booking air line tickets
try www.onetravel.com — -searches cover least expensive connecting cities
for reduced fares — have not found this to be as comprehensive with others,
especially air line web sites
jim <email>
dallas,, tx USA 04/22/03
Buying Tickets Online
Travelocity is THE place to be for tickets to Europe. We bought 2 return
tickets from Montreal to London (non-stop) for $930 (All taxes & fees included).
Their service is very fast, we received the tickets 3 days after we ordered
them. For very cheap tickets for flying within Europe, try EasyJet.com .
A single trip from Amsterdam to London goes for as cheap as 15 Euros !!!
Also BMI (www.flybmi.com), has very good rates AND they fly to/from London
Heathrow. (EasyJet only to Gatwick, Stansted & Luton)
William <email>
Montreal, QC Canada 03/31/03
Online bookings
I just booked our tickets to Europe with Expedia round trip from Miami to
London $322. I had to book within the hour without knowing the airline or
time of day but did have my dates. Turned out to be Air Canada through Montreal
and returning through Toronto. We invited my Mom to meet us in London part
way through the trip to go to Ireland (24 days of Europe backpacking would
be too much for her). I got her a great price on Travelocity and we are
actually flying on the same plane home, dropping her off in Toronto, before
we go on to Miami. I have booked many flights through Travelocity for a
few years now, for business and pleasure, and never had any problems.
Sandra
Hollywood, FL USA 03/26/03
look at the lowest advertised fares
I just bought 3 tickets from Detroit to Amsterdam for $160 a piece, before
tax. I always look at the lowest advertised fare from travelocity/yahoo,
then work up the list to find one that I can schedule my trip around.
Erik
Grand Rapids, MI USA 03/19/03
Book it on the Web
I've been using the internet for buying travel for several years now and
I see no reason whatsoever to ever visit a travel agent's office again.
(No offense to travel agents, you're wonderful folks but I suspect your
days are numbered.) The person below said they had a hard time booking for
a second party but I've purchased tickets for my mother (including for our
upcoming trip to the UK in 2 weeks) and have had no problems. I recommend
checking out several websites before buying - or check out them all if you
have time - my personal faves are Travelocity, Orbitz and CheapTickets -
and also check the websites of specific airlines which sometimes offer added
incentives like extra frequent flyer miles for booking directly through
them. Using the Web you can check different dates to your heart's desire
to troll for better rates without taking up a human agent's time. I've also
made our hotel reservations, and purchased train passes, Great British Heritage
passes and foreign currency over the internet. Also researched all the places
on our wish list to visit and even found internet coupons for free admission
to a couple.
MRH
USA 03/17/03
Not totally sold on buying tickets on the web
I've had mixed experiences with making air travel arrangements on the web.
Arrangments for domestic travel seem to be much easier than international.
And trying to make arrangments for a second party is especially challenging.
I ended up working with JustFares on the phone for my sister and nephew's
tickets from Dayton to London. They were great.
Marshall Duell <email>
Fullerton, CA USA 03/14/03
Travelocity
I continue to find Travelocity helpful. Best tool for searching the absolute
cheapest is to pick your cities and say that your departure dates are flexible,
then narrow it (it'll show you how on the left-hand menu) to whatever month
you're going to travel. It'll show you the cheapest fare, and you can read
the various airlines' rules to see what days you should pick to get the
cheap tickets. Plus, with Travelocity and unlike, IIRC, Cheaptickets, you
get your frequent flier miles. Travelocity is also excellent for booking
open-jaw, cheaply. Fares are in general going up in May, but since that's
my vacation window, that's what I'm stuck with, and I got a Friday departure
and Saturday return, Dallas-London-Brussels-Dallas, for about $500. Actually
cheaper than the same airline's website offered...
John <email>
Dallas, TX USA 03/13/03
Cheaptrips.com
Cheaptrips.com was not what I hoped for. I applied on-line for a 5-year
plus 12-month membership (including the same for a companion traveler).
The fee stated was $87.00. My account was charged and $97. I received nothing
in the mail to confirm my membership or refund the money despite numerous
requests until I worked through the Attorney General. Still no refund!
I now know to trust my business to a more responsive and trusthworthy company.
<email>
TX USA 03/13/03
Great Deals at autoeurope.com
AutoEurope has some fabulous deals for spring and summer travel
to Europe. You can choose air only or various packages. From my experience
booking tickets through them for a trip my son made to London last month,
I have only praise for both their online and their telephone customer service.
Visit www.autoeurope.com.
Tim <email>
Minot, ND USA 03/01/03
No Deals for Me
I have no idea what anyone is talking about with regards to saving money
booking online, I have always found nothing but restrictions, mystery info
(won't tell you anything until it's paid for...what the heck is that??)
and higher fares than simply calling the airline and talking to a person...a
real live person...they usually help best.
nytola <email>
los angeles, ca USA 02/28/03
STA Travel
STA Travel has helped me like crazy every time. They search the sabre intranet
for us. They hit their deal finder button after the first airline try. I
got a ticket for less than half of what the major airline listed. Plus the
hints that the other clerks give us from up and down the counter are fun
and helpful on many travel subjects. STA has a great travellers insurance
policy too.
I prefer train travel in Europe too. What pittance you'd save by taking
the bus would cheat you out of the trainwandering conversations. Y'all
have a great sloowwww trip. I also try to spend 3 nights in each hostel
and make day trips. It cuts down on that frenzied tension-building travel
pace.
Sut
Austin, Tx USA 01/25/03
Use My Yahoo or similar to track every day
In planning for my first trip, I started using My Yahoo to keep track of
airfare rates to various destinations. You can track as many destinations
as you like, as well as different departure cities. It's basically using
Travelocity. I managed to find non-stop roundtrip air from Phoenix to Heathrow
on BA for $198 before taxes, $298 after. I'll be in Europe March 17th-April
2nd. I also booked some intra-Europe flights on RyanAir that let's me see
a few other places. $80 RT London-Rome, as an example.
Earl <email>
Tucson, AZ USA 01/22/03
tickets on line
I just purchased a R/T ticket from Indianapolis to Frankfurt through priceline.
I am very pleased. $325.00 plus taxes. I can't wait to use them again!
Deborah <email>
Greenfield, IN USA 01/21/03
my trick to save
I'm going to Europe in April all by myself for the first time, YEA! I got
my tickets through Expedia. I fly from L.A. to Frankfurt non-stop for $522.
The travel agent had me stopping 3 times both ways and it would be $850.
My trick was to leave March 31 instead of April 1, saved over about $200.
Corinne S. <email>
Carlsbad, CA USA 01/18/03
cheap tickets for students
www.studentuniverse.com is far and away the cheapest place for students
and faculty to buy tickets. I am booking early for a trip in May and flying
Chicago-Paris for $350 round trip.
Mark Deneau <email>
West Lafayette, IN USA 01/15/03
booking airline tickets online
Since my wife and I are both teachers, we are forced to travel during summer
peak (expensive) season. I was amazed to find our best round trip tickets
were to go through American vacations. The package of air AND hotel this
summer for us and our 4-year old son was cheaper (by $1,400) than just the
tickets by themselves. We won't stay put in that Paris hotel for our entire
trip, but it will be a nice "home base" that we can return to after our
side trips to Germany, etc. Be imaginative in your search for the lowest
fare. I assume this hotel-air tie-in may work for other cities as well.
BOB <email>
El Paso, TX USA 01/02/03
cheap tickets for college students
My friend and I just bought plane tickets to Rome for $600 on studentuniverse.com.
The next closest price on other websites was $850. Only college students
and faculty can use this site but I definitely recommend it for those who
qualify!
Emily <email>
VA USA 12/29/02
Round the world
This is for Kyle regarding RTW tickets. I think you might be talking about
www.airtreks.com
Mike
Chicago, IL USA 12/23/02
US to London
We were able to get round trip Phoenix to London for $428 each(including
taxes and charges) on priceline.com. The only possible snag is that we are
flying on US Air, which is currently in bankruptcy and still flying. We
bought the tickets in October, and still can't beat the rate (I'm still
looking as a reference for later trips).
Don Davis <email>
Peoria, AZ USA 12/12/02
Courier membership
My husband and I belong to National Courier's Association. Besides the wonderful "last minute special" flights, such as Singapore round trip for $300, they
have an awesome connection with travel agents who can get you VERY good
prices! My husband purchased his round trip Europe ticket with mileage.
When I called to get my ticket, I hoped to arrive in Amsterdam within 2
or 3 hours of his flight. I was pleasantly surprised when not only did the
agent get my round trip ticket on British Air for $484, but she managed
to get me on the same flight my husband was traveling on! Three cheers for
National Courier's Association! If you are flexible you can save a LOT of
money seeing the world! If anyone has questions, feel free to email me!
Deborah <email>
Portland, OR USA 12/10/02
Just bought a RT ticket direct SF to London on Orbitz for $500. Depart
Mar 31st return Jun 9th. Seems that flying in at the end of low season for
travels during shoulder season is an economical choice. This will be my
first trip abroad. I plan on following Rick's suggested two month whirlwind
tour itinerary. I'm so excited I may not be able to sleep for the next four
months!!!
Travis <email>
Sacramento, CA USA 12/05/02
Cheap tickets on Hotwire.
I just purchased 2 round trip tickets to Rome on KLM for less than $1150
on hotwire. This is the second time I've used them and am very pleased.
Scott Mills <email>
San Diego, CA USA 11/28/02
Buying Tickets Online.....
I worked in reservations for a major airline and have some comments on booking
online..... Be cautious whom you book with-some of them are more resonable
about change than others. Read the fine print. You are usually ok if you
stick with the original itinerary. I can't tell you how many times I have
gotten a passenger on the phone whom I could not help-and who could not
get in touch with the company that issued the ticket. They are brokers,
which means that they buy blocks of seats from the airlines and resell them-and
you usually cannot call the airline to change you ticket-and some will not
let you change, or will impose quite a fee. Travelocity was one that was
very easy to work with- I hope this saves someone some grief! Bon Voyage!
Lisa <email>
Flagstaff, Az. USA 10/29/02
Using Travelocity
I booked my flight to London on SAS on Travelocity and was very pleased
with the service and the cost. The price was very low, lower even than SAS's
own site. SAS only does paper tickets. It cost $15 for overnight delivery
of the ticket but it showed up as promised. Travelocity lets you sign up
for e-mail alerts when a price drops on a chosen route. Their Dream Maps
feature spotlights the lowest fares to the U.S. and the rest of the world.
The site marks departure and return dates on a calendar so it's easy to
see when the cheap fares are avaiable. One bit of advice: Be flexible on
your departure and return dates. Try different combinations to find the
lowest fares (hint: Monday through Thursday are the cheapest days to travel).
Have fun!
Curt
Seattle, WA USA 10/16/02
neattravel.com
Neat Travel has some great last minute deals to just about everywhere in
the US. And not just the weekend fly out on Saturday come back Monday stuff.
You have to buy at least two travel items (air and car, or air and hotel,
or hotel and car) and they are non-refundable but the deals are really great.
Hawaii too...
Valerie
Miami, Fl USA 10/04/02
Justfares.com
Justfares.com gets my vote.I am able to get round trip fares from Honolulu
to Milan,peak season for 800.00-Air Canada.They will also phone you if there
are any changes in your itenerary.
Jeanne <email>
Honolulu, Hi USA 08/24/02
flights.com is great
Since 1995, I have never seen the pricing beaten at what is now flights.com
(formerly the German consolidator TISS). I have used this website for all
my Eurpoean travel, and have been very happy with their service (E-tickets
within 48 hours, Paper tickets FedExed within 72).
I just booked my November trip through them, and for curiosity's sake,
went to compare with Rick's recommended site. The same flight round trip
to Charles de Gaulle via Philadelphia I booked at 379.00 on flights.com
is 457.00 on Rick's recommended site.
Cristy
Charlotte, NC USA 08/09/02
Book it yourself
Whenever you see a special fare advertised by a travel agency, find out
the details and then call the airline to see if they offer it. I did this
and saved the travel agency fee by booking directly with the airline.
Kyra
Anchorage, AK USA 08/02/02
Off to Vienna via Priceline
I used Priceline.com for a roundtrip flight from NYC to Vienna last September.
Within minutes, I secured a flight for $475 and didn't experience any complications
with the service. One setback: because I couldn't choose my flight times,
they sent me home at 6am on the last day of my vacation. I would have liked
that extra day in Wien, but I was still pleased with the service overall
(especially that fare!) and would definitely use it again.
Cindy <email>
New York, NY USA 07/17/02
Justfares for Open Jaws
I want to add my recommendation for Justfares.com. I was able to book open-jaws
from Seattle to Dublin and return from Amsterdam to Seattle for$700 including
tax etc. This is over $200 less than any other offer I got, including a
travel agent. I was even able to make the seat assignments for an October
flight. I'm very happy with their service, booked on Wednesday and had tickets
in hand on Friday.
Scott
Mukilteo, WA USA 07/08/02
Airfare to Europe
I have been looking for Airfare to Germany for Nov/Dec travel. While waiting
for the fares to go down, they went up. So, I tried www.sunfinder.com and
enter a bid on the auction for Winter travel to Germany and won. Total cost
RT from San Francisco to Bremen was $570. You have to look closely to be
aware of all additional fees, but it worked for me!
Ann Crist <email>
Manteca, CA USA 06/20/02
Airfares.com
After spending an embarassing number of hours searching for the best deal
for airfare from Dayton (Ohio) to London in July, my husband and I decided
to use airfares.com. We put all the information in, including credit card,
selected the itinerary we wanted and hit enter. Airfares.com sent us back
a screen with the flights, and a confirmation number. When we didn't hear
anything from them within a couple of weeks, we contacted them. It turns
out they could not get us the itinerary they sold us (actually, they said
they didn't SELL us an itinerary at all, just accepted our request) but
were working on an itinerary for us at the same price.
The itineraries they were coming up with were all horrible. We had already
booked our accommodation and had tickets for a couple of concerts so changing
our dates was not really possible. We eventually got our tickets through
priceline and we are very happy with the routing they got us — and the
price was $100 cheaper per ticket than we were getting from airfares.com.
And yes, we made sure that Airfares.com did not charge our credit card;
we also told them that we were dispensing with their services.
Debra Bilbrey
Dayton, OH USA 06/20/02
TravelSelect Web Site
My husband and I traveled from Florida to Venice, then Rome to Manchester,
England, then on to Dublin before returning to Orlando. We used "Travelselect," which was easy to use, and you can contact a person if you have any difficulties.
They're in the UK, but that's no problem if you have time to have your tix
mailed (7 days). Flying is easier and can be cheaper than rail!
Jean Katsaros <email>
Cocoa Beach, FL USA 06/16/02
Yahoo Travel
As for online prices, all of them have their different perks but I have
found the customer service at Yahoo Travel site very helpful. I am not planning
on my trip til Feb 2003, but they will answer any question no matter how
insignificant it is. Also, my rep there has put me in her books so when
the first and most of the time cheapest fares come out she will call me.
They have made that part of the planning really simple
Georgian <email>
Merritt Island, FL USA 06/03/02
On line booking of airfares
As much as I have heard Priceline bad mouthed, I just booked 2 fares from
DFW to Paris, with taxes, delivery charges and trip insurance for a total
cost of $736.00 ($343.00 per ticket before trip insurance). This trip is
for mid September on Delta.
Edith Moates <email>
Oklahoma City, OK USA 05/27/02
Call SAS if you need a particular fare!
I always book online domestic tickets and have booked online two international
tickets. I have found that SAS does not always put all of their fares on
the website. For example, I wanted to book a youth fare from Copenhagen
to Stockholm, but it wasn't available on the website. I called the airline
and was able to book through their customer service line.
Steph <email>
Columbus, OH USA 05/13/02
Hotwire.com
I purchased fare from LAX to Barcelona,Spain for $520.00 round trip. I am
happy with hotwire.com
Martin G <email>
Anaheim, ca USA 05/08/02
E-Tickets
I have been to Europe twice since September 11th, using e-tickets on both
trips. In Nice I was asked to go to a ticket counter before checking in
where they issued me a ticket from my e-ticket confirmation (Delta Airlines).
Didn't have to do that in Rome (Continental Airlines). Don't know if that
was a difference in the cities or the airlines. Security just wants to see
your boarding pass, not your ticket. So, as far as my experience goes, no
problems with e-tickets.
Freckle Face
Portland, OR USA 05/07/02
Student Travel
Students, your parents should be jealous. Don't even THINK about using a
normal travel agency to get plane tickets. Student travel agencies offer
amazing deals that Rick himself would drool after. I don't know how they
do it, but check out studentuniverse.com, statravel.com and counciltravel.com
before you go running to expedia or one of the other sites. I got a RT flight
from JFK to CDG (Paris) for $380. If I hadn't been reluctant to commit,
I would have bought the earlier deal at about $320. This was from STA travel,
and it's not off-season, it's May and August! Most people are shelling out
at least $600-700 for tickets like that. As far as I know, the only cheaper
way to get to Europe is to take advantage of those off-season sales that
British Air has every so often. Usually sub-$200 tickets to London if you're
willing to go in October.
Dominic <email>
Geneva, NY USA 04/06/02
Low Cost, Efficient Tickets on the Internet
After an exhaustive search on the internet using tips picked up on "Graffiti
Wall" I was able to purchase extremely low cost tickets to Europe from JustFares.com
— Lizza Andrada was able to find tickets from Denver Colorado to Paris
France with a 6 week stay for 2 adults, 2 children and 1 infant for $2,357!
They are efficient and helpful
Richard Buell <email>
Aurora, CO USA 04/03/02
Very cheap fare for students and teachers
For all of you the students and faculty members of any university or college
I highly recommend booking your flight through studentuniverse.com . It
is a great site and will save you hundreds of dollars and you can search
for open-jaw tickets. I bought a ticket to lisbon,portugal from seattle
and returning from london 3 months later for 600 dollars (before taxes).
Bryan
SIlverdale, wa USA 04/01/02
Online air fares
I just returned from 2 weeks in Germany, and bought our tickets online through
the British Airways website. The paper tickets were express mailed to me
and arrived very promptly. I have also used the Orbitz site in the past
and have found consistently lower fares there than any other online site
(for American carriers), although they could not beat BA on this trip.
Cynthia Scherb
Kansas City, MO USA 03/28/02
travelhub.com
i'll be going to france in september, and i've found fares from seattle
to paris for $545 (without tax) on www.travelhub.com. i hope to get something even cheaper, but this is pretty close
to what justfares.com is offering. AND travelhub is a consortium of small
travel agencies, and i'd rather support the little guys than expedia or
orbitz.
faile626
Lynnwood, WA USA 03/22/02
Great European Deals
I was just looking at justfares.com pricing some queries for the summer
and I am getting great deals to Paris. From san Francisco to Paris is $785
for a one month stay. I can go on Air Canada. I don't mind stopping over
on the way to reduce jetlag. It is a major plus to break up the trip. So
what if I leave at 2 in the morning I am on vacation willing to save on
airfares. I am willing to pay a few hundred more than Corsair to go on a
scheduled airline. Even United which has non-stop service is 100-200 more
less than Air France. I even checed SFO to Honulu and it was $485 on Hawaiian
air a lot less than the other online websites. Thanks a million for pointing
it out. You saved me the hassle of calling around and looking at website
after website. I can't wait to try the service!!! And since I heard that
they send the tickets within days its like a travel agent for less!!! Well
keep on flying!!!
Daniel Onn <email>
Saratoga, CA USA 03/13/02
Don't Be Fooled with Online Fares
Consistently Orbitz.com can beat any online fare without masking flight
times and layovers. BUT, I've also found that many times I can save $300-$600
by NOT booking a dom/int roundtrip ticket but buying one domestic R/T and
one international R/T. I can fly in May to LHR (London) from PDX (Portland,OR)
for $762.00 My first R/T ticket is Portland/Newark. The second R/T ticket
is Newark/London. I space enough time to get to each terminal and compensate
for potential delays. Layovers usually compare with dom/int R/T's. As far
as travel agents, I don't bother. They haven't the time or interest to save
me money while they are trying to make some. Book high profit higher. If
I were an important person or company to them they might try harder, but
not for a once a year fare. My friend works for AmEx Travel and couldn't
touch the fares I got. The travel agent for my niece's company couldn't
get her the $200.00 savings available at that very moment on Orbitz.com.
She thanked me a lot for that one.
Ken Darling <email>
Portland, OR USA 03/10/02
airfares on-line
I checked them and then I kept trying Priceline for weeks from every near
by airport. They finally found Atlanta to Munich on Lufthansa for $350 each.
ray dowling <email>
Bluffton, sc USA 03/08/02
Justfares.com airline tickets
Justfares.com has my vote also. Last week I booked 2 roundtrip tickets From
Seattle to Paris for almost half or less of what I could find elsewhere.
I paid $398. each (plus tax).
Linda Gooch <email>
Sequim, WA USA 03/07/02
JustFares.com
After looking at what seemed like every booking agent online, and seeing
what our AAA agent could do for us, I turned to the posts on this page in
the hopes of finding a less expensive fare to London. Found out about JustFares.com
from another backdoor traveler. Imagine my surprise when my search came
back with a price of $455 RT. I thought, that was too good to be true. Our
times must be really weird, or the layovers have got to be really extreme.
Nope. After talking with their Seattle office, I purchased two roundtrip
tickets from St. Louis to London, at the times we wanted to go, on Air Canada.
The only snag was that the date we were supposed to fly home only had an
8am flight. Much too early. Darn the luck, we've had to add another day
in London to our trip in order to get an afternoon flight! I ordered the
tickets on a Friday afternoon, they sent them out the next Monday, and by
Wednesday I had my tickets in hand. I'll definitely look to JustFares.com
next year, when we go to Ireland. Happy travels!
Alicia Bass <email>
St. Louis, MO USA 02/28/02
Hotwire
We have booked many tickets online and have always been pleased, but our
most recent purchase is our best- we got tickets for a trip from Boston
to Milan for over $200 less (each!)- and it was the exact same flight we
were ready to book at the higher price! We will have a lot more fun with
the $400+ in Italy than we would on the plane! The tickets arrived two days
via FEDEX. If you can be a bit flexible, Hotwire is great!
Kate
MA USA 01/28/02
Tip for Students, Youths, and Teachers
If you are a student (of any age), a youth (26 or under on the first day
of travel), or a teacher, check out counciltravel.com! This is the best
way I've found to 1) get a cheap fare if you fall into one of the above
categories, and 2) fly open-jaw, which is normally very expensive. Keep
in mind that the cheapest gateways to continental Europe are Frankfurt,
then Amsterdam, the cheapest gateway to Scandinavia is Copenhagen, and the
cheapest of all is London. I found a flight going into Copenhagen and out
of Frankfurt (from Chicago) for $490, peak season. This is at least $300
less than other methods I've tried. If you're planning ahead, it's the way
to go.
Joscie <email>
Lafayette, IN USA 01/02/02