Cheap Airfare

[Jami Johnson]

When you are looking for airline tickets online, where do you tend to find some of the best deals? I am hunting for low fares for my mom to go visit her sister.

TIA.

[NJMo]

Depends on the part of the country as to which airline will have the best deal. From what state to what state? I travel a lot and I am on email updates for specific routes -- i.e., everytime there is a sale from Denver to Springfield, MO or from Denver to Memphis, I get email notification. (For work, I am usually going on very short notice and our travel agent handles the arrangements.) The emails from the specific airlines are the best deals, I have found. The big search engines are usually comparable although some will have better deals on one day and then the next week another will have better deals. Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz and some of the newer ones, too. Hope that helps.

Nancy

[Jami Johnson]

Thanks, Nancy. I always check Travelocity, Expedia, the actual airlines first, but seems like I heard somewhere about some less well known sites that had better deals. I can't remember what they were. She's flying out of Memphis, which as you probably know, is a more expensive place to fly in and out of. I did end up finding her a few options, so thanks!

[Juli]

We only fly one route, and Contenintal has the best rates. None of the other airlines come close, and neither do the travel websites out there. We fly from Omaha to Houston, and since Houston is Continental's main hub, they have the best rates. I've found that buying in advance is always cheaper too. :)

[katiedoodles]

You can check on www.cheapflights.com for lower fares. Some of the airlines do not list their flights with any of the other sites though (Southwest and Air Tran).

[Leslie]

I go directly to the airlines. I have found when I use the other sites (Expedia, Travelocity, etc.) I do not generally get as good a deal as when I go directly to the airline website. Often times the other sites include a "package" which also has a car and/or hotel included and I don't need those accommodations when I travel.

I have found that rates can change daily so I keep checking until I find a rate that I think is a great deal and that I feel I can live with in case the rate goes down again - don't want to get all hung up on not getting the "best" deal.

[rodneytb]

I have used igougo.com and sidestep.com. I think the last purchase I made was through sidestep.com. If I remember correctly, they gave me the price and directed me to the airline website to make the purchase. I liked dealing directly with the airline, but sidestep gave me a better price than I would have gotten by just going to the airline first.
Martha

[rosebud314]

When I fly, it usually from Orlando to Baltimore or Minneapolis. I go directly to the airlines, Airtran, Southwest or Northwest. Seems I always find the best prices that way. I'm planning a trip to PA in October (I fly into Baltimore) and found $49 tickets, so my round trip is just over $100. Snatched them up right away.

[madisonsmom07]

I'm not sure if you are still looking for other ideas or not, but we have used priceline in the past and have gotten some good deals. My dad is a photographer and he travels a lot and he always finds great deals out to the West coast, but he usually flies out of Nashville.

[katiedoodles]

I don't know if anyone has travel plans in the near future, but Air Tran just announced fares starting at $39 each way.

[Jami Johnson]

That's a great sale...so tempting. Thanks for letting us know.