has anyone found an online cheap flight provider that seems to be routinely better than the others?
I have not. But if flying in the US SouthWest is often times not included in the sites and often times provides cheap flights. I realize your username suggests that you are not in the US but this might be an issue for other local discount airlines
Kayak.com seems to be pretty good but none of them are consistently better.
Like expedia, priceline? They don’t dictate ticket prices, nor do they have any control over them. Airlines control the prices, which vary wildly depending on time of flight and how full the plane is. Prices are listed on the airline web sites, and then the travel sites scrape the data off the airline sites and give you access to all the airlines in one place so you can compare the ticket prices and find best deals without checking each airline separately. That’s all they do.
Except Southwest. Like someone said, they aren’t listed on travel sites and often have best deals.
So look on expedia or priceline, and look on southwest.com. There aren’t any better deals to be had.
They are about the same however last year Vayama partnered with livingsocial.com offering $100 credit for $50 on any flight. The site tends to run some little sale from time to time but it is best to go directly through the carrier itself to purchase tickets. At times, it is cheaper to do so.
Southwest is by far the best and sometimes their prices drop 4-5 days out from a flight. Orbitz and Expedia are great if you want to bundle air and hotel…
Ah, hadn’t thought about SW or noticed it as excluded. I was just looking at flights from PDX to SLC for president’s day weekend, want to visit brother…
Like expedia, priceline? They don’t dictate ticket prices, nor do they have any control over them. Airlines control the prices, which vary wildly depending on time of flight and how full the plane is. Prices are listed on the airline web sites, and then the travel sites scrape the data off the airline sites and give you access to all the airlines in one place so you can compare the ticket prices and find best deals without checking each airline separately. That’s all they do.
Except Southwest. Like someone said, they aren’t listed on travel sites and often have best deals.
So look on expedia or priceline, and look on southwest.com. There aren’t any better deals to be had.
It doesn’t really work like that. There has been a system (I forget the name) for travel agents and airlines from way before the popularity of the web.
But either way… I have found that 9 out of 10 times the airline has a better price IF you can do the whole flight on one airline.
I go to the various sites and look for the best route/price… then I go to the cheapest carriers site and just book it through them.
airline industry in the US is corrupt. Let me show you example of what happened to me
Flight from west coast to east coast (san diego SAN target hartford BDL)
First search via some orbitz/pricelie etc ticketing site, (with near by airports checked)
SAN → BDL = 300$
nearby airport = 120$ (1 hour away) add amtrak = 165$ 8 hours total
I click on the 120 deal, and look up the same flight directly from airline= 280$ ok so I stick with the ticketing site.
I see that all flights to BDL, including this nearby airport stop at the same connecting airport it NY/NJ area - which is also 1 hour away from hartford
So I am just going to take the 120 deal and not take the connector, amtrak will be the same but the total trip time is now 6 hours
airline industry in the US is corrupt. Let me show you example of what happened to me
Flight from west coast to east coast (san diego SAN target hartford BDL)
First search via some orbitz/pricelie etc ticketing site, (with near by airports checked)
SAN → BDL = 300$
nearby airport = 120$ (1 hour away) add amtrak = 165$ 8 hours total
I click on the 120 deal, and look up the same flight directly from airline= 280$ ok so I stick with the ticketing site.
I see that all flights to BDL, including this nearby airport stop at the same connecting airport it NY/NJ area - which is also 1 hour away from hartford
So I am just going to take the 120 deal and not take the connector, amtrak will be the same but the total trip time is now 6 hours
Not sure I’m following exactly, but if you skip the first leg of the flight you booked you might not have a seat on the second leg. Basically you become a no - show for the entire trip.
This isn’t the site for a debate on the morals of the airline industry, but corrput is a strong word.
airline industry in the US is corrupt. Let me show you example of what happened to me
Flight from west coast to east coast (san diego SAN target hartford BDL)
First search via some orbitz/pricelie etc ticketing site, (with near by airports checked)
SAN → BDL = 300$
nearby airport = 120$ (1 hour away) add amtrak = 165$ 8 hours total
I click on the 120 deal, and look up the same flight directly from airline= 280$ ok so I stick with the ticketing site.
I see that all flights to BDL, including this nearby airport stop at the same connecting airport it NY/NJ area - which is also 1 hour away from hartford
So I am just going to take the 120 deal and not take the connector, amtrak will be the same but the total trip time is now 6 hours
Not sure I’m following exactly, but if you skip the first leg of the flight you booked you might not have a seat on the second leg. Basically you become a no - show for the entire trip.
This isn’t the site for a debate on the morals of the airline industry, but corrput is a strong word.
Side note, I will only take carry on’s and I do not book round trip, just 2 one way trips
SABRE - don’t recall what that stands for. Ahhhh., looked it up, Semi-Automated Business Research Environment.
There has been a system (I forget the name) for travel agents and airlines from way before the popularity of the web.
SABRE, but it has been replaced with something else.