30 Mar 2006 07:33 PM

Online Airfares--Finding the Best Deal

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

    

Since my family lives in Hawaii, I am constantly looking for cheap airfares from the Midwest to Hawaii. Like many of you, I turn to the Internet in search of the best fares. In the past I have had some good luck finding great deals, but recently I had less than a week to find a ticket from Chicago to Honolulu. In addition to having a rapidly approaching deadline, I didn't have the flexibility with my travel dates as I would under normal circumstances. I spent hours (double digit HOURS) going from individual travel website to individual travel website entering my flight information over and over. It was a mistake I will never make again and one I hope you can learn from as well. Save time and money and follow this advice: use sites that do the legwork for you.

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I have found a handful that search the data of dozens of airline and airfare websites to find you the cheapest flights. Websites including AirfareWatchdog.com, FareAlert.com, Kayak.com, travelzoo.com, and Farechase.com provide amazing deals. These websites are not travel agencies; rather they provide you with comparison-shopping options from other popular websites like Expedia, Travelocity, and Orbitz and the airlines themselves. When you are ready to book your reservation, you are connected to the travel provider's website that offers the best deal for you. So, you are making your purchase directly from that travel provider's website. What's more, you will not be charged a fee to use the service.

If you are traveling abroad here is another savings tip for you. Do not limit your on-line search to U.S. based travel websites. Foreign airfare websites often offer cheaper airfares than U.S. based websites. European websites list airfares at a fraction of the price of some American based websites. For example, while an average roundtrip ticket from New York City to Madrid on a U.S. based travel website would be about $800, on a European website the same ticket was offered for $423. DiscountAirfares.com is one of my favorite sites for finding great deals to foreign countries.

There are airfare deals to be had. I hope that by visiting some of the sites I have recommended you are able to find great deals... fast!

Learn more about Michele Cheplic

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Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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4 comments so far

Carson Hopkins (790) 03 Apr 2006 02:37 AM

Isn't orbitz owned by the airlines?

Michele Cheplic (27962) 03 Apr 2006 07:50 AM

Yes, Orbitz is owned by the airlines. But, if you are implying that relationship is unhealthy for competition, executives argue that the Web site's technology prevents the airlines from fixing prices and that it will scan all available fares and display them according to the consumer's preferences -- even showing fares of airlines with no contractual agreements with Orbitz. Thank you for your question.

Carson Hopkins (790) 05 Apr 2006 11:11 PM

Curiously, Southwest Airlines doesn't appear on any of these sites. It seems the only way to get their fares, which are often the lowest, is only from their site.

bluetree (2947) 07 Apr 2006 02:18 AM

Southwest has the cheap flight market down... no frills, no assigned seats, just get on the plan and get off.

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