Website question

I'm looking for a flight from ORD to EWR in October. I would like to book a direct flight. I've seen prices on several websites that I've never used. Can anyone advise me on cheap o air or others they may have used in the past?

Are you talking about on consolidators (which are frequently NOT recommended on this board) or on the regular airline websites?

Are you talking about on consolidators (which are frequently NOT recommended on this board) or on the regular airline websites?

No, not the regular airline websites, but (never heard the term consolidators before) but the ones that come up when you google cheap flights.

Third party sites, such as CheapOAir don't have live pricing. You may find once you click all the way through to payment that the price has changed. Many of these sites add additional fees. In the long run, I rarely see one that prices out lower than just booking directly with the airline. If there's a problem with your flight, you are now adding another person you must deal with.

You want a very simple and straightforward booking. Book directly with the airline. Use matrix.itasoftware.com to research flights, then go to the airline's webpage and book.

And, you mean "nonstop" not "direct". A nonstop flight goes from point A to point B without stopping. A direct flight is simply one that keeps the same flight numbers throughout all its legs. You can stop and even change planes.

Third party sites, such as CheapOAir don't have live pricing. You may find once you click all the way through to payment that the price has changed. Many of these sites add additional fees. In the long run, I rarely see one that prices out lower than just booking directly with the airline. If there's a problem with your flight, you are now adding another person you must deal with.

 

You want a very simple and straightforward booking. Book directly with the airline. Use matrix.itasoftware.com to research flights, then go to the airline's webpage and book.

 

And, you mean "nonstop" not "direct". A nonstop flight goes from point A to point B without stopping. A direct flight is simply one that keeps the same flight numbers throughout all its legs. You can stop and even change planes.

Agree totally with 6rugrats. "Cheap" fares are frequently, as discussed here, not what they appear on the surface.

Third party sites, such as CheapOAir don't have live pricing. You may find once you click all the way through to payment that the price has changed. Many of these sites add additional fees. In the long run, I rarely see one that prices out lower than just booking directly with the airline. If there's a problem with your flight, you are now adding another person you must deal with.

 

You want a very simple and straightforward booking. Book directly with the airline. Use matrix.itasoftware.com to research flights, then go to the airline's webpage and book.

 

And, you mean "nonstop" not "direct". A nonstop flight goes from point A to point B without stopping. A direct flight is simply one that keeps the same flight numbers throughout all its legs. You can stop and even change planes.

Thank you. And yes, I did mean nonstop....I timed myself out and it was too late to edit the direct to say nonstop.

Thank you so much for the information about the website. I did look at it and saved it to my favorites.

I have plenty of time to book flights so I can take my time. I keep reading airfare is going to be going down. Although we have not seen it yet, I can be hopeful.

To be on the safe side, I did book my pre-cruise hotel today and booked it directly with the hotel and actually got a better deal. I didn't want to chance losing my hotel of choice.

I keep reading airfare is going to be going down. Although we have not seen it yet, I can be hopeful.

Where are you reading that and on what basis is it saying it would drop?

I'm sure I could take a guess but I'll let you say first.

I have plenty of time to book flights so I can take my time. I keep reading airfare is going to be going down. Although we have not seen it yet, I can be hopeful.

Hopeful? Sorry, but that is not an economic strategy. Are you prepared for prices to go up while you are "hoping"? If you are NOT willing to pay more, then perhaps you should take a position now and get your tickets. OTOH, if you are making a calculated wager to wait and see what kind of market movement there might be, go right ahead. Be aware that the airlines have very sophisticated yield management systems you're going up against. Good luck, and press the Hard Four.

Where are you reading that and on what basis is it saying it would drop?

 

I'm sure I could take a guess but I'll let you say first.

In light of the last posters comments, I will not answer. I'd forgotten why I no longer post on this forum but my memory was definitely refreshed. I don't need his negativity on my threads and I certainly don't appreciate it. I post on cruise critic for advise, not criticism. :mad: :rolleyes:

A little kindness goes a long way. It's not what you say, but how you say it.

Where was the criticism? There's a lot of moronic journalists out there publishing articles that generally have no idea what they're talking about.

For reasons Flyertalker lists dropping oil prices don't correlate with lower ticket prices. Airlines have a finite amount of seats and if they can readily fill them and bank the savings on one of their biggest expenses then they'll do it.

I don't post on any other fora on this site and whilst what you may read isn't all kittens and rainbows there's a wealth of information from the regulars on this particular forum that many other users can benefit from. You only need to read the threads that get redirected here from elsewhere to see the bunkum and downright misleading information many others post on other airline/air travel related threads.

Kittens and rainbows :D

Now THATS funny.

I post on cruise critic for advise, not criticism.

Buying air travel smartly is a very keen and cut-throat business, and you can't be surprised if knowledgeable advice is sometimes delivered without platitudes.

I too couldn't see any criticism in FlyerTalker's post. His basic message is dead accurate: whatever you were reading sounds like it wasn't well thought through.

I too couldn't see any criticism in FlyerTalker's post. His basic message is dead accurate: whatever you were reading sounds like it wasn't well thought through.

Ditto here, Cruise Air is one of the best forums on CC with direct to the point advice and information.

I have plenty of time to book flights so I can take my time. I keep reading airfare is going to be going down. Although we have not seen it yet, I can be hopeful.

I follow the airline industry financial press (both fact and editorials) fairly closely and read quite the opposite:

- Airlines learned their lesson during the economic crunch and stopped selling fares at a loss for the sake of merely filling seats (most airlines that didn't learn went belly-up).

- The supply of seats flying around is about 20% lower than 5 years ago.

- Airlines are allocating planes to the most profitable routes (international and business travel) and reducing or eliminating flights to leisure markets. This means a restricted supply to many cruise destinations.

- As fuel prices drop, Joe and Jane Consumer save money at the pump. This creates a psychological "wealth effect" which increases leisure travel, expected to increase 5% this year. Higher demand for airline seats!

- Airlines are having no problem filling seats at the current fare levels....why should they reduce fares and profits?

- Airlines hedge their fuel prices. Southwest hedged almost perfectly and was saving about $500k daily in fuel prices. As hedges expired and their fuel prices increased and so did their fares. Now, airlines are caught on the wrong side of hedge contracts as fuel prices drop. Although the savings in fuel will be larger than the cost of escaping the hedge contracts, the latter reduces fuel savings. BTW, Delta is very heavily hedged while AA very little...it varies by specific airline.

Hope this helps....airline seats are a commodity. The price is mainly due to supply vs. demand and has very little to do with the underlying cost.

I have plenty of time to book flights so I can take my time. I keep reading airfare is going to be going down. Although we have not seen it yet, I can be hopeful

I haven't read this anywhere. Consider the fact that airlines have other expenses in addition to fuel, and these prices aren't going down, and demand for seats is high. I am reading the exact opposite; that airfares will not be going down:

http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/25/news/companies/plane-ticket-prices/index.html

http://consumerist.com/2014/11/17/why-do-airfares-keep-going-up-while-airlines-fuel-costs-go-down/

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2015/01/150115-oil-prices-down-but-not-airfares-and-some-bills/