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Best search engine to find cheap airfares?


wearesiamese
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There is no "the best" for the "cheap airfares".  Are you looking for a magic bullet that will end the need for research and due diligence?

 

Remember that many of the "cheap airfares" are consolidator tickets that come with significantly different fare rules than published fare tickets from the airline itself.

 

Caveat Emptor.

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7 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

There is no "the best" for the "cheap airfares".  Are you looking for a magic bullet that will end the need for research and due diligence?

 

Remember that many of the "cheap airfares" are consolidator tickets that come with significantly different fare rules than published fare tickets from the airline itself.

 

Caveat Emptor.

Totally agree. There is no magic bullet to avoid good old research. Not sure why people think there is some "secret" out there...

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35 minutes ago, wearesiamese said:

I HAVE FOUND QUITE A DIFERENCE AT TIMES FOR THE SAME FLIGHT FROM DIFFERENT WEBSITES

 

Well, I hope you know that just because it is the "same flight", doesn't mean that it is the "same ticket".

 

Oh, I forgot...you say you do.  Maybe other readers here can get some insight at least - all tickets are not created equal.  And to just compare price is to ignore that the underlying fare rules may be significant.

 

But then, it is all about the lowest price.  Right?

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I repeat, no need for sarcasm!!!  

"Doh Homer!" re ticket rules!! I am well aware of the fact that they can vary! I  do not appreciate being spoken to as if I had never booked tickets before. And why do you need to be so snippy  when I am just looking for some help? If you don't want to be helpful then why not move on to another post.

And you wonder why many people lurk and do not post? It is because of posters like some of you who seem to enjoy putting other people down or act  like know it alls.

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Actually the other posters were helpful in their responses, I’m aware I wasn’t but hang out enough here and you’ll see this question asked over and over and over...just because the answer wasn’t what you were looking for doesn’t make it sarcastic or rude.

 

Since you don’t seem too familiar with how tickets work think of it this way. You can buy a new washing machine from a guy on the side of the road, or you can buy the same one from the manufacturer directly. The latter is more expensive but they’re both the same washing machine. However, when the one from the side of the road goes wrong you’re left high and dry whereas your manufacturer warranty will help you out. Think of the “guy on the side of the road” as your consolidator/bucket shop/mileage broker and buying from the manufacturer as buying from the airline. 

 

When you buy from “side of the road” guy you don’t know what kind of flexibility there is and any change fees, or whether it is endorsable to other airlines, or if you can change the route. Might seem like nitpicking but when you’re stuck and your super restrictive ticket is preventing you from getting there as quickly as possible it’ll be a big deal. Especially since you don’t seem to like being given an answer you don’t want to hear.

 

 

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oh spare me I just bought one of those tickets from Just Fly or whatever its called and I am very aware of the restrictions. Don't assume ignorance on my part. Again I say "doh Homer" re tickets restrictions etc. I don't need any more sarcastic replies such as "After all ,its all about low prices right?" That was totally unnecessary .I am  not going to waste any more time   here

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I, too, have asked this question in the past before doing a search on my topic, and used such comments as an opportunity to re-phrase or re-think the question.

 

Never took, the sometimes stinging in my mind, comments/responses personally even though they made sense, at least to me a few others and the poster.

 

Then again, I do not believe that I would exclaim that I knew something and still ask questions about it? Or had I missed something or mis-intuit the OP post?

 

Maybe the question or topic title needed revising or more details? We will now never know.

 

Thanks to all for your input, regardless.  :classic_biggrin:

 

bon voyage

Edited by Bo1953
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6 hours ago, wearesiamese said:

"Doh Homer!" re ticket rules!! I am well aware of the fact that they can vary! I  do not appreciate being spoken to as if I had never booked tickets before.

 

 

With all due respect, it came across as thought you did NOT understand why ticket prices might vary.   You said you've sometimes seen a lower price on some sites, and based on the thread topic, it seemed that you thought maybe there was a site where the prices would always be cheaper.  That seems to imply that one might not understand WHY those tickets are always cheaper.

 

6 hours ago, wearesiamese said:

oh spare me I just bought one of those tickets from Just Fly or whatever its called and I am very aware of the restrictions. Don't assume ignorance on my part. Again I say "doh Homer" re tickets restrictions etc.

 

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking then.  There is no single site that always has the lowest fares.  You're aware of various sites already that you can go to to check routes and fares.  You know that a lower price for the same flight might mean it comes with restrictions that another ticket doesn't.   What is it exactly that you're asking?

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One website that posts reviews of other websites, gives these scores out of 5:

 

  • Expedia -- 4.3
  • Travelocity -- 4.2
  • Justfly -- 4.1
  • Kayak -- 3.5

It would appear that if no changes need to be made, you should be ok. 

https://www.feefo.com/en-US/reviews/justfly?displayFeedbackType=BOTH&timeFrame=YEAR

Edited by parody
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34 minutes ago, parody said:

One website that posts reviews of other websites, gives these scores out of 5:

 

  • Expedia -- 4.3
  • Travelocity -- 4.2
  • Justfly -- 4.1
  • Kayak -- 3.5

It would appear that if no changes need to be made, you should be ok. 

https://www.feefo.com/en-US/reviews/justfly?displayFeedbackType=BOTH&timeFrame=YEAR

 

But even these are very different websites. Expedia allows you to book tickets, for example, whereas Kayak is just a search engine for other sites (reputable and not). It's a bit unfair to compare them on the same scale.

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7 hours ago, wearesiamese said:

oh spare me I just bought one of those tickets from Just Fly or whatever its called and I am very aware of the restrictions. Don't assume ignorance on my part. Again I say "doh Homer" re tickets restrictions etc. I don't need any more sarcastic replies such as "After all ,its all about low prices right?" That was totally unnecessary .I am  not going to waste any more time   here

 

I think the issue is that we're so used to folks coming on here and not knowing these details, and your original posts were not clear that you were aware, so it was an attempt to let you know some very critical information. There's a difference between being ignorant and simply not knowing something...most posters on this board, including those who responded earlier, go off of the latter. We don't get paid to be here (I'll selfishly include me, although others know much more than I do), we do it because we want to help.

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19 minutes ago, Zach1213 said:

 

But even these are very different websites. Expedia allows you to book tickets, for example, whereas Kayak is just a search engine for other sites (reputable and not). It's a bit unfair to compare them on the same scale.

Well, all these sites search flight options.  And  while sites like Expedia are truly an online TA, Kayak does take one directly to where the flight found can be booked.  Possibly more important for US travel, however,  they also highlight when Southwest Airlines can be an option.   This is something that Expedia and Travelocity do not do.  Still, one has to go to Southwest.com to do an actual booking.

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There really isn't one.  There are many third party brokers, but most of them don't have live prices and if there's a problem, it's almost impossible to work with them to solve it.  I find Matrix the best site to use for research.  Then, I book directly with the airline.  

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If you do not care about the type of ticket and the 'amenities' that go with it (pay for seats, pay for checked baggage, pay for carry on baggage, seat given at the gate) or the airline,  look at cheapoair or priceline.  Or, go to a consolidator and roll the dice.  Look at the ultra-low carriers, like Spirit or Frontier and see if they service where you need to leave from/go to.

 

As others have said, the same flight can show multiple prices on multiple sites - it's a function of when their servers update or the fare buckets for flights come and go...   The OP was very vague on what was wanted, when, where...  If someone doesn't want the usual advice, be more specific from the start.

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13 hours ago, cruise kitty said:

<my snip>  first off, OP sorry for semi hacking your thread 🙂

 

Slidergirl, Hi, I was wondering where you'd gone, nice to see on the boards again!

 

I was seriously ill all winter and spring.  One of the meds tried almost killed me.  The stress of being sick and the nastiness on CC directed to me by a select few was affecting me, so I swore off CC for about the year.  Thank you for asking.   

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Nice to have your input here.  And being healthy is far more important than answering some questions - had thought you might be taking a sabatical.

 

Hopefully, any nastiness didn't come from this direction....unless you happened to be an executive handling the Marriott -SPG merger and integration.

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4 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

Nice to have your input here.  And being healthy is far more important than answering some questions - had thought you might be taking a sabatical.

 

Hopefully, any nastiness didn't come from this direction....unless you happened to be an executive handling the Marriott -SPG merger and integration.

Thanks!   Never anything nasty from you - if you called me out, I deserved it.    And, that whole Starriott mess - I'm still trying to get it all sorted out.  Just last week - I'd try to log in to my SPG and get a message to use my Marriott info, so I'd ty to do that and I'd get a message to use my SPG info...   

Edited by slidergirl
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1 hour ago, slidergirl said:

 

I was seriously ill all winter and spring.  One of the meds tried almost killed me.  The stress of being sick and the nastiness on CC directed to me by a select few was affecting me, so I swore off CC for about the year.  Thank you for asking.   

 

Oh my goodness, I hope you're recovered & able to travel again soon.  There's a few forums I almost never visit anymore (fashion) Anyhow, it's good to see you again.  :)

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22 hours ago, cruise kitty said:

 

Oh my goodness, I hope you're recovered & able to travel again soon.  There's a few forums I almost never visit anymore (fashion) Anyhow, it's good to see you again.  🙂

 

Well, most of my discretionary funds were sucked dry by being so ill and having to miss a lot of work and having to visit a few specialists who were out-of-network.  Nothing major on the travel horizon until I can build up an "emergency" fund and then have extras.  But, I can dream...  A friend is giving me her beach cottage to use for a week in May - I can go to Port Canaveral and see some ships and dream a little...

I try to stay out of the HAL forum due to a few nasty people, but I can't help it sometimes...

Edited by slidergirl
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