| | How to find the cheapest airline flights.
So many different travel
websites claim to have the cheapest flights. So, how do you decide which
way is the best way to find the cheapest flights. Much of your
consideration will depend on how much time you have to research your
travel options, and how often you routinely fly.
If you have the time to do plenty of research and you fly often then
its definitely worthwhile signing up for ITASoftware's web tool and/or
downloading Sidestep's browser add-on. These are great tools that let you
see all the fares out there side-by-side.
If you don't have alot of time and don't want to bother with
installations or registrations then your best option is to check out the
big air travel (aggregator) sites. These are Expedia, Travelocity, and
Orbits, among others.
Another thing to consider is the smaller, limited routing airlines.
These usually don't show up in the aggregator's search results. You'll
need to find out if they fly to/from your destinations. I once found a
cheap flight from Minneapolis to Orlando on Suncountry airlines. It was
far cheaper and it was a next day flight!
Once you've identified an airline using these travel tools or
aggregators we recommend that you double check the airline's website. On
many occasions I've found a great airfare deal through one of these
methods only to find that the airline's website offered it a few dollars
cheaper. But, in some cases the aggregator's fares might even be better
than the airline's, this may be because of special discounts being issued
for referrals, etc. The websites and tools I've mentioned are listed
below. Good Luck!
www.ITASoftware.com
One of the best tools for looking at all the different domestic
fares offered is www.ITASoftware.com. ITA Software is the best site to get
the lowest prices and find them the quickest/easiest. The reason that
ITA is the best is that their results are presented in a matrix that
allows you to easily see the trade-off of time and money in selecting your
flights.
ITA Software
has developed the world's most advanced system for global airfare pricing
and airfare shopping. The company's CIO and co-founder, Dave Baggett,
states, "Simply put, our software finds more solutions, you see more
answers. It's like looking at the whole store at once instead of just a
series of shelves. That's a big improvement over what's come before. In
the past, you could see only nine or ten options, maybe. But because we
can do a deeper search, when you go to Orbitz, you can have a more
complete picture, you can see many more options".
To use this tool you just sign-up for an account
then your free to use it. Its a web-based online tool. www.ITASoftware.com
www.SideStep.com
SideStep has
developed a core technology that can access all of the travel inventory
available on the Internet, which conventional search engines, crawlers and
shopping bots cannot. Because travel suppliers have made their inventory
available through their own Web sites, SideStep can access this
information directly, without having to pass through a Global Distribution
System (GDS). SideStep claims to access over 140 different travel sources.
The technology is designed to expose the underlying databases of inventory
that are buried behind several layers of Web server infrastructure and
make them available in real-time.
To use this
tool you just need to download the sidestep software. It is then added to
your browser. An airplane icon appears on your browser and when clicked it
opens a side window frame where you can do your airfare searches.
www.sidestep.com
www.expedia.com
Since their launch in October
1996, Expedia.com has grown into the leading online travel service by
providing great flight deals to its customers. In addition to the U.S.,
Expedia aslo provides great flight deals to Canada, Germany, and the UK.
With a host of integrated services for suppliers and customers, and an
exceptional level of customer service support, they've won awards such as
Forbes' "Favorite General Travel Site" (Spring 2001), "Best Travel Web
site" at the Fifth Annual Webby Awards (August 2001), and PC Magazine's
"Reader's Choice" (December 2000). We're one of the top 75 most-visited
sites for great flight deals, airfare deals, and more.
Expedia.com
www.travelocity.com
Travelocity, the leading travel
Web site, provides reservations capabilities for 95 percent of all airline
seats sold, more than 50,000 hotels, more than 50 car rental companies,
and more than 6,500 vacation packages, tour and cruise departures. This
reservations capability is paired with access to a vast database of
destination and interest information. To date, Travelocity has sold more
than 11 million airline tickets and has more than 24 million
members.
Travelocity.com
www.orbits.com
Orbitz is a leading online travel company
offering consumers the largest selection of low airfares, as well as deals
on lodging, car rentals, cruises, vacation packages and other travel.
Orbitz’ state-of the-art flight search engine searches more than 455
airlines – up to 2 billion flight and fare options – offering an unbiased
and comprehensive list of airfares and schedules. Founded by the world’s
leading airlines – American (AMR), Continental (CAL), Delta (DAL),
Northwest (NWAC) and United (UAL) airlines – Orbitz also offers consumers
a large collection of discounted web-only air fares. For more information,
visit. Orbitz.com
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