Flying: where to get the best deal

[newdude]

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Hello

So I'm sure everyone here has been making airplane ticket purchases. Probably online and on a discount website.

I was curious which one seems to have the best deal from your experience. I know they all depend on where you go and things but I wanted to know if anyone found one that was the best.

I will soon be booking a flight so that is why I am asking.

Thank you

 

[ShyRem]

Southwest. Hands down. Jetblue has good deals, too, but they didn't fly anywhere I was going.

 

[IgweEmeka]

They all generally run about the same, with about $1 or $2 differences, when you book them within 2 weeks from your travel date.
The trick with airline tickets is purchasing them early. Get them 3 weeks to a month in advance and you would be surprised at how much you saved when you check the price a week before the travel date.
the major websites; priceline, expedia, travelocity all run about the same.

 

[gdbaby]

If you have some flexibility and leeway in your schedule, I suggest Hotwire.com or Priceline.com. I had to get from Denver to Iowa and the average price was $320 r/t. I went to hotwire and was able to find a flight for $218. I didn't leave Iowa until the day after my interview, but the price discount was worth it!

 

[ShyRem]

It's important to note that Southwest and JetBlue do NOT show up on expedia, travelocity, or orbitz. No idea if they show up on priceline...

To give you an idea of what I found, I bought a ticket last month: Travelocity best deal $405. Southwest: 109+99=$208 (they do one-way fares, so if you do multiple stops this could really save money). And I also flew from BWI to Manchester for $40 on Southwest. Very sweet fares.

 

[IgweEmeka]

It's important to note that Southwest and JetBlue do NOT show up on expedia, travelocity, or orbitz. No idea if they show up on priceline...

To give you an idea of what I found, I bought a ticket last month: Travelocity best deal $405. Southwest: 109+99=$208 (they do one-way fares, so if you do multiple stops this could really save money). And I also flew from BWI to Manchester for $40 on Southwest. Very sweet fares.

Yeah but southwest is the worst airline out there....they are always cancelling flights and they are just plain dirty...from previous experience.

 

[tacrum43]

I like Kayak.com, it searches many other travel sites to find the best price. Orbitz and Priceline are also good, but for all of these you need to check JetBlue and Southwest airlines yourself. Orbitz has a cool feature where after searching for the flights you want, you can tell it to let you know when the fare drops below a certain price, and then it will e-mail you.

If you live in or near a city served by Southwest, download their "DING" application from their website. You never know what's going to come on it or when, but sometimes they have flights for like $35 each way.

Also, I agree with others that it is best to book more than two weeks, but less than a month in advance.

However, if you know months in advance that you will be going on certain days, then you can check periodically. For example, I booked a trip home from DC to Sacramento last month on American Airlines for $220 round trip (which is half of the current cost) for spring break in March. I got that through Kayak.com. Yeah you have to shop around, but it can be worth it. The fares vary a lot over time for some reason.

 

[Sondra]

Airtran.com

If you check the site every couple of days, they often have discounted web specials. You can usually find tickets for $99 each way or cheaper.

 

[daviddamoore]

I had been freaking over getting flights from SFO to Newark. Kayak.com is GREAT! Especially when you want to restrict flight times etc.

 

[tacrum43]

I had been freaking over getting flights from SFO to Newark. Kayak.com is GREAT! Especially when you want to restrict flight times etc.

Yep. 👍

I find that priceline is better for hotels though.

 

[Doctormo24]

Orbitz.com has great deals. Book ahead and save even more!

 

[ShyRem]

I've never had a problem with Southwest canceling flights, late flights, or dirty planes. They have been nothing but courteous, clean, and on-time for me so far this application season.

 

[mackie]

In my experience, no one site always gives you the best deals. Sometimes I find the best deal directly on the airline's site; other times I find it through travelocity or qixo. I do agree, however, that Airtran and Southwest do tend to have low fares, but in my experience they fly to limited locations, so you can't always use them.

When I look for a fare, my search includes all of the following:

travelocity.com
expedia.com
hotwire.com
qixo.com
Airline sites directly

Sidestep.com has a program you can download to your computer that will search multiple sites for you at once. I use it, but I also always search the sites individually (probably redundant, but I want to be sure I'm getting the lowest fare).

And finally, for last minute travel don't forget travelocity's last minute deals and site59. You can sometimes find some really good deals that include a rental car or a hotel.

 

[LucidSplash]

I use www.mobissimo.com - it searches all of the sites others have listed, plus many of the low fare airlines that places like orbitz, travelocity, etc do not search (song, etc).

You do not buy the airfare through this site, it links you to the site where you find the best airfare.

I have, on occassion, searched on this site, found the lowest fare from another airline, then used cheaptickets or another site to get the right combination for flights.

As an example, I recently purchased tickets to visit relatives in Texas. I found the cheapest flight was on American Airlines, but could not use the American Airlines to get the flight there and the return flight that I wanted together. So I paid the extra 5 bucks each way by using cheaptickets to get the right combination of flights.

 

[MahlerROCKS]

Hello

So I'm sure everyone here has been making airplane ticket purchases. Probably online and on a discount website.

I was curious which one seems to have the best deal from your experience. I know they all depend on where you go and things but I wanted to know if anyone found one that was the best.

I will soon be booking a flight so that is why I am asking.

Thank you

www.studentuniverse.com

I've only bought international tickets from them, buy they do sell domestic flights

 

[newdude]

bump

 

[briansle]

America West is probably the best for people on the West-Coast. Most flights have one connection in Phoenix or Las Vegas. But that's it. They're cheap and reliable.

 

[C.P. Jones]

I've never had a problem with Southwest canceling flights, late flights, or dirty planes. They have been nothing but courteous, clean, and on-time for me so far this application season.

i have also NEVER had trouble with a SW flight, and the most delay i have had was 10 minutes on one of the flights due to rain/fog. Their planes are not dirty, etc. AND as shyrem had stated earlier, much cheaper than anything you'll find on expedia, etc.

 

[tacrum43]

America West is probably the best for people on the West-Coast. Most flights have one connection in Phoenix or Las Vegas. But that's it. They're cheap and reliable.

I agree. Sometimes other carriers are cheaper though, so it's good to still check.

America West recently bought US Airways (which went bankrupt like most airlines), but they're going to combine the two companies under the US Airways names. This is good in my opinion, because they flew in different regions of the country, and now they will fly all over the U.S. with the same low prices. They have cheap upgrades to First Class the day you're flying if there is space too.

 

[newdude]

Hey guys

so i'm planning to interview two school in one trip. basically i'm gonna have to take plane three times.

home => school 1
School 1 => school 2
School 2 => home

i checked on orbitz it was 620 which i think is really cheap compared to all other sites. now the interviews are at end of november. should i buy it now or wait.

thank you

 

[ShyRem]

Newdude, I just did the same thing. Travelocity had a best price of $580. Orbitz had a best price of $605. I went to Southwest and paid $119 (home->school1) + $40 (school1->school2) + $99 (school2->home), for a total of $260, plus tax.

Jetblue is my best choice if I get an interview at UVermont (they fly into Burlington).

It really is worthwhile checking out individual sites. Also, did you try studentuniverse.com? I hear their fares are FABULOUS (but you have to be a current student and I graduated in May).

 

[newdude]

Newdude, I just did the same thing. Travelocity had a best price of $580. Orbitz had a best price of $605. I went to Southwest and paid $119 (home->school1) + $40 (school1->school2) + $99 (school2->home), for a total of $260, plus tax.

Jetblue is my best choice if I get an interview at UVermont (they fly into Burlington).

It really is worthwhile checking out individual sites. Also, did you try studentuniverse.com? I hear their fares are FABULOUS (but you have to be a current student and I graduated in May).

yeah, i did more research and i think i can do it from 413. so i'll see.

 

[studentstudent]

I have to say I love this thread. I knew about Southwest -- haven't paid paid more than $99 each way so far, except when I only had a week to book (and even then, it was $107). I learned about AirTran while trying to book tickets to Atlanta, but I definitely plan to use all the other sites mentioned before! ps-- anyone with a little time want to list them all in one post? just to make things easier for those booking in a hurry? ... 🙂

 

[nrddct]

sidestep.com

 

[busthwt]

i use cheapair.com and i usually get a real good deal on my flights. about 50 dollars less than expedia or orbitz. So try that site out

 

[newdude]

i use cheapair.com and i usually get a real good deal on my flights. about 50 dollars less than expedia or orbitz. So try that site out

I checked cheapair, well it was not cheap.

 

[newdude]

Oh man, I can't find anything cheap.

the cheapest has been like $700 bucks. that's crazy.
That's almost what you pay for an international flight.

what do i do. I'm panicking.

anybody help. PLEASE.

 

[tacrum43]

Oh man, I can't find anything cheap.

the cheapest has been like $700 bucks. that's crazy.
That's almost what you pay for an international flight.

what do i do. I'm panicking.

anybody help. PLEASE.

Where are you flying to/from and when? If it's in less than two weeks, be prepared to pay through the nose.

 

[newdude]

Where are you flying to/from and when? If it's in less than two weeks, be prepared to pay through the nose.

It's still more then a month away.
I'm going from TX to NY.
Then NY => to another school in NY.
NY => Home.

I have to take plane all time, can't undo it.

 

[tacrum43]

It's still more then a month away.
I'm going from TX to NY.
Then NY => to another school in NY.
NY => Home.

I have to take plane all time, can't undo it.

Well plane fares tend to drop to their lowest less than a month but more than two weeks beforehand, so try looking again then. But if you're going the week of Thanksgiving or the weekend immediately thereafter, everything will still be super expensive and you'd be better off to just book now.

You might try searching for one way flights on Southwest, JetBlue and AirTran if you haven't already. You are searching for these as multi-city on the travel websites, right?

Another thought is it might actually be cheaper to do two round trip flights: one from TX to NY, and then another from the one NY school to the other and back, and then back again on the first flight.

 

[speedo542]

THE BEST PLACE EVER FOR STUDENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

www.studentuniverse.com

Awesome prices, but you just have to be a student. Cheaper than any I could ever find on Travelocity, priceline, etc.

 

[waterlily]

I agree that SW is awesome. I flew on SW on a lot of my interviews, and I agree that majority of the time for me, it was late boarding...not by a significant amount (less than an hr late) though. Well, except once it was 3 and half hours late, but rain contributed to that problem...Also, unlike all other airlines where you you need a certain high mileage traveled to earn a free ticket, I believe with SW you just need to take 8 flights regardless of mileage traveled, and you get a free roundtrip. I already earned one 👍

One other thing that I absolutely LOVE about SW is that they don't have a cancellation fee like all other airlines! You just get credited the whole amount that you paid, and you can use that credit towards booking a future flight. You seriously won't realize how great this feature is until you need it. I've cancelled SO MANY of my flights after learning I had more interviews, so I was able to rearrange my flight schedule to make more stops, change my flight times, and what not.

 

[Moto]

www.studentuniverse.com

I've only bought international tickets from them, buy they do sell domestic flights

Downside, some airlines require you to be student or faculty at school through this siet. I had to fax a copy of school enrollment schedule and my school ID. So make sure you will qualify even if you have already purchased the ticket.