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I usually look at all the typical search engines, but book directly with the airline.
The exception to this might be the occasional booking with Orbitz (for overseas flights).
I search with ITA, Kayak, Farecompare,Airfare Watchdog etc.
Certain consolidators work with certain airlines, and so it depends on their hub and the region dominated by a certain airline.
Example: Our family has been doing a lot of traveling to South America, and it is impossible to avoid American Airlines. Try to see what airline dominates what region, just so you can get the best but safest deal.
And read the reviews. You are going to find bad reviews of any consolidator, and the main thing is to read the fine print before you click on "submit."
Location: Big Island- Hawaii, AK, WA where the whales are!
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I will say it again. I have found if you go to the airlines itself it is cheaper than the certain amount of tickets certain search engines are offered. Look for the cheap fare calendars flying within Tues to Thursday. Also I can't believe my aunt but it seems to be true wait until after midnight on Tues the tickets go down that I have seen and bought.
I will say it again. I have found if you go to the airlines itself it is cheaper than the certain amount of tickets certain search engines are offered.
Correct answer.
Also when it comes to Hotel rooms, I like to go to Hotels.com and type in where I want to be close to, like Grant Park in Chicago etc...it tells me which hotels are closest/cheapest and then I call the hotel itself and usually get a much better price.
Kayak tends to skip over certain airlines. For example, many times in my area, Southwest doesn't show up. The last trip I went on, I used kayak to price check, and Delta came in as the cheapest. I then went to the Southwest site and found the fare for over $100 less. I'm slowly becoming a non-fan of kayak.
For hotels, we always use Priceline. We've gotten some amazing deals all over the world. Have yet to have a negative experience with Priceline. I can't imagine why anyone would pay over $150/night for a room that they're barely in. We got our Aruba hotel for $80/night, while the website and hotels.com rate was $250 and up for the same hotel. Once you figure out how Priceline works, you can get amazing hotels at really low prices.
I don't think there is any One Perfect Search Engine.
That's why I end up scouring the internet, especially when we need an overseas ticket.
I've gotten some good hotel deals on Priceline, but just like the various airfare search engines, they do not cover every hotel (nor do they account for a hotel's other charges). Success with Priceline depends on season, day of the week, bidding strategies, and how much you care about 4-star hotels.
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