Which is the Best Site for Airline Flights? (hotel, hotel, airlines)

[Marks]

For example I'm trying to find a safe cheap flight to the southeast coast. Which online vendor do you recommend? I.E. Priceline, Orbitz, Travelocity? Which one do you use most often, and have been the best, or do you go right to the airlines web site?

[GreggB]

I go right to the airlines site. I find the fares to almost always be the same as Orbitz, Travelocity, etc. Why involve a 'Middle-Man"??

[brikag]

My sister went to all those sites and found a cheaper flight from CLT to LAX for $200, roundtrip w/ NWA. You normally see on the other sites for three or four. She got her's from YAHOO!

[Paula Lynn]

Tripadvisor. If you're in no hurry to reach your destination, try cheaptickets.

[pirate girl]

Actually I got a great deal on cross country non stop flights on cheap tickets last week. The schedules were ideal- it was shocking.

When I'm shopping flights, I check all of the sites- you will find that expedia, travelocity and orbitz generally have the same flight offerings- and any kind of reasonable schedule is not going to be cheap. Check the websites of the airlines- and consider being flexible with your airports if possible.

I signed up for southwest DING on my computer- once or twice a day I get an automatic update with flight specials that must be purchased by end of day- today I had Orlando to Phoenix for $69 each way- not too bad. Sometimes flights and dates are limited but its definitely worth it. Southwest does not sell flights through any of the wholesalers either- and often has the best fares.

Priceline is another option- but you don't get to pick your flight time if you name your own price.

It's all about being relentless about searching for the fare. Wednesday at midnight is when the best fares are released. Also consider bundling hotel and/or rental car on the discount sites- it often saves you several hundred dollars.

[mrdude]

i just go straight to southwest.com

i have used travelocity and expedia and found that they were rather helpful, and the fares were slightly cheaper than directly from the airline. however, southwest is much less expensive if you book at least two weeks in advance.

[katzenfreund]

Try Kayak, they will give you tons of rates from different vendors... I just bought a ticket to Europe and it was the cheapest. The airline I booked sold the ticket for $200 more on their site.

[norm]

I've always got my best prices from the airlines directly.

[Newyorkaise]

I've found Yahoo's farechase.com site quite useful, although I also use the airlines' sites. Of course, I tend to do the same trip repeatedly, so if there isn't a massive fare difference I tend to stick with the same flight on the same carrier.

[gallo]

As katzenfreund mentioned, kayak.com is an excellent airline search engine. Mobissimo.com and sidestep.com are also great airline search engines.

Just type in where and when you want to go, and these engines search all of the airline's direct website as well as places like orbitz.com, cheaptickets.com, etc.