Airfare..agent or discount sites

You must be looking at different sites than I do. I rarely see a significant difference between the various search engines -- Expedia, Kayak, Orbitz, etc. -- and the airline sites. I generally use the search engines for a general feel of the prices and schedules but book directly with the airlines. But on some occasions have use Orbitz and Expedia with no problems. They are all big, reliable travel agencies.

On my last trip I used Expedia. Someone suggested that I check the prices late on Wednesday night. I logged in just after midnight and saved nearly $200 per round trip ticket from what the prices had been the day before and what they were the next day. I can't explain it. I don't travel that often. I will try it again next time I do, though. Also, I have a Capital One Visa which I use for work expenses and they make it super easy to use my reward points. Also, I have a Schwab card which reimburses fees for ATMs abroad.

One word of warning when booking with a site other than the airline site: When you make a seat request, it doesn't guarantee that you will get that seat. I booked through travelocity in February for a June flight and when I got to the airport, the agent said that I didn't have a seat assignment in the system. She said that if I didn't book directly, I should have gone to the airline's site to make the seat request.

We've booked through various firms such as Expedia, although reliable, there is a nuisance factor when (e.g. missed flights). We search the Internet and when an acceptable fare and connections appear then book directly with the airline. We haven't used a travel agent in about a decade.

This all very helpful information. Thanks so much, everyone. I was talking to a freind who has travelled extensively and she is also a fan of booking with an agent. She felt that some of the really inexpensive flights mean multiple stops, multiple layovers and multiple opportunities for delays and other hassles. With such limited vacation time and the unpleasant business of being packed into crowded plane for 12 hours, I'm motivated to try to eliminate potential glitches. So...I'm thinking perhaps a travel agent would be best. Thanks again, all!

I used to use a discount site until I had a nightmare. I booked a roundtrip from Seattle to Athens with a layover in NYC through Orbitz - Olympic Airlines and Delta. Then Delta canceled my return flight from NYC to Seattle and put me on a connecting flight that would have allowed 1 hour and 15 minutes to land, go through customs, and make my connecting flight. There is no way this could have happened - especially given Olympic's notorious late arrival record and then the NYC international flight jams. I then spent over 5 hours on the phone trying to make things right (I kept track of time after the 3rd or 4th call). I learned that a travel agent would be unable to book this new flight because the connect time was invalid. Orbitz, Delta and Olympic all claimed that the other was responsible for not being able to put me on a flight with a valid connect time. My options: (1) pay for a hotel room in NYC and get to Seattle the next day and pay the cost associated with the change, (2) fly to NYC, connect to another flight to Atlanta, connect to another flight to Salt Lake City, connect to another flight to Seattle. When you are on Orbitz "hold" no one hears you scream. My friend explained the issue to her travel agent who found a flight that would take me from NYC to Minn/St Paul and then Seattle with valid connect times. She explained that Orbitz was my travel agent and they were responsible for making sure I had a valid flight. Orbitz denied any responsibility. By now, I hate Pachebel's Canyon Suite - the only Orbitz Hold Song. Orbitz is not budging. When I challenged the charge on my American Express; Orbitz cancelled my ticket. I booked on my own through the airline directly - problem solved but at great frustration. When I returned was offered a $100 Orbitz credit. Continued

Continued The next year I went to Africa. I looked at all the discount sites and directly with the airlines and my airfare ranged from $5,500 to $7,000 (all sardine class fares). I contacted a travel agent who got me the same flight I had been looking at on the discount sites and airline sites for $3,000. I have used a travel agent since - they are the ones with the knowledge and have the power to right wrongs much easier than the computer sites. I wanted a room with a view of the Eiffel Tower this year - rather than booking directly, I have booked this one room with my travel agent who can guarantee my view unlike an on-line booking. However, unless it is a special request, I will continue to book hotels myself. There is nothing like a good travel agent for airfare in my opinion. I use Elizabeth Holmes Travel - my agent is Kim Baldwin.

The process actually isn't complicated at all. Maybe there used to be some benefit to so called discount sites. But no more. I don't remember the last time I saw a price that varied more than a few $ from one site to another. I use Kayak mostly, which doesn't sell tickets. They just provide excellent searches. Its easy to see what the flight timing and connections are and see what works best for you. Once you pick a preference, move on to the airline's own site where 90% of the time you will see the same price. Buy from the airline and you will have someone to complain to if you have problems. Buy from anyone else and you are just asking for headaches. The agents do not have any secret information. But if you want to pay them a little stipend to do the work for you, that's your call.

Interesting discussion - great for getting some perspective! My two cents': I was a travel agent a number of years ago, and I vote for booking online. The major sites show you up front how many stops you will be making (and yes, more stops usually equals a cheaper fare). And if you look carefully and read the itinerary, you can tell for yourself if you have enough time to realistically make a connection. Alas, there is NOT much price variation among flights (I would love it if there were some sites that had more screamin' deals than others) but if you keep checking back at different times of day/night you can find truly rock bottom prices. Diane from Silverdale - yikes! Horror story, for reals.

Allison, listen to Kira. Use Expedia, etc to find your flights, then book directly with the airline. In the past I had many problems when I booked using Expedia, Orbitz, etc. Book directly! Do some checking now and see how this works. Open up these sites, and poke around. all of the fight connections, times, etc are well splled out for you to review. Kayak is a wonderful option. It, and many others, will search for the price that you want, and then post a notice when they find it.

Some of the aggregator sites (Orbitz seems to do this the most) will display search results, but when you click the button on a flight to move to checkout it will state that the flight is unavailable. Then I go to the airline's site and that very same flight is available. I've found that the airline's site is about the same price as shown on the aggregator sites anyway. Use the aggregator to compare schedule/pricing between airlines, then go to the airline to buy.

I agree with everyone else in the advice to use websites to search, and then book directly. I almost had a bad experience, but because it was all booked through one company it was fine. I was going STL-ORD-LHR-FCO. My Chicago flight was delayed by a few hours, crunching my time in LHR. I knew I was going to barely make it. When I got off the plane, there was an attendant waiting for me to inform me that I could run and try to make my connection, but if I was unable to make it they had already booked me on the next flight, just an hour or two later. For my upcoming flight (less than a week-yay!) I could have saved $200 or $300 through Expedia or something similar and booking with multiple airlines, but I don't think that is worth the stress or possible future expenses.

Allison, I've been researching an open-jaw round trip flight from Honolulu to London, then returning from Rome for about a week now. I've used Kayak, Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, etc., the airline web sites, and checked with the local AAA travel office, and I didn't see any meaningful differences in cost for the same flights. However, I ran across a unique travel research site called Hipmunk (not Chipmunk). It makes the process of choosing a flight much easier. When you decide on your flights, it directs you to the airline web site where you purchase the tickets and choose your seats. Best of luck,
Gary

I used a travel agent to booka flight to Germany and she found me a cheaper flight with better departure and arrival times compared to what I found on Expedia, Orbitz etc. Personally, I found few differences in price when using those online travel sites. I use them depending on where I'm flying. Internationally, I'll probably use a travel agent if I can't find anything myself. Domestically, I'll use Expedia or something.

Ok, Ok...you've confinced me! I'll search all the sites everyone has recommended and then book directly with the airline. I liked the ease of just calling an agent and having them take care of everything but, the prices were actually more with the agent by several hundred dollars...that's a couple more nights in Rome! So, many thanks and I hope to have it squared away by tomorrow. Now, if I could just conquer my fear of flying!! Well...I suppose that's why they invented Ambien :)

BTW, I have to say that Gary's suggestion of "Hipmunk" is wonderful! It REALLY simplifies the whole airfare searching process. Thanks again.

I also search online through various sites. However, I buy either direct through an airline's own website - especially if the airline is running a seat sale - or from an agent. The agent is useful if they can access consolidator/contract fares, especially for international travel, or when there is no seat sale available. Since Murphy is alive and well and having fun flaunting his law when it comes to air travel, I rather deal with someone tangible who can also be in a position to really help - so that means either the airline itself or the travel agent. Here's another trick: know who codeshares on a given route. For example, Air Canada and Lufthansa codeshare on flights from Toronto to Frankfurt, which then connects to Budapest. The same plane flies both legs for each airline, and each leg has both a LH and an AC flight number. On Lufthansa's website, the exact same flights, on the exact same dates, sells for $200 cheaper than on Air Canada's website. Exact same codeshared flights, using the same planes! Delta, KLM and Air France also codeshare the exact same flights, so check all three websites for the exact itinerary/flights that you want. There will usually be price differences here too, even tho all 3 airlines function more and more as one - to the point of sharing customer service and ticketing offices (ie. when making changes or fixing schedule changes). One last trick: Say you want to open-jaw a flight to Europe, into Prague and out of Budapest. Check the reverse, just for fun: into Budapest and out of Prague. You may be surprised to see a significant enough savings to warrant flipping your original trip plan.