Cheapest International Flights?

Seriously, have you at least TRIED to use the search feature?

There is no magic, secret web site with the best prices. It is like buying anything else. The price you pay at one place may be higher or lower than the price at another at any hour of any day. There are a number of sites to check including airline sites. There are also sites that check other sites to show you which ones are offering the best prices.

Airlines price their tickets based on demand so prices change constantly.

I would try a respected travel agent - or even auto club AAA travel agent to help give you an idea. If you are web savvy - then start with the major carriers looking at specials. they all have them - just a matter of catching them on time. Signing up for one of the big-partner-frequent memeberships may help you get the info sooner too. But it sounds like you could use an agent's help = they should charge much if any fee for basic flight rsvp. and it could be well worth your time!

try www.kayak.com it will tell you what other people have gotten for the same date and departure location. I believe its in the BUZZ section.

Im not sure but I thought being new on this site you could actually ask for help or suggestions... Sorry, didnt realize thats not an option and being completely tacky was more acceptable. Ill pray for you.

Andrea,

You may think people are being tacky but some of us think that you are being lazy. You need to make an effort to do some research. If you have done research and can't find an answer, then post your problem, tell what you did to try and resolve it, then ask for help.

I see a suggestion that you try multiple sites including the airlines because prices vary and there is no one site(mine), that you check with a travel agent or AAA (Tom) and a third that suggests you try kayak.it (Melanie).

What more would you like? You have to look up your flights. You have to decide what is cheapest. You have to decide the specific days when you want to go. You have to decide what is a reasonable price to pay. Ever apply for a mortgage? Like airline fares, rates vary from day to day and sometimes one place is cheaper than another.

Post which sites you tried and which had the best prices then you might ask if someone can suggest another site or tell you if the price you found is good.

I actually did try all of the websites listed in posts before posting my original question. Kayak.com was very helpful- Next time Ill know to post more detailed questions such as - Ive tried , _, and _. _ seems to be cheapest. Has anyone found a better website or had good/bad experiences with this one in particular?
I am a young traveler and nervous to be planning but in the future Ill just try to be more detailed. Not lazy- yes nervous to be spending so much money if there is a cheaper way I just dont know about. Now I know theres not a cheaper way than what I already had done. Thanks

Andrea: It sounds as if you're willing to do the work to shop around, and you're starting early--that's good. But you're going in August, high season. It may help you to know that, as a general statement, long haul airfares have increased significantly in the last few years, partly because all airlines were faced with the same sharp increase in aviation fuel costs (takes a lot of gallons of gas to get across the big pond) and thus were able to pass much of their increased fuel cost on to the consumer. The airfare prices we saw just a few years ago are rarely seen these days. If you can be flexible on your days of travel (Tues - Thurs sometimes helps) and what hours of the day you fly, it helps. However, going in August as you are, it is going to be difficult to get the airfare lower than a certain amount, because that is high season and the airlines know that in August there is lots of demand for their airplane seats.

Hi Andrea, Kent is right on with what he said. It like going to the gas station a few blocks down may be a few $ cheaper but gas is high all over and there is no getting anything cheap. Airfare is no different. I too cringed when I paid $1055 per ticket to get from Chicago to Rome in May but I knew it was going to be high going into it, so I just bit the bullet. The rising cost of the euro is the next thing to worry about. And yes Bob was a bit abrupt.

Andrea, I always try Priceline. I've gotten many incredible fares that are way lower than those posted on Expedia, Travelocity or Kayak. (Airlines never want people to officially know how low they'll go.) I bid very, very low and work my way up gradually. You can try again (I think) every 24 hours, so as long as you're not in a hurry, you can save a lot of money this way. This is pretty much the only way I get tickets when I'm not using frequent flier miles.

Thank you all for your replies. They were very helpful!

Check the airline sites as well, I found very little difference in price, if any, from the discount sites (Orbitz, Expedia, etc.) and bought tickets from the USAir site. For my trip in October, for some reason it was cheaper to fly into Milan and out of Rome than vice versa. Delta also had a good choice of flights as well.

I found some great discount tickets at cheapoair.com
Their discounts are continually being updated. Check their often.

My experience has been to use the search engines like kayak, expedia, etc for comparision to find out what day of week, airlines, and general time frames have the cheapest fares, but then go elsewhere to purchase. If it is a simple round-trip, I usually wind up buying direct from the airline that came up the cheapest. If my route is a little maore complicated, open jaw or multi-city, then I check the consolidators as well, Air Gorilla and Airline Consolidators, can package tickets from what they have available, where non-affiliated airlines and travels agents cannot. They will also start to discount their tickets up to 12 weeks in advance as they need to start to move them.

Andrea,one more sugestion.If you see one fare that you really like dont hesitate but book it.I was looking since august for 2 tickets from Tampa to Milan around christmas time.Found at alitalia.com $500 each,believe it or not.The smart a... on me thought:Hey,what the heck,lets wait a few days and maybe get a better deal.Oops.Bad idea.3 days later $1480.Ended up getting them from orbitz for $1280.

A few months ago I took advantage of Continental's holiday first class deals to Europe and I'll be taking my family to Italy for Christmas and we only paid $1300 round trip for first class. We're flying into Milan and back to NYC via Rome.

Seriously, just do some hunting on the web. We found tickets from Santorini to Rome- one way- for $90. It was also on Kayak.com

well i too have seen over again ppl not doing "search" and it can be kinda frustrating[like:'WHY did i bother to post this 2 months ago?"]...that being said, i DO think info on something like "airlines" can change pretty quick, and there "might be newer info. [now:i have posted this 4x at least , but will again]..i bought my ticket for april, in january, 1080.00, via TA;on a lark, i checked Orbitz end of march? SAME plane, SAME flight, for 850.00! i managed to get a 240.00 voucher that i need to use in a yr...so if i was to do it again? i will my self...TA's are good for planning hotels, itinery, etc., but to book a simple plane flight? i learned how to learn to do it myself.

andrea:u really got me thinking about this air fare thing..as i do have this voucher, i would LOVE to do italy again.however i am a starving artist, i did last trip totally "hostels/shoestring"..here's what triggered me:on both leaving , and comming back from italy, there were a LOT of empty seats..i'd say about 30!!! now i am thinking "standby"..and think there might be a way to use this info, and willing to take a chance going for standby..back in 1990, i used a company [prolly now out of biz..can't rememebr the name] ..that actually booked you based on standby!..perhaps after 9/11 everything is changed..well the only hitch was u had to be ready ON CALL to leave immediatly a day b-4 or after your desired date...comming home sucked..i was at orly sud [paris] airport 3 days waiting...but the DEAL was:r.t. to europe :100.00!

FOUND IT! in last messege i used the word "hitch"..it triggered "AIRHITCH": look at the web site...i am in colorado, and using airhitch, they book you auto on that standby deal..u must be flexible with departing/arriving..but from colorado to italy: 280.00!! so a round trip is 560.00!!!!see..u pay THEM [AIRHITCH] the 280.00, they get you on the plane. CHECK IT OUT!....i admit it is kinda "sacry", not having a definate "depart/arrive" schedual..but it is FUN...
THANKS FOR POSTING YOUR QUESTION!!! [i have been wracking my brain the past 3 months trying to rememeber "airhitch"!!!!] ;]

Andrea and Jim I also found another wedsite www.airtech.com their motto is "IF YOU CAN BEAT THESE PRICES START YOUR OWN DAMN AIRLINE!"