Compare Fares on the Internet

The first airline quote you see isn't necessarily going to be the lowest. That's why it's critical to compare fares before purchasing. As much as we'd love to find that one-stop shop travel site, it just doesn't exist. There is no one site that can possibly capture all of the available airfares. Because each third-party site negotiates rates and fares in proprietary ways and at different moments, it's hard to get a snapshot of what's available in real time.

While buying tickets online is still the most efficient way to book a flight, the online travel landscape is getting increasingly harder to navigate. Not only is there an abundance of seemingly similar travel sites and search engines to pick from, but tickets are also becoming less and less affordable. We see how much it costs to fill up our own gas tanks, so, we can only imagine how much the airlines must spend on jet fuel.

Still, high prices are hard to reconcile, especially for bargain-hunting travelers. The key to getting a deal is to be a flexible shopper. Consumers must do research and explore nontraditional ways to get to their destination.

Sometimes, of course, you will stumble upon a great deal early on in the shopping process. In that case, experts say you should take advantage of it before someone else does. There are fewer lower fares out there so, if you see a deal, don't hesitate to book it. It could be gone in a half an hour."

The Internet’s Big Online Agencies. Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia and Cheaptickets have totally redefined how airline tickets are sold. Most experts advise consumers to shop these big agencies first to get a good idea of the average going rate for a retail ticket.

You have some flexibility to search multiple dates so you can compare rates and plan on traveling on the least expensive day.

Also keep in mind that ticket prices can vary drastically by airport. If you’re flying out of Boston, try Providence. San Francisco? Think Oakland. How about Charlotte? Consider Greensboro.

Internet Aggregators are a new breed of search engines. The aggregator sites like Mobissimo, Kayak and Yahoo’s FareChaser search a whole flock of search engines as well as airline sites themselves. Why go the extra step? Many of the budget airlines that have great inexpensive fares, like Southwest, don’t do business with consolidators like Travelocity, so by searching only those sites, you’re missing half the market.

Airline Websites. After you’ve found the cheapest dates and the best airport there’s still more research. For example, if you have found your best deal on an American flight, check out American’s website. You will often find a better deal directly from the airline. Even if the price is the same, buying directly from the airline will save you the search engine’s booking fee—around $5 to $7—and you’ll have a better chance at changing tickets or getting a refund of your money if something goes wrong. Some airlines guarantee the lowest rates from their own websites, backed up with special offers for those who find cheaper fares elsewhere.

Now, after saying that—if you find an eye-popping deal on a search engine that utilizes multiple carriers, take it. The hassle of pricing individual flights in a multiple leg, multiple-carrier itinerary can be very frustrating.

Remember the Budget Airline Websites. To go the extra mile, take a quick look at budget airlines’ websites that fly out of the airports nearest you. Often their rates are not found on major search engines, so it can pay to target them directly. Budget airlines include Southwest, Airtran, JetBlue, Frontier, Independence Air, Sprint and ATA. Budget airlines also post web deals. Many of these low-cost airlines have weekly or monthly newsletters that announce web-only deals, which is a great way to keep abreast of new deals.

Evolving Travel Sites. There's also a cluster of really innovative sites popping up. Newcomer FlySpy, which is still in its testing phase and only offers fares to and from a few cities, graphically shows you how fares to your desired destination trend over a 30-day period. This allows you to see which days of the week may be cheaper to fly—and not just from the airport you selected, but from others nearby.

Let the Experts Do the Searching. Along with all the travel-deal websites out there, there is a unique species that monitors the search engines and airline sites and highlights the best deals. SmarterTravel.com continually updates postings on the most outrageous plane ticket, hotel, car and cruise sales, and has a team of editors that post travel-tip articles for these ever-changing times. Bestfares.com has a search engine and keeps excellent tabs on fare wars between airlines, such as when a particular city might be the center of downward-spiraling fares for a limited period of time.

Some sites, like adventure-centric GORPtravel.com, also specialize in a particular niche of travel, offering package trips that take care of all the details. Costs vary widely, and in some cases airfare isn’t included in the quoted price, but the expertise afforded by working with industry leaders could offer the assurance you need to make your vacation stress free.