OT Rant: Buying airline tickets online

[Louis]

Whew – It just took me over three hours to finally get what in the end is a pretty bad deal.

Next month I’m going to visit my sister in Maine for a weekend. Because there are a number of options for the destination airport (Bangor, Portland, Manchester, Boston, etc.), because I wanted to maximize the time I was there and minimize the time I spent travelling (do I get a rental car, or have her drive to pick me up), and because I of course wanted to minimize cost, there we so many options it was a nightmare choosing. I used Yahoo, which at least gave me some options on the airport, but still, it was a major, major PITA.

You would think that someone would figure out how to make this easier, but nearly every time I have to do this it’s a huge mess. There’s got to be a way to improve the various search engines so you can control more variables more efficiently, but not as far as I can tell. What have you found works best for you?

The final damage, $370 for a round-trip flight from St Louis to Portland !!! That would buy me lots of bike components…

Louis

[csm]

I've used orbitz with some success.

[Serotta PETE]

I have used Orbitz to some success also. Going directly to the airline site (DELTA or US Air) has netted some cheaper airfares for me than either ORBITZ or travelocity at times.,

It is very "trying" to co-ordinate all the variables (and air fares can change many time in a given day.)

[97CSI]

What do expect? You and the airlines are at cross purposes. They want to maximize their income. You want to minimize your cost. They won't make it easy for you because it is not in their best interest to do so. Flying into/out of smaller cities has become a nightmare for both costs and schedules.

[Louis]

What do expect? You and the airlines are at cross purposes. They want to maximize their income. You want to minimize your cost.

GPD, I'm not so sure I agree with all you say.

Most buyer-seller relationships are as you describe. However, it is in every seller's self-interest (and in their collective self-interest) to make the buying process as painless as possible.

We are not completely at cross purposes. I want to fly somewhere, and am willing to pay good money to do so. They have airplanes and are willing, at a fee, to take me there. We ought to be able to work out a deal without me having to work out every darn combination of flights to see what works best.

Louis

[CNY rider]

I'll always go to the Jet Blue and Southwest Airlines websites first, and see if I can find what I need. I do that because I think those two airlines have the best customer service, and reasonable prices. If I can't get what I need from them, then I use a more general search service like Travelocity and take what I can get.

[ols]

www.qixo.com

www.cheaptickets.com

[JohnS]

The final damage, $370 for a round-trip flight from St Louis to Portland !!! That would buy me lots of bike components…

Louis
Try driving...now that's expensive.

[Korn Julio]

For the cheapest airline tickets, ALWAYS book through the airlines website. In my experience and with few exceptions, I ended up finding the cheapest fares through the airline website.

For hotels, many hotels have "specials" running with Expedia.com. During my recent stay at the Aladdin hotel in Las Vegas, everyone around me was paying $109 a night. My deal through Expedia got me $79 a night.

[Dekonick]

Why not just ride there and back!?!

[bcm119]

The best course of action now is to first check JetBlue, Southwest, and Frontier websites, and write down the best they have. Then check a few of the price matrix sites like Orbitz, Travelocity, Cheap Tickets, etc. Find the best they have, and if it beats the first round, buy the tix through the airlines website, not the search site. Lately, you can do better through the airlines websites than the orbitz type sites, especially Delta. If you can wait until last minute, United's website has last minute deals for the upcoming 2 weekends that come out on Tuesdays, but you have to be quick to get seats.

[djg]

Whew – It just took me over three hours to finally get what in the end is a pretty bad deal.

Next month I’m going to visit my sister in Maine for a weekend. Because there are a number of options for the destination airport (Bangor, Portland, Manchester, Boston, etc.), because I wanted to maximize the time I was there and minimize the time I spent travelling (do I get a rental car, or have her drive to pick me up), and because I of course wanted to minimize cost, there we so many options it was a nightmare choosing. I used Yahoo, which at least gave me some options on the airport, but still, it was a major, major PITA.

You would think that someone would figure out how to make this easier, but nearly every time I have to do this it’s a huge mess. There’s got to be a way to improve the various search engines so you can control more variables more efficiently, but not as far as I can tell. What have you found works best for you?

The final damage, $370 for a round-trip flight from St Louis to Portland !!! That would buy me lots of bike components…

Louis

That's not cheap, but it's not so obviously a bad deal. You're flying nearly half way across the country from a medium sized city to a small one for a few hundred bucks. With gas prices today, that's not terrible.

Flying out of the DC area I have three airports to choose from and the search engines give me an option that includes all three. Before trying orbitz and expedia, I check things like Southwest, which have their own websites and, frequently, good fares on non-stops. Like BCM, when I find a fare with one of the majors I double-check the airline's own web site to see if there's a better deal. For vacation/family travel, I'll often use miles in any case--we use a quicken cc for pretty much all our everyday purchases, so the miles add up, and the miles can be applied to most of the major airlines. When it's not my dime, I try not to squander money, but I place a higher priority on my convenience, which includes search time.

[billrick]

I've found that the demise of Independence Air has killed off all cheap travel to Maine.

[93legendti]

Whew – It just took me over three hours to finally get what in the end is a pretty bad deal.

Next month I’m going to visit my sister in Maine for a weekend. Because there are a number of options for the destination airport (Bangor, Portland, Manchester, Boston, etc.), because I wanted to maximize the time I was there and minimize the time I spent travelling (do I get a rental car, or have her drive to pick me up), and because I of course wanted to minimize cost, there we so many options it was a nightmare choosing. I used Yahoo, which at least gave me some options on the airport, but still, it was a major, major PITA.

You would think that someone would figure out how to make this easier, but nearly every time I have to do this it’s a huge mess. There’s got to be a way to improve the various search engines so you can control more variables more efficiently, but not as far as I can tell. What have you found works best for you?

The final damage, $370 for a round-trip flight from St Louis to Portland !!! That would buy me lots of bike components…

Louis

How much did you expect it to cost? I have had very good luck booking flights online, including for travelling overseas. If nearly every time it is a mess for you, why not try a different method..i.e. telephoning the airlines or using an agent? Sorry it was a pain for you.

[Bradford]

I understand your frustration, but I think things are easier now than they have ever been. I travel frequently for work, often every week for long periods of time, and have been for about 10 years. I think that it is much easier now to find cheap and easy flights than it used to be.

I find the Expedia interface the best for me, but once I find a flight I like I always check with the airline site for price before I buy.

With Expedia, and can run many options, sort by several factors, and then add in hotels or cars. In the old days, that would have been impossible.

When you travel all the time, you just come to accept that it is a difficult process. With all the moving parts they have to deal with, plus the yield pricing models they use, I'm not surprised.

[saab2000]

I've found that the demise of Independence Air has killed off all cheap travel to Maine.

And Independence Air operated at a loss from day #1. Running an airline costs money, even if you pay employees barely more than fast food wages, which most airlines pay their people who fly the 50-90 seat aircraft which are so prevelant in the country today.

Why does anyone think that Indy Air is gone? They never charged for their tickets what it cost them to bring a passenger from A to B. Simple as that.

Last night I was in Nashville and during out 24 minute ground time the passengers in the back complained to me that the lav stunk. Sorry, but people get what they pay for. With ticket prices at an all-time low in real terms, something has got to give. Yup, service stinks. But try buying that ticket from STL-PWM 10 years ago and I bet it cost more. Portland, Maine is not exactly on the beaten path.

Sorry for my rant. But the airline is probably losing money on your ticket. Are you flying from St. Louis to Chicago to Portland?

PS - Don't get me started on the airline industry........ :beer:

PPS - Want a tip? Fly Southwest whenever possible. They have the simplest website and the easiest check-in procedures I have ever seen. They are the model all other airlines should attempt to emulate, IMHO, even though it is not possible for international carriers of course. I don't work for Southwest. I work for their competition.......

[jerk]

the problem with the airline industry is the increasing bustedness of the stewardesses. there was a time when they were all beautiful. now they are mostly all ugly. one imagines this is even harder on the pilots than their lower salaries lack of pensions and all the rest. the jerk would pay higher ticket prices for better scenery. they could add a few handsome men for the ladies too....the jerk is an equal opportunity scum bag.

jerk

[saab2000]

the problem with the airline industry is the increasing bustedness of the stewardesses. there was a time when they were all beautiful. now they are mostly all ugly. one imagines this is even harder on the pilots than their lower salaries lack of pensions and all the rest. the jerk would pay higher ticket prices for better scenery. they could add a few handsome men for the ladies too....the jerk is an equal opportunity scum bag.

jerk


Neato!!! I have always called myself an equal opportunity bigot!!! You are 100% right about the lack of 'talent' too!

They're fat and homely, but at least they complain!!! :beer:

[JohnS]

All the young ones have been furloughed. :(

[Ginger]

mobbissimo.com, travelocity.com, and for multiple stops overseas: airtreks.com

For local, find the cheapest flight on one of the travel sites then go directly to that airline;s web site and find the fare there, it's usually a touch cheaper.

[jerk]

She don't wear no pants and she don't wear no tie
Always on the ball, she's always on strike
Struttin' up the aisle, big deal, you get to fly
You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky
You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky

Paid my fare, don't wanna complain
You get to me, you're always outta champagne
Treat me like a bum, don't wear no tie
'cause you ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky
You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky


And the sign says, "Thank you very much for not smoking"
My own sign says, "I'm sorry, I'm smokin'"
Don't treat me special, don't kiss my ***
Treat me like the way they treat 'em up in first class

Sanitation expert and a maintenance engineer
Garbage man, a janitor and you my dear
A real union flight attendant, my oh my
You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky
You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky
You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky

[Brons2]

I love Kayak.com for searching for fares. It's really good at finding cheap one-ways. It indexes other sites.

I also like using Travelocity/Yahoo Travel's "My Dates are Flexible" function.

Then, there's Southwest.com, which I never pay for due to my dad's having so many Rapid Rewards tickets! Thanks, Dad!