tips for booking a flight

[vbostick]

can anyone give me tips on booking a flight...what website to go through, what days are the cheapest, etc.? thanks!

[Goin' Coastal]

My daughter just ran into a problem with a ticket booked through cheaptickets.com. She arrived in DC last Thursday at 4 PM expecting a connecting flight to Paris at 5. Found out when she got to DC that with International flights you need to be there 3 hours ahead of time, and as a result they gave away her seat. (Along with others from her U of I group headed for the Ukrauine) They couldn't get another flight until Sat. - 48 hours later! Makes me hesitant to use cheaptickets!

[HealthyinMN]

I use these when searching along with the airline websites (they can often be cheaper)

www.kayak.com
www.farechase.com/
www.sidestep.com/air/

[vbak]

Not necessarily true about arriving 3 hours early for a connecting international flight. When we went to Spain in March, we had an hour plus a few minutes to wait for our connecting flight in Chicago. People were still boarding 15 minutes before the flight. They should not have given her seats away.

[erinlovesmarc]

We booked our flight through www.expedia.com. You should check often for the best rate - even after we booked our flight for our honeymoon I checked every few weeks or so to see if we got the best deal. What I noticed is that if you book way in advance or 2 weeks before, the rates are the best. If you depart and return on the weekend usually it is cheaper.

[luckylori]

I usually start by checking www.bestfares.com. They have a quickfare finder and a city search feature...both of which will give you an idea of what it might cost and which airlines might be cheaper. I would then try Expedia & Travelocity. If you have some time before your trip, Travelocity has a neat feature where you can register for their FareWatcher. Put in the cities you want watched and they'll email you when rates go up or down. Once you've narrowed down which airlines might be offering the rest rates, you should check the individual airline's websites. If you're running into high rates, try alternative airports if you're willing to drive a little. Or try different days. Usually Fridays and Sundays are the most expensive days to fly because more people want to fly then. Try Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays or Saturdays if you are flexible. When you do find a decent rate somewhere, act FAST. I've had rates change on me literally when I was booking the flight.
Be sure to check with some of the lower cost airlines, like Southwest, Spirit, Jet Blue...whatever you have in your area.

[cminmd]

Hi Vbak,
You are so right. Airlines just make up the rules to suit their needs of the moment. You can fly 20 times and not have a problem with flight spacing or arrival time, but if they overbooked the flight they will make up any "rule" to justify kicking you off without compensation.

We book flights all the time, but you really need to check everywhere. Nothing ever seems to be consistently the best though first I look at expedia. Then I check hotwire, sidestep, then compare their rates to online specials directly with the airline. I also have a travel agency I work with if I need the whole package of flight, room and car. The travel agent comes in with a better rate about 1 out of 10 times. I usually search on expedia and shoot her an email with a "Can you beat this rate?" The hard thing is to not let the agent guilt you into buying with them if they are not the lowest. Travel agents can usually get a better deal to resort destinations like Hawaii. I hardly ever have luck on flights with priceline, where you put in a bid and see if it gets accepted. I have had very good luck on priceline for hotels. We stayed at a 5 star in North Carolina for 35 dollars a night and a suite at the Four Seasons in Vegas for 85 a night! Worth a try if you need a hotel room. The problem I have with Priceline in flights is that you can get stuck with long delays between flights or multi leg itineraries.

So... Where ya' going? I'm so nosy!

[hollysmom]

Marry a pilot and fly for free !

Actually it's not as glamorous as it sounds - particularly with flights as heavy as they are going to be this summer - HOWEVER if you do know someone who works for an airline, you might inquire about their buddy passes - no reservations and low boarding priority - but definitely cheaper!

SSM

[luckylori]

cminmd...good steal on the 5 star in NC for that price! Can I ask which hotel and where? And how long ago was it?

[Aubergine]

fwiw, here's my recent experience. i spent 3 weeks watching fares for a trip to SF via travelocity, expedia, and orbitz. it was horrifically time-consuming and nerve-wracking, truly.

at the point when i thought i knew my dates, i was in the midst of booking a flight through travelocity when the fare changed $80 within those 20 minutes. i called their number and got no satisfaction.

so, i gave up and called Frontier Airlines directly, b/c i had noticed their fares were in the low range, and i was leery of AirTrans. Frontier was great, i got almost the same fare, and my experience with them was excellent altogether. no flight delays (in 4 flights), no luggage losses, always prompt service on the phone, and when i needed to change my return date, again, terrific assistance.

i've since read that dealing with the airline sites directly can be a good method, but all i can suggest is see whose fares look good and then maybe try on the phone.

same like verizon...i got no satisfaction and only a run-around on the web, but when i called their 888 number (to get a cellphone), the whole thing was done in 1-15 minutes.

i wish you luck. i could have used all of those dozens of puter hours to such better purpose...in fact, if i had it to do over again, i would have begun with the airlines and/or travel agent...i literally used approx. 2 days of my life over 4 weeks in all of that exasperating 'research.'

(fwiw, when i was younger, i used to travel at the drop of a pin, but not post 9/11)

bon voyage!

[vbostick]

Thanks everyone. I finally found a $234 dollar flight through AirTran to Houston. I wanted to wait a little longer in case the prices went down, but I would be kicking myself if they went up. Hopefully I made the right decision. Thanks again!