Which is the best internet site for buying airline

Anybody have any favorite internet sites for purchasing airline tickets or hotel rooms. Never did it this way before but willing to try for my cruise on VOS in March.

Expedia or Orbitz - I have used both.

I booked mine for the upcoming cruise through Expedia. Got the tickets in the mail 2 days later.

Traci

[CruiseAholic]

I've found better prices several times with the airline website. Found some Web only specials for my upcoming cruise over New Years to San Juan on the American Airlines site.

[DougH]

Try www.travelocity.com also

A lot of times I use these websites to find a low fare then call the airline direct and they will usually match the price for the same flights. I have booked directly thru Travelocity, expedia and lowestfare and had no problems.

Just keep searching, thing seem to change hourly sometimes!

Doug

Love expedia. It's easier to use than travelocity, IMO.

[Divetex]

I'm rather partial to www.bestfares.com - that's where I got our $98 RTs from Dallas to Ft Lauderdale. Lots of good deals there, and not all are limited to members.

i like expedia the best, but always check with the particular airline's website for matching prices. sometimes they are even better than on expedia or travelocity. i have found orbitz to be difficult to navigate (very slow for me).

and after i check the websites, i call the airline and see if that fare is actually available -- several times the person on the other end of the line has found me and even better price.

one more thing to consider... southwest airlines does not participate on any of the abovementioned travel search sites. you have to access them at "www.iflyswa.com"

good luck!

tim

[Mermaid]

I have used Travelocity quite a bit, for hotels and air, but do the same as the other posters above...Check a few different sources, and then pick the one with the best rate. And I usually check with the hotel or the airline directly to make sure that is the best rate I can get.

[Paul Motter]

I have actually written a few articles about this, specifically one for the Boston Herald where I point out sites "other than" Expedia and Travelocity.

For last minute fares I find Hotwire to be the best, but the drawback is that they are what the indutry calls "opague" fares meaning you don't see your itinerary until you agree to the price (similar to Priceline, but you don'y 'bid' for a fare, you see the actual price before you commit to buy). Once they show you the fare you have 1 hour to accept it.

I just traveled Phx to NYC with Hotwire tickets and I not only got a great fare but the itinerary was better than any other site offered me. Similarly to Orbitz, they offer seats from most of the big airlines.

Personally, I have yet to find a good fare on Orbitz. Significantly, Hotwire actually advertises on Orbitz as a 'lower price option."

I always check www.onetravel.com. I just purchased two RT Phoenix to Ft. Lauderdale tickets there for prices I couldn't get anywhere else. Non-stop on America West for prices far below the rate advertised by the airline or any other website. This is a little known travel site, but they have significant financial backing from Lycos and the Travel Conglomerate Amadeus.

I always monitor whatever Travelocity is selling by customizing my "My Yahoo" start page to watch for good fares to specific cities. It is interesting to watch the fares vary day by day, and sometimes when I see a good fare I jump in and grab it since I fly to NYC pretty often.

I mist say I rarely see a good rate for Air on Expedia, though I always check. But a lot of this has to do with where you live because the sites get good deals with different carriers who may be more or less accessible to your community.

Thanks for the tips, Paul. Since I also live in Phoenix, what applies to you will also apply to me. I'll give those sites a try.
jennifer

I have a couple of additional comments to make regarding customer service. I use a lot of the above mentioned sites and have for awhile for personal and business. (I also often check the sites and puchase airlines tickets directly.) My comments are regarding my last cruise in which we were supposed to fly out on 9/14/01. We booked our airfare through travelocity and our hotel through expedia.

Since it was day-to-day basis, we weren't sure if we would be able to make our cruise or not. My wife and I spent hours on the phone with travelocity, expedia (and Royal Caribbean and the other party going with us). This I have to say about crunch time:

Travelocity answered the phone within 30 minutes the first day of crisis and answered about 20 minutes the second and third days. The first time I called, they couldn't find my wife's reservation (I didn't have the conf. number handy). The next time I called, they did everything possible to find us a flight, but no avail. (Nothing possible in the three states surrounding us or Tijuana.) My wife used the web site later Thursday evening to try to find a flight and found a couple, but when she double checked on the respective direct sites, they were showing cancelled.

Expedia answered the phone within 70 minutes the second day and after 45 minutes the third day after the crisis, I gave up. I called again the fourth day (the day we were supposed to check-in) and gave up after another 50 minutes. She called back the next Monday and they refunded the two pre-paid hotel rooms without problem. However, she had to rebook them separately (for the next Friday).

The bottom line is that I would recommend either of these sites, at least for a first look. Priceline, hotwire and lowestfare are great if you can leave ANYTIME within the date specified and handle the other T&C's. Make sure you read the fine print. However, I have seen AMAZING fares at these sites.

Good luck!