At one time or another, we’ve all been a day late and a few air miles short when purchasing a plane ticket. So we turn to the internet. But with all the bargain travel sites out there, which ones truly offer the best deals on a consistent basis? Surely, there must be a spectacular site out there that’s going to get me the cheapest flight every time, right?<\/p>\n
Testing the Premier Airfare Sites<\/strong><\/em> So let’s dive in and take a look at the different types of airfare sites out there to see how they perform. The first step to finding the best deal is knowing what the business models are for the sites offering these tickets. Knowing this will result in some time savings and myth busting.<\/p>\n Direct Airfare-Booking Sites<\/strong><\/em> The advantage to using the direct booking agents is that you get to check multiple airlines at once. Here’s what I found in my search:<\/p>\n Airfare Aggregators<\/strong><\/em> Booking your Flight Direct on the Airline’s Site<\/strong><\/em> Hmmm…. could it be that the other direct booking sites who quoted $21 in taxes were offered a $21 lower price on the tickets than the public and pocketed the $21 difference in ‘taxes’. Someone forgot to send Airfare.com the memo on that one. Oh, and their regular ticket price was higher as well. Another memo.<\/p>\n We didn’t see this in this example, but as we get closer to the departure date, it might be possible that Airtran updates their prices on the site if seats are not filling up. Many airlines are now offering RSS and Twitter feeds so that you can stay on top of special deals and updates.<\/p>\n When Can you Actually Get a Good Deal on a Flight?<\/strong><\/em>
\nI thought it would be fun \u2014 and educational \u2014 to actually go through a real-life example with a test flight that:<\/p>\n\n
\nWe’ve all heard of these guys. They’ve seemingly been around since the advent of travel booking online. These sites will book your flight directly with the airline. For the most part, their prices are oddly in line with what the airline is offering directly. But they must make a cut somehow, right? More on this later.<\/p>\n\n
\nAirfare aggregators basically pull from hundreds of booking sites and carrier sites at the time of your search. In theory, this gives them an advantage in that they should be able to find the airfare site with the lowest booking fees. Since you can’t book directly with them and they don’t have direct relationships with the carriers, they are supported by affiliate links to the direct booking agents and other online ads. Let’s give it a shot:<\/p>\n\n
\nWhen in doubt, turn to the carrier itself. Airtran was the clear winner here over Delta, who was offering a round trip for $422 . Let’s check their site. You guessed it, folks. $329.40. Oddly, they quote a ticket price of $286.51 and taxes of $42.89, the same tax amount quoted on Airfare.com, which varies from the $21.40 quoted on the other direct booking sites.<\/p>\n
\nAs you have seen here, there is definitely collaboration between the airlines and the direct booking sites to offer prices that are consistent. Sorry folks, but there is no silver bullet best airfare price out there<\/b>. The bottom line is that the carrier is going to offer the same deal to all of the best direct booking agents so as to not tick off the others. But, all hope is not lost. Here are four tips you can use when trying to find the lowest airfare:<\/p>\n