Booking flights - online or travel agent?

[zgall1]

I've recently done a bit of travelling and as a result, I've booked a lot of flights (mainly international). I found that online travel sites usually were not able to provide me with cheap flights (especially when booked close to the date of the flight) whereas travel agents sometimes offered me flights that were less than 50% of the prices quoted online. Usually, this was because I was somewhat flexibile with dates and times and I assume that the travel agencies booking software is better able to account for that flexibility than the online travel sites (whose flexibility features generally suck). Does anyone know if there is a way to get access to something similar to what the travel agents have without paying much money?

[findingneema]

Take a peek at farecompare.com

They have some pretty nice tools for planning, especially if your dates are flexible.

[IggyWH]

www.farecast.com is a pretty cool new site that claims they can predict whether to buy now or wait with tracking of past airfares. Might not be great for what you want, but still a neat site nonetheless.

[firstyearclay]

http://www.sidestep.com. The single best site to check out fares across the internet.

fyc

[Backstabr]

Kayak ftw.

[IggyWH]

Just an FYI, everyone is going to come on here and post their favorite site, but I've been trying to use all of them to book a trip in August, and guess what? They all have the same price! They all pretty much tap the same resources when looking for cheapest fare.

Now if you're looking for a hotel and a rental car, there are differences between what site you use. Sometimes, it's best to use the company site direct.

[findingneema]

[ QUOTE ]
Just an FYI, everyone is going to come on here and post their favorite site, but I've been trying to use all of them to book a trip in August, and guess what? They all have the same price! They all pretty much tap the same resources when looking for cheapest fare.

[/ QUOTE ]

Granted, but different sites have different strengths. I use plenty of them for my travel, depending on how flexible my plans are (from "I need to be in Charlotte on these days" to "I'd like to be in Paris this fall").

[Gomez]

"Now if you're looking for a hotel and a rental car, there are differences between what site you use. Sometimes, it's best to use the company site direct."

One of my relatives is a frequent flyer and she aggrees with this. If you are booking airfare only, it is best to find the flight on one of these sites and then book the flight with the airline. This way you avoid the small service fee that the online site charges.

[ChromePony]

[ QUOTE ]
Kayak ftw.

[/ QUOTE ]

I fly every week for work. Prices are probably pretty comparable, but Kayak beats em all in terms of usability IMO.

[meep_42]

Travel Agents get the same inventory displays as all of the comparison websites, the only difference is that some travel agents have agreements with wholesalers and other agencies that buy seats in bulk at or near the flight's inception.

Also, I hope everyone who uses the comparison websites finds the best price then goes to that airline's website to book it -- you're better able to change your plans if you have to and can often save on some of the back-end fees that sites like Orbitz will charge you, while the prices quoted on the airline's website are quite often the same as what you'll find elsewhere.

-d