Where do we get the most economical yet reliable airline tickets, any website or anything that someone want to share with the rest.
regards

A related forum is www.flyertalk.com, an interesting site.

Flyertalk is a great resource and I participate there quite a bit, which has now caused enough insanity for me to do a mileage run (flying just for the miles and/or status) as described in a USA today article earlier this week.

In short, I would check expedia, orbitz or travelocity to see what carriers are offering the best deal. You can usually find the same price at the airlines website, without the $5-$10 fee.

I personally don't use them, but you can also try the bidding sites (hotwire, priceline). If you want to go that route, check out the bidding forum on flyertalk or www.biddingfortravel.com for pointers.

Where are you going from/to, and when?

Let me state up front that I am NOT a travel agent.

The last time I booked a flight for my boss, I searched the internet and found a price of ~$600 for his flight - just for fun I called a local travel agent - same flight, times, flight numbers, everything - they booked it for me at $250 AND delivered the paper tickets to our company. I couldn't believe it.

Don't forget the local travel agents!

For me, I have the airlines and hotels I tend to stay at.....but for rental cars I use Priceline.....it works well and I save money (which gets billed back to the customer).

www.priceline.com

Hershal

Where do we get the most economical yet reliable airline tickets, any website or anything that someone want to share with the rest.
regards


I spend way too much time in airports and hotels. I use Orbitz or Travelocity to see a spectrum of what is available, but I usually don't book there. I usually book on the actual airline or hotal website that I selected.

If you are collecting the points or miles, sometimes you don't get them if you book on Orbitz or whatever. Also, I find I get deals just as good on the primary sites themselves.

The next step is to try a few variables. If I quote a ticket, and the price is too high, I will try different flight times, classes, and so on on, until I find a price I can live with. Usually, it works.

I

If you are collecting the points or miles, sometimes you don't get them if you book on Orbitz or whatever. Also, I find I get deals just as good on the primary sites themselves.



Orbitz, expedia, travelocity and the other sites SHOULD allow you frequent flier miles. Usually you only lose them if you get a packaged vacation or ultra low special fare. Priceline might not allow them. Some airlines might only give 50% of the status miles for low fare classes - Continental is one.

It could be an issue of Orbitz not pushing your frequent flier number over to the airline. Always make sure your FF# prints on your boarding pass and keep your boarding pass until your miles post to your account (usually a day or two if you check online).

Agree the airline/hotel website is usually the best. They often give bonus miles/points for booking there, plus waive any booking fees.

Orbitz, expedia, travelocity and the other sites SHOULD allow you frequent flier miles. Usually you only lose them if you get a packaged vacation or ultra low special fare. Priceline might not allow them. Some airlines might only give 50% of the status miles for low fare classes - Continental is one.

It could be an issue of Orbitz not pushing your frequent flier number over to the airline. Always make sure your FF# prints on your boarding pass and keep your boarding pass until your miles post to your account (usually a day or two if you check online).

Agree the airline/hotel website is usually the best. They often give bonus miles/points for booking there, plus waive any booking fees.


Orbitz has my account numbers. I got the Continental Miles, but lost the points which counted as legs. So, I end the year short of enough legs to make status on Continental (although I've had platinum on Delta for years, so it's no big deal. It would just make the Conti website easier to navigate.).

With hotels, I noticed a trend toward not granting points for rooms booked on Orbitz, because they classed them as prepaid. So I stopped doing that also.

Don't know what the story is on rental cars, because I always use the prime Hertz web and don't even consider other car chains.

With hotels, I noticed a trend toward not granting points for rooms booked on Orbitz, because they classed them as prepaid. So I stopped doing that also.
I've used the pre-paid packages from the consolidators as well. I was not able to get points for my stays at any of the hotels.

I guess the premium paid for booking directly with the hotel is what "buys" you those frequent stay points.

Jaime

I guess the premium paid for booking directly with the hotel is what "buys" you those frequent stay points.
Jaime


Surprisingly, I usually get rates just as good on the prime websites, as what Orbitz etc. offer. Some of the websites even guarantee they will have the lowest rates. Plus points....

If you don't travel much, points don't matter. If you travel a lot, points are worth hundreds of $$ per year.

Surprisingly, I usually get rates just as good on the prime websites, as what Orbitz etc. offer. Some of the websites even guarantee they will have the lowest rates. Plus points....

If you don't travel much, points don't matter. If you travel a lot, points are worth hundreds of $$ per year.
I only travel about once per month. I don't have many points and am not bothered that I don't get them. But, I'll take what I can get.

I try to book those deals with hotel and car rental included. They usually are cheaper than bought separately. However, the last time I did that the accounting office was not too happy because I was not able to provide a breakdown of the hotel rate and the car rental rate. It was after all a package deal.

I have noticed that some hotel chains guarantee the lowest rate on their sites. But again, I was trying to save the company money by going with the package deal.

Jaime

I only travel about once per month. I don't have many points and am not bothered that I don't get them. But, I'll take what I can get.

Over time it still adds up, especially if you try to limit it to few few suppliers (one airline, two hotels, one rental car.) I find I get pretty low travel costs, I guess just from practice.

I try to book those deals with hotel and car rental included. They usually are cheaper than bought separately. However, the last time I did that the accounting office was not too happy because I was not able to provide a breakdown of the hotel rate and the car rental rate...


Got to love Accounting, don't you? You save them money, and they get freaked because they can't split it up.

You may tell them you applied the Jilling Method of Apportionment: After much extensive research, I have determined that for every $500 spent, 54% is attributable to airfare, 23% to hotels, 12% to rental cars, 8% to food, and 2% to tip the bartender. This is very precise and is based on exhaustive research, often including a glass or two of wine to sharpen my contemplation.

It should be accurate enough to satisfy accounting scrutiny, as long as the full $500 comes out of one checkbook anyway...:rolleyes:

I would never consider pre-paid packages for work trips. Things change too much and those are typically non-refundable and non-changeable. I stick with hotels that allow cancellation up until 6pm the day of arrival. My primary leisure destination is Vegas, and I have never found a package deal better than what I can book independently. I also factor in that sometimes the cheapest flight is not the best price. I might be able to fly from Detroit to Vegas on Spirit or Southwest $20 cheaper, but on Northwest I am 99% assured of a first class upgrade (Gold status). I value a frequent flier mile at about $0.015, so that is about $50 in value round trip. I get free full size car upgrades at National and don't wait in line for 90 minutes like some locations. My time and comfort is worth the extra $$$ most times.