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Black_Beer_Man
Joined: 26 Mar 2013
Posts: 453
Location: Yokohama
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 Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 1:01 am Post subject: Cheapest Airline Booking Websites? |
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Which websites do you use to book a cheap airline ticket to go home for summer / winter breaks?
For U.S.A, I found www.orbitz.com
For Canada, I found www.cheapoair.ca |
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nightsintodreams
Joined: 18 May 2010
Posts: 558
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| Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 1:22 am Post subject: |
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Www.skyscanner.com
This is a price comparison website that compares hundreds of airlines and finds the best price for your journey. The cheapest airline is usually chinese eastern, but if you try to book through the airline's official site, it's much more expensive than booking through a company on skyscanner. This makes no sense to me, why is it cheaper to go through the middle man? Anyway, skyscanner is a great site!
I can't remember the email address but peach and Jetstar are rediculously cheap for trips to Korea and Taiwan.
Cebu pacific are always the cheapest for flights to the Philippines. |
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2buckets
Joined: 14 Dec 2010
Posts: 515
Location: Middle East
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| Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 3:23 am Post subject: |
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I've had good luck with cheapoair. Got US to China return for $748.
You got to keep checking, prices change by the minute. Be ready to book it instantly. |
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rxk22
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 1629
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| Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 10:47 pm Post subject: |
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| 2buckets wrote: |
I've had good luck with cheapoair. Got US to China return for $748.
You got to keep checking, prices change by the minute. Be ready to book it instantly. |
Also, changing your flight by a day or two can have a large impact, or none at all. |
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Maitoshi
Joined: 04 May 2014
Posts: 718
Location: 何処でも
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| Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 11:11 pm Post subject: |
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| I always seem to have the best luck with departures/returns on Tuesdays/Wednesdays for cheaper flights. |
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Pitarou
Joined: 16 Nov 2009
Posts: 1116
Location: Narita, Japan
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| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 1:28 am Post subject: |
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| nightsintodreams wrote: |
| The cheapest airline is usually chinese eastern, but if you try to book through the airline's official site, it's much more expensive than booking through a company on skyscanner. |
The airlines are all members of a cartel, and so have to offer pretty much the same prices for the same routes. (This is illegal in many countries, but airlines get away with it because they're transnational. That's also how they get away without paying tax on fuel.)
The airlines that want to offer lower prices do so by quietly offering huge commissions to travel agents, in the knowledge that the agent will pass on some of that commission to customers as a discount. But they can't be too blatant about it, so you will NOT find the cheapest fares on a publicly visible website. You have to contact the small independent travel agents, tell them your requirements, and ask them to make their best offer. |
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nightsintodreams
Joined: 18 May 2010
Posts: 558
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| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 1:41 am Post subject: |
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Thank you for educating me Pitarou.
So, would you care to name some of these smaller travel agencies?
Every small travel agency (in Japan at least) that I've been to has been a complete rip off. |
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Pitarou
Joined: 16 Nov 2009
Posts: 1116
Location: Narita, Japan
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| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 1:52 am Post subject: |
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| nightsintodreams wrote: |
Thank you for educating me Pitarou.
So, would you care to name some of these smaller travel agencies?
Every small travel agency (in Japan at least) that I've been to has been a complete rip off. |
My wife usually takes care of it. She's a bit busy now, but I'll ask her for you. |
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milkman
Joined: 12 Jul 2013
Posts: 29
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| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 2:51 am Post subject: |
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www.kayak.com is a good site, easy way to check fares on different days of the month and lists a lot of different airlines.
Someone once told me that these sites are dynamic, if a lot of people search for flights on the same day, it'll automatically go up (or down, if it's an unpopular search date). If you find something good, it's best to take it soon! |
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nightsintodreams
Joined: 18 May 2010
Posts: 558
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| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 3:34 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| My wife usually takes care of it. She's a bit busy now, but I'll ask her for you. |
Much appreciated. |
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steki47
Joined: 20 Apr 2008
Posts: 1029
Location: BFE Inaka
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| Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 4:34 am Post subject: |
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| I have been using Priceline the past few years. Great deals and no complaints. |
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G Cthulhu
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Posts: 1373
Location: Way, way off course.
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| Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 4:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Pitarou wrote: |
The airlines are all members of a cartel, and so have to offer pretty much the same prices for the same routes. (This is illegal in many countries, but airlines get away with it because they're transnational. That's also how they get away without paying tax on fuel.)
The airlines that want to offer lower prices do so by quietly offering huge commissions to travel agents, in the knowledge that the agent will pass on some of that commission to customers as a discount. But they can't be too blatant about it, so you will NOT find the cheapest fares on a publicly visible website. You have to contact the small independent travel agents, tell them your requirements, and ask them to make their best offer. |
Substantially utter rubbish. :)
Airlines all have to have the fares registered via the various governing bodies. They may or may not make them accessible to the public. Most will aggregate their fares through IATA so they can be searched directly. Some discount carriers (eg. JetStar (aka OneStar) or Tiger and their ilk) will not aggregate to IATA and you have to know them and search them directly. Using a travel agent guarantees that you're not getting the lowest fare: any fare that the agent can find/book then you can find or book yourself and save the commission, either via a wholesaler or direct with the airline.
If you want to search direct IATA fares and get the booking codes to give to travel agents then use ITA Matrix, http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ If you really want to learn how to find better fares & how to work the system to your advantage then read & learn on websites like www.flyertalk.com. |
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Kaizer7
Joined: 07 May 2014
Posts: 8
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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| There are some recent no frills airlines that opened up not sure if they go to the States but try searching on Vanilla or Peaches. They're good for traveling around Japan or SE Asia. |
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teacheratlarge
Joined: 17 Nov 2011
Posts: 192
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2014 8:03 am Post subject: |
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I second using the itasoftware. It works pretty well and directs you to some lower fares booking directly with the airlines.
Saved me a bundle on going to Europe during the summer!
That being said, you do have to compare fares with some of the LCCs that sometimes are not included for longer haul and shorter haul flights. Also, the routing you decide on may influence the price, where for the same price you may be able to fly much further with a stopover on route. So you put up with some inconvenience for a lower price. Case in point; flying with S7 from Japan through Moscow to Europe results in you saving from 33K to 70K Yen depending if you opt for a direct flight or not (this is a summer fare). Ironically, the Tokyo to Moscow leg is with JAL (the same flight with JAL was some 40K more at the time of my booking it)! |
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