In the era of internet where price is king, several big online travel agencies have launched a "best price guarantee" label promising to refund any price difference if the same flight is found cheaper elsewhere.
As with any guarantee, the real value of it lies in the small print - and using as a reference the 2 biggest online travel agencies in the world, do not deliver its promise:
Expedia highlights the guarantee on its US homepage, but it turns out that for flights the guarantee does not cover any price difference up to 7$ - the exact amount Expedia charges on most of its air tickets as booking fees. Travelocity also promises a low price guarantee on the US site, but digging deeper you find out that taxes or any kind of fees are not included in the guarantee for flights.
Apart of not being able to claim back 7$ of booking fees,remember that these guarantees will only apply on the exact same flight details, which means that any cheaper airline (e.g. Low Cost Carriers) or flight combination not offered on their site will not be covered by the guarantee.
The key taking: the only way to make sure you find the best price for your flight is by shopping and comparing by yourself!
Compare end price with fares on www.southwest.com (here you find their route map)
If no flight fits into your budget, check out here what are your chances to get it cheaper at a later stage. Set up a fare alert with www.yapta.com to get updates (but remember, Southwest will not be included)
If flying comfortably matters to you, check for the quality of the different flights here and verify the latest US airline ranking here. To select your seat in the plane, check out the seatmap in www.seatguru.com
Check out the miles you can cash in with www.webflyer.com
If you are planning to book a hotel too, find out the savings of booking flight and hotel together on the big online travel agencies (Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline and Orbitz)
If you are booking flight only, book directly on the airline site to avoid booking fees and maximise your miles.
2. International flights out of USA
Check airline website fares on www.kayak.com or www.mobissimo.com
Compare travel agency fares on www.hotwire.com and www.priceline.com
Calculate baggage, meals and seat assignment fees here . As a general rule, non US carriers do not charge for any of these services.
If no flight fits into your budget, check out here what are your chances to get it cheaper at a later stage. Set up a fare alert with www.yapta.com to get updates and try to bid for your flight price on www.priceline.com
To check the quality of your flight options run a search on www.insidetrip.com and check international airline ranking and reviews here. As a thumb rule, prefer Asian and European airlines to US carriers. To select your seat in the plane, check out the seatmap in www.seatguru.com
Check out the miles you can cash in with www.webflyer.com
If you are planning to book a hotel too, find out the savings of booking flight and hotel together on the big online travel agencies (Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline and Orbitz).
3. Intra-European flights
Check meta search engines from the origin country to compare prices of online travel agencies. If you don't know any local meta search engine, try searching for "cheap flights" in the local language. Some meta search engines with a presence in several European markets are www.liligo.com, www.sprice.com,www.momondo.com and www.mobissimo.com.
Make sure that key European online travel agencies are included in the search. The sites you should include in any search are Opodo, Expedia, Lastminute and Ebookers.
Most Low Cost Carriers will not be included in these sites. The most comprehensive site to compare all European Low Cost Carriers end prices (including baggage and other fees) is www.wegolo.com.
Regular airlines in Europe do not charge for baggage or other services, and offer free snacks and drinks onboard with a few exceptions (i.e. Iberia, Air Europa)
Avoid booking at a later stage. The common rule for European flights is the sooner you book, the less you pay.
Book Low Cost Carrier directly on the airline site to avoid booking fees. For flights on regular carriers, compare the booking fees of online travel agencies and the airline sites.
If you are planning to book a hotel too, find out the savings of booking flight and hotel together on the big online travel agencies (Opodo, Expedia, Lastminute and Ebookers).
4. Long haul flights out of Europe
Check meta search engines from the origin country to compare prices of online travel agencies. If you don't know any local meta search engine, try searching for "cheap flights" in the local language. Some meta search engines with a presence in several European markets are www.liligo.com, www.sprice.com,www.momondo.com and www.mobissimo.com.
Make sure that key European online travel agencies are included in the search. The sites you should include in any search are Opodo, Expedia, Lastminute and Ebookers.
Avoid booking at a later stage. The common rule for flights out of Europe is the sooner you book, the less you pay.
Booking long haul flights out of Europe directly on airline websites is generally not the cheapest option, but the most airline sites will help you to find the cheapest travel dates if you are flexible.
To evaluate the confort of your flight options check international airline ranking and reviews here. To select your seat in the plane, check out the seatmap in www.seatguru.com.
Check out the miles you can cash in with www.webflyer.com
If you are planning to book a hotel too, find out the savings of booking flight and hotel together on the big online travel agencies (Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline and Orbitz).
To read the full article, please click here.
US domestic flights
Check airline fares on www.kayak.com or www.mobissimo.com
Calculate baggage fees with the help of this table
For intra European and intra Asian flights prefer regular Carriers to Low Cost Carriers and among the last ones, remember that Ryanair will consistently charge you the most.
Many airlines are facing a major crisis with current fuel prices and are desperately trying to stay afloat by cutting costs and maximizing its revenue. One of the magical words in this environment has been the so called "ancillary revenues", defined as all airline revenue from non ticket sources. Launched by the European Low Cost Carrier Ryanair, US carriers have been quick in adopting the same strategy. Charging started with drinks and food onboard and have gradually been extended to all sort of other services such as bag check-in, seat allocation or inflight entertainment.These charges have risen so dramatically in recent times (specially on US domestic routes), that they have to be carefully weighted in whenever searching for the cheapest flight option. Finding out how much extra money a flight will cost you is not an easy task, since it very much depends on the nr. of baggages you will check in, the food and drinks you will want to consume on board etc. The following insights will help you in this task:On US domestic flights, all free services have been cut to the bone with the exception of Southwest, ironically the most profitable US carrier in history. If you travel heavily, your major concern should be baggage fees. Check out this link for a comprehensive comparison of airline charges. Another useful table with a comparison of key airline charges can be found here .
For international flights out of US, prefer Asian and European carriers to US carriers. United Airlines have even start charging for onboard meals during long haul flights.