FLIGHTS

Flights are a strange commodity in the travel industry.  About the only parties making money on flights are the airlines, themselves.  Yes, the booking engines get a little, but for sites like ours, it is simply not possible to pay the bills on revenue from flight bookings. Even full-fledged travel agents don’t want to deal with them, as they get very low commissions if any, so they will end up charging you a fee.  Our purpose here is to make you understand that while we can make flight suggestions, the best possible thing is to book through one of the consolidated search sites or directly with the airline. Last minute travel deals and vacation packages at Expedia.com!

Why would you book directly with the airline?  Well, it turns out that not all the sites bring up all the airlines, so you may be missing some visibility into fares on the airlines you like.  Plus, usually you will get a few extra points if you are a member of a frequent flyer program and book on the airline’s site.  If using one of the big sites, just be careful to compare with some others to be sure you don’t miss seeing something on your preferred airline. And there are now services that will help you make the most of those points or miles:

We have included a couple of search engines below, and we might get a penny or two if you find a valuable link, but in general, each site is searching other multiple sites, which search other multiple sites, so while the combinations are almost infinite, there isn’t much in there for us. But that’s OK, because what may not be so good for us is pretty good for you as a consumer – and it is good for us, too, as we are also consumers, so we will use these links as well!

For a big-name, do-everything site, check out the flights and other options at Expedia.com.

More Flight Resources – Here are some more more air travel links you may find useful:

• You’ve heard about it on TV, and they are pretty good, but Kayak won’t always show you every airline unless you force it to.
• Vayama is a good site to check for International Travel.
• Skyscanner will help you compare a lot of cheap flights.
• We use Seat Guru often. It will help you find the best seats.
• FareCompare can help you find the best international airfares.
• Yapta tracks airfares after you book and alerts you to price drops.
• Find low intra-Europe fares at WeGoLo, Opodo and Dohop.