best deals on airfare??

[541lion]

been searching around so i can save and spend more on the island.. i found ebookers to be pretty cheap.. anybody else have better one to share??

[Candyman]

Have not heard the word "cheap" in the same sentence as "airfare" in a very long time.

[541lion]

yeah well when u go through the airlines youre paying at least twice what you can get em for in other places.. now to me thats cheap.. obiously you cant get to jamica on a 20 dollar bill..

[Prism]

I sometimes use Matrix but they don't have a lot of the smaller airlines.
Since we can usually go anytime in the winter I keep an eye on Apple Vacations and usually go with their Airfaire only specials. 1 month- 2 months out you can get really good deals $199-$249 round trip.

[Candyman]

I've been playing the flight game for 30 years and the jumps recently are the worst I've seen. All airlines have taken the opportunity to stick it to us. I think your dreamin' if you thnk they're double.

[Lola]

54lion, are you trying to book a vacation package? That will make a difference over purchasing separately. FYI, I think it is the hotel that takes the bite on the lower combined rate, not the airlines. Just last week I was on a flight/hotel/car rental package through Orbitz, and it showed on my cc bill with 1 line for flight, and 1 line for hotel/car combo. The flight amount was same price as if I'd booked it on its own.

For flight only, I use the searches like Orbitz to compare (or verify) best rates and schedules, then book directly with the airline.

Try looking at one-way tickets, you get better selection of the schedule you want, and the price is the same. Airtran has been good for me the last few years. Pricing has been LESS than it was a couple years ago.

PS Apple Vacations flight only brought up Airtran as my best option, and the price was $20 more than booking through Airtran...

Of course, it depends where you are flying from as to what is available for you. Good luck!

[nutz4travel]

On the airfare subject - looks like our cheapest option (by a longshot) will be to fly home via the US. My question is this - Charlotte or Philly - which is the better of the 2 to connect through? We've never been in either airport. Timewise they're both the same and only a couple of $$ difference...

[Jenn]

We had a connection in Charlotte on our last trip. I liked the airport there. Better than many of the other places we've connected through. Easy to get around there.

[nutz4travel]

Thanks Jenn - my thinking is Charlotte would be smaller/easier and less chance of weather delays, although May should be good. Still hoping I can get a good airfare connecting in Canada, but I'm not sure that is going to happen...

[Jenn]

I think I could have used the word "there" one more time....wth?! lol