Best US site for booking flights

[HappyFingers]

Hello all from Australia

we are currently planning a trip to orlando in 2011
to experience the following
oasis of the seas 1 week
disneyworld 1 week
universal studios 1 week
kennedy space centre with whatever is left out of a once month trip

we are a little hesitent to use Aus travel agents as they rip you off
in most cases i can purchase something from usa and have it delivered to my door for just over half the cost of what i would pay here in Aus purely because there is a overcharging culture here in Aus due to less competition

so its a global market now and i can purchase wherever i like

so what i would like to know is what is a good trusted USA flight booking site that i could use to purchase our plane tickets ?

the cruise ship and theme parks i will purchase all them direct from their websites as we plan to stay in the 5 star type hotels within the parks themselves (havnt decided which ones yet)

trying to figure out what is a trusted site and what is not, is difficult as there are so many to choose from

all help and advice appreciated

 

[vicki_c]

I prefer to purchase directly from the airline sites, myself. I have had the best luck getting good fares directly, from both Southwest and AirTran here.

You might look on kayak.com - I think that compares fares from different airlines - I don't know if you can book there or not. Also, bing.com has a flight price predictor tool, but I haven't used that either!

 

[MAYNARDS99]

For the flights from Australia try Orbitz.com, Expedia.com and Travelocity.com, those are the big 3 here in the US.

For your flights within Florida use Southwest.com This well respected, low fare airline does not show up on the above general booking sites.

Don't forget to visit SeaWorld!

You can drive to Kennedy Space Center, maybe stay overnight there and visit the beaches?

Thank you for visiting the US!

 

[jnfr2424]

Try kayak.com as well

 

[Alexander]

I would not recommend using Travelocity, Orbitz or Expedia. You should book directly with the airline so if you need to make any changes, you can. If you book with these outside agencies, you will have to go through them for help, and they do not have good reputations for helping people.

Kayak is a great search engine. It will search the airlines, as well as the middle-man travel groups. You cannot book directly with Kayak, but they provide the links to the airlines.

Your best bet would probably be to find out what airlines serve your departure airport and check their sites individually.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I prefer to purchase directly from the airline sites, myself. I have had the best luck getting good fares directly, from both Southwest and AirTran here.

You might look on kayak.com - I think that compares fares from different airlines - I don't know if you can book there or not. Also, bing.com has a flight price predictor tool, but I haven't used that either!

I second Kayak.com. You don't book with them, they're a travel search engine. You click through to the price you like and purchase directly through the provider (that's how Kayak gets paid, like a comission - NO cost to the user).

 

[kaytieeldr]

Your best bet would probably be to find out what airlines serve your departure airport and check their sites individually.

Some examples:
United
V Australia
American
Qantas
Cathay Pacific

note: the above list is in approximate order by cost for a trip in March, and there's a BIG difference in fares!

 

[Alexander]

Qantas--wasn't that the only airline RainMan would consider flying? Whenever I see that airline name it brings back memories of the movie. Sorry, back to topic!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I agree - book directly with the airline.

 

[HappyFingers]

cool

hey thanks for all your advice

seaworld ?, ok no worries we will try and slot that in somewhere

i will try some of the suggestions listed above

one more question
would it be better to fly to las Angeles and then book a flight to miami once we get there ?

would this prove better as there may be some cheaper flights available to book once we are there

or

prebook everything

it seems its cheaper to fly to las angeles and then onto miami than it is to fly direct to that side of the country

and im talking by about a grand for a family of 4

cheers
all

 

[MAYNARDS99]

Oops!

The posters above are CORRECT.

Use the big 3 to research price and times, but book directly with the airlines. I forgot to add that.

Your price from Austalia to MCO should be better than overnighting at LAX. Unless you want to visit Los Angeles, San Diego or San Francisco too.