How do i go about pricing to fly...which sites?

[Camping Griswalds]

Please help. I am flying/booking challenged

 

[momsgoofy]

Here are some suggestions...most I've learned here at the DIS.

search engines....

www.mobissimo.com

www.kayak.com

www.onetime.com

I've never actually booked fares from these sites, but use it mostly as a tool to get an idea of the fares...then double check availbility with the airline on the phone.
Hints
Download Southwest Ding program to get great rates

Sign up for email notification of travel deals at airline sites....southwest, airtrans, independence air, and all the airlines you can. Also sign up for the email alerts at travelzoo.com

I have all the airline sites bookmarked, so I can check them from time to time...found a good fare on the American Airlines site, but flying on US Airways by clicking the "More Options" link when choosing dates for the flight...it opens up the option to check "All Carriers".

Check more than one airport. For example, I live 2 1/2 hours from St. Louis, 3 1/2 hours from Nashville, TN, and roughly 4 hours from Louisville, KY, Indianpolis, IN, and Bloomington, IL, and 2 hours from Evansville, IN so I check all those airports when I search fares...sometimes I can get a STL flight cheaper...or most times Nashville is cheaper...just depends on the time and flights.

Well, hope this helps. I've learned alot about checking airfares in the past year from the DIS boards...greatest source of info yet.

 

[Servants of Evan]

I do all my booking through either Travelocity.com for personal travel, or Expedia.com for corporate. With Travelocity, you can register (free) and then set up 5 different fare-watchers. They will automatically email you when an airfare either hits a certain price you've preset, or email you when an airfare goes up or down by $25. It's pretty simple if you need to check multiple departure locations or destinations.

Servants of Evan

 

[Disney Pal]

We have had great success with travelzoo.com they give you the top 5 airlines for tickets. Orbitz.com is also good.

Good Luck!

 

[blessedby3]

I say go to www.southwest.com and download the ding program. They will send out about 2 dings per day of special fares. You only have a certain amount of time that you can book them. You might get a ding at 10am and have to book by 3 or 4 pm to get the fare. It is very simple. Just check dings a few times a day to see if your city is there and the dates you need. We got $28 each way tickets on ding. With the taxes and fees it comes out to $74 round trip. I got 8 tickets from Raleigh to Orlando for $599. Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!! I checked the cheaptickets, expedia, etc. sites, but none can come anywhere close to meeting SWA prices. Good luck!!

 

[Rachie0507]

I have watched the airline sites directly. It gave me a good idea about what an average fare was. I also compared with expedia.com but booking directly with the airline was usually cheaper. I ended up booking with Song, who has since filed for bankruptcy but they are still flying. Here are the sites I used.

www.southwest.com
www.flysong.com
www.jetblue.com

I also watched several airports in my area to find out which was cheaper. The closest airport is over an hour away, and we have 4 around that distance from us.