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Why I book my own airfare


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Our experience is that our choice always seems obvious. Usually based on price, itinerary, and to some degree on sched.

 

Our preference is always to book directly. Sometimes this is not possible because of price deltas. We generally have bags of pre cruise time so the concern of flight delays in not paramount to us. We view cruise air booking as very similar to third party consolidator booking.

 

But we have enjoyed substantial reductions in fare, not necessarily in fare code, by dealing with third parties. Last time we used Cheapo it was for two one way tickets Toronto-Istanbul on BA. Cheapo price for same seats was exactly half of anyone else. BA had great connections (well we dislike changing in LHR but the alternate fare to change elsewhere was double) and several flights for each departure point.

 

If you are fairly flexible travelers and do not have tight time constraints there are some very good fare opportunities out there-one way, open jaw, and return. We always try to ensure that where possible, we do not book on an airlines that has very few flights from either the originating location or where we change planes. If we are using a consolidator we want all connecting flights to be on the originating carrier.

 

We have been absolutely amazed at the low international fares over the past eight months. Some are lower than we saw four/five years ago. Not certain if it is fuel prices, less demand, or more capacity. But we certainly like it.

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We have been absolutely amazed at the low international fares over the past eight months. Some are lower than we saw four/five years ago. Not certain if it is fuel prices, less demand, or more capacity. But we certainly like it.

 

Competitive market pressures and a desire to maintain share. WOW and Norwegian have been the main drivers, but there are a ton of bargains out there for folks with flexible schedules.

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We live in Canada. We have never seen the low fares to Australia, points in SE Asia, China, and even Europe like we have over the past several months. To put it in perspective, it was less expensive for us to purchase open jaw tickets to Singapore/Manila than it was to buy a ticket to Canada's east coast. Same for Australia....we have seen fares in the $720 CAD range (now $600USD) range that included a stopover in LA.

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Competitive market pressures and a desire to maintain share. WOW and Norwegian have been the main drivers, but there are a ton of bargains out there for folks with flexible schedules.

 

WOW came into our market, and I really haven't seen much movement for next early summer to Europe. I keep tracking though, hoping for some movement on the non LCC carriers.

 

Actually, I've been interested in the Norwegian product for their Business (actually a PE product). But, I'd have to buy a separate ticket to Boston...and I loath buying unconnected flights. It would be a land trip...so if things go sideways we're not missing a ship waiting for the next flight in two days.

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WOW came into our market, and I really haven't seen much movement for next early summer to Europe. I keep tracking though, hoping for some movement on the non LCC carriers.

 

Nobody is discounting for flights 8 months out. It's shorter time-frame travel that is really getting the discounting. Also, summer remains a high demand season for TATL flights, especially to cruise ports. So think Econ 101.

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If saving money is the primary goal, another airline to watch is Finnish Air. They are part of oneworld, so US domestic flights will be on AA.

 

Finnish Air occasionally comes out with these crazy inexpensive fares that blows the market out. Those fares may entail painfully long layovers in Helsinki , but if cheap air is what you want consider them. Problem is, no rhyme or reason when those fares might appear, just poof there they are for three days and then gone.

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We book our air directly with the airline when it makes sense. Sometimes it does not.

 

On our last winter trip to SE Asia matrixit provided an option, including pricing and fare codes, which were very attractive to us in terms of price and sched ( 1 less layover). Priced at approx $1,000

 

I immediately called the airline. Provided the dates, flight times, even the fare codes as per the matrixit listing. The airline agent had inventory but their price was $1500. Tried expedia and I think travelocity. They flights either did not come up or came up at $1,500. Tried Orbitz as a last resort. Flights came up-same flights same fare codes, same airline, same everything with a price quote of $1,000. We bought. All of this was done within the space of 15 minutes.

 

Then, I looked at our credit card statement. The tickets were billed to our Visa account by the airline, not Orbitz. We were able to select our seats on line at time of purchase. We also went back into the airlines site and changed our seat location a few weeks later. Plus we did get our airline flight points credited to our respective accounts.

 

Just curious about matrixit, as I am not familiar with it. Is it a search engine like Skyscanner, kayak etc.

 

We too have always booked our own air but think it is always good to check different ways and details.

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matrixitasoftware is not a booking site.

 

It is really a site that lists all flight options and their respective costs. You get to view what I expect TA's view.

 

We use it to look at one ways, returns, and open jaw. It encompasses some, but not all, of the budget airlines in Europe and Asia.

 

We find it to be a very useful tool. What we especially like is the ability to put in a tentative date, an itinerary, and then get price and schedule options for departures within a month of that date for the same number of days of travel. We trypically use it when planning our extended trips. One other very useful (to us) feature is that it also lists fare codes for each flight option.

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Nobody is discounting for flights 8 months out. It's shorter time-frame travel that is really getting the discounting. Also, summer remains a high demand season for TATL flights, especially to cruise ports. So think Econ 101.

 

Still hoping for a flash sale like last year....I would suffer with another economy flight on DL for under $450 r/t.

Although I think last year's sale (in November, that had dates for those prices for May though Sept) had something to do with some other factor (either the election results causing a currency hedge issue or year end window dressing for financial statements).

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If saving money is the primary goal, another airline to watch is Finnish Air. They are part of oneworld, so US domestic flights will be on AA.

 

Finnish Air occasionally comes out with these crazy inexpensive fares that blows the market out. Those fares may entail painfully long layovers in Helsinki , but if cheap air is what you want consider them. Problem is, no rhyme or reason when those fares might appear, just poof there they are for three days and then gone.

 

I played that trump card once before...found a $600 r/t fare to Moscow a few years back. I was actually searching for a Brussels flight, but when Finnair hit with a good price, I tried a Moscow search, since it was so close and hit the same price. It was a long way to go for a short 5 night getaway trip and had some costly visas, but don't regret it.:)

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Flyertalker may know more details, but I don't know all the parameters with ita matrix. I remember one international routing that looked promising, but the airlines didn't show it. I called the major airlines and was told" we don't have a baggage agreement with the connecting airlines, meaning you'll have to claim baggage, pass through immigration and customs, recheck baggage, and pass back through security, all in 1 hour and 20 minutes. We don't consider it a legal connection ".

 

I don't know if I had pushed the issue whether the airlines might have issued the ticket. Wasn't anything I wanted to risk. Just saying we don't know all the parameters in their software. It is a great tool however and I use it frequently. I wonder if Orbitz would have issued that ticket?

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That has never happened to us. Though, we have tried to book an itmatrix routing, complete with fare codes with the airline only to be told that the routing is available but for $1500, not the $1050 listed on itmatrix. So, I immediately checked with Expedia and I think travelocity. The routing either did not come up or the price was $1500. Third try was Oribitz. The flights, the price, and the fare codes came up so we booked (first time using Orbitz). When I checked my credit card the fare had been processed by the airline.

 

We find itmatrix great for shopping, especially when there are several cities to choose from. Two years ago we managed to get a flight to Athens, a one way from Crete to Paris, and a flight home all for the same price as an Athens return ticket. It made our travel time more effective, we got a very nice weekend in Paris, and we saved a few bucks on the airfare simply by spending the time and effort to shop.

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That has never happened to us. Though, we have tried to book an itmatrix routing, complete with fare codes with the airline only to be told that the routing is available but for $1500, not the $1050 listed on itmatrix. So, I immediately checked with Expedia and I think travelocity. The routing either did not come up or the price was $1500. Third try was Oribitz. The flights, the price, and the fare codes came up so we booked (first time using Orbitz). When I checked my credit card the fare had been processed by the airline.

 

We find itmatrix great for shopping, especially when there are several cities to choose from. Two years ago we managed to get a flight to Athens, a one way from Crete to Paris, and a flight home all for the same price as an Athens return ticket. It made our travel time more effective, we got a very nice weekend in Paris, and we saved a few bucks on the airfare simply by spending the time and effort to shop.

 

You can try bookwithmatrix dot com. I have not used it, only tested it, but it appears to allow you to book anything that pops up.

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Flyertalker may know more details, but I don't know all the parameters with ita matrix. I remember one international routing that looked promising, but the airlines didn't show it. I called the major airlines and was told" we don't have a baggage agreement with the connecting airlines, meaning you'll have to claim baggage, pass through immigration and customs, recheck baggage, and pass back through security, all in 1 hour and 20 minutes. We don't consider it a legal connection ".

 

I don't know if I had pushed the issue whether the airlines might have issued the ticket. Wasn't anything I wanted to risk. Just saying we don't know all the parameters in their software. It is a great tool however and I use it frequently. I wonder if Orbitz would have issued that ticket?

 

ITA matrix (and somewhat Google flights which now owns ITA matrix) allows you to see what flights are available. You will see lots of flights listed but then you see " operated by x airline", it is offered under different airlines because of the alliances. This is called code sharing. Still it is one flight -- operated with the rules and the food and service culture of that airline. I study the flights that are available and the prices and then see what can be put together to suit me. Never get perfect but I get the best for me. For instance, I will pay more money not to fly with grumpy hubby on a night flight -- he hates them. Sometimes with ITA I find a nearby airport that has better times or price. You can see that certain airports have higher costs (landing costs -- taxes/fees section) When I have worked out what seems to be my best flights, I go to the airline site and work out my booking. Yes sometimes it is not what ITA said for lots of reasons but it does identify "possibles". I like to buy my tickets from the provider. You have much less chance of being bumped or denied boarding if you are THEIR customer and a member of their loyalty club. I can't imagine taking what cruise air just gives me when I pay them extra fee. I have full confidence that I get a better price than cruise air almost every time. Every time it is what I chose as the best of the offerings for that flight and that set of circumstances.

 

y

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ITA matrix (and somewhat Google flights which now owns ITA matrix) allows you to see what flights are available. You will see lots of flights listed but then you see " operated by x airline", it is offered under different airlines because of the alliances. This is called code sharing. Still it is one flight -- operated with the rules and the food and service culture of that airline. I study the flights that are available and the prices and then see what can be put together to suit me. Never get perfect but I get the best for me. For instance, I will pay more money not to fly with grumpy hubby on a night flight -- he hates them. Sometimes with ITA I find a nearby airport that has better times or price. You can see that certain airports have higher costs (landing costs -- taxes/fees section) When I have worked out what seems to be my best flights, I go to the airline site and work out my booking. Yes sometimes it is not what ITA said for lots of reasons but it does identify "possibles". I like to buy my tickets from the provider. You have much less chance of being bumped or denied boarding if you are THEIR customer and a member of their loyalty club. I can't imagine taking what cruise air just gives me when I pay them extra fee. I have full confidence that I get a better price than cruise air almost every time. Every time it is what I chose as the best of the offerings for that flight and that set of circumstances.

 

y

 

I am not a fan of Air2Sea (the Royal Caribbean family's air agency), but for last year's transatlantic cruise we found one way business class tickets to Brussels for $2k less per person than we would have paid booking directly with the airline. There was a $25pp booking fee, as I recall, but that wasn't even a rounding error given that price difference. I had no trouble booking the flight, other than some ESL communication issues with the phone agent.

 

There was also no issue with booking to Brussels when our cruise departed from Copenhagen. We worked our way up there by train and plane (booked that segment on our own).

 

However, I've not found that Air2Sea is competitive for a "normal" round trip flight, whether domestic or international, so in those cases I book directly.

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one way are a whole subset of ticketing skills. I have solved that over the years by several "tips" like booking with FF miles, purchasing FF miles on sale then turning into one way,using a multi city booking, using airlines that charge little or no extra for one way (domestically Jet Blue or Sothwest international Emirates Ethiad are good to check, Some buy one roundtrip for 2 cruises NOW that is a solution! Best one is always finding a super deal and knowing it is good . Better to be lucky than good!

 

 

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