Best site for researching flights ?

[uvasag]

Can someone suggest a good site for researching flights. Like a grid for lower rates if flying a day early or late, nearby airports prices etc. I swear I saw some site having all this but can't remember which one. Thanks.

[Shorex]

Matrix ITA. There is a learning curve to maximize effectiveness of this tool. Also keep in mind that some airlines, Southwest, for example, are not included in the searches. You do not purchase tickets from ITA, it is strictly a search tool.

 

You can search for round-trip, one way, or multi-city; limit the search to specific airlines or alliances; and more.

[Ashland]

Matrix ITA. There is a learning curve to maximize effectiveness of this tool. Also keep in mind that some airlines, Southwest, for example, are not included in the searches. You do not purchase tickets from ITA, it is strictly a search tool.

 

You can search for round-trip, one way, or multi-city; limit the search to specific airlines or alliances; and more.

Also Kayak & Yapta.

[Gardyloo]

Also Kayak & Yapta.

ITA is the engine behind Kayak.

[Ashland]

ITA is the engine behind Kayak.

Thanks for making that clear..not many of us are that tech savy ;)

[parody]

ITA is the engine behind Kayak.

 

Robert Birge, Kayak’s chief marketing officer, said today. “We currently utilize fare information from Amadeus, ITA, Travelfusion, airlines and online travel agencies.” http://skift.com/2014/02/06/kayak-renews-contract-with-googles-ita-software/

 

There is probably no single "best" site. The mantra is search, search, search. Different sites have options that they do well to distinguish them from competitors. Kayak is good in that it will at least display the possibility of Southwest flights. Most, if not all other search engines ignore this possibility.

[uvasag]

Thank you guys. Will keep searching :)

[Chairsin]

Yes, ITAMatrix is good but their mobile app does not let you research multi city options.

 

 

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[cruising cockroach]

Always check the airlines directly too. I was looking for fares to get home from South America to Canada OW. Of course, I had a preferred airline (for miles) but nothing was cheap, and certainly not in the pointy end of the plane. Looked at the preferred airline's website out on an alternative airport (in an alternative country) and found a readily-available BC fare for just $250 more than the economy fare and the same pricee as from port of embarkation in the back cabin, that didn't show up on Kayak and various other OTA sites even if one did specify that airline and class of service.

Edited August 16, 2014 by cruising cockroach

[slidergirl]

I always use a combination of ITA and the airlines' own websites. ITA will show some really esoteric routings that I find fun. It also is good to find unusual routings to try when I want an award flight.

I've been using ITA for a LOOOONG time - started back when it put up on the Internet to use us as beta testers for their software.

 

I don't mind that it doesn't show WN - don't use them, anyway;)

[parody]

You can find a comparison of major search sites here.

[FlyerTalker]

You can find a comparison of major search sites here.

When the latest "News" is from 2012 and a tip says "It's back! Some years ago the airlines did away with the rule requiring you to stay over a Saturday night in order to get the best fare, but as of 2008, now it's back. Many routes are once again cheaper if you fly back after a Saturday night. " -- well, I think this got thrown up, has commission links and basically sits and stays pretty dormant. The comparison page doesn't mention ITA or Expedia, and seems to focus on how hip and cool the features are, with Hipmunk as the new thing.

 

Meh.

[parody]

well, I think this got thrown up, has commission links and basically sits and stays pretty dormant. The comparison page doesn't mention ITA or Expedia, and seems to focus on how hip and cool the features are, with Hipmunk as the new thing.

 

Charitably, what I can surmise is that this comparison site wasn't meant to contain all possible airfare search sites as the list would be substantially longer. Also, since the results of an ITA search are included in Kayak and Expedia in Hipmunk, it was not necessary to include them separately. I suppose to keep this 100% current would require a full time job. While various sites have some unique display advantages, as alluded to earlier, one additional attractive feature of Hipmunk is that it also includes the results for other modes like Amtrak. Clearly, not useful for across the pond travel, but could be unique and useful for otherwise "short" trips.

[hubofhockey]

Yapta. Tracks prices regularly.

[dancinman66]

This also really depends on where the flight is from and to

 

Is use orbits

Edreams

Virgin

Etihad

Delta

Expedia

 

 

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[missypriss19]

I subscribe to airfarewatchdog com com. You can place your starting and ending points and the email you when new prices come up. And they have show most carriers including SW where others do not.