Using Online Tool to Find best flights at lowest fares

[Rodmanb294]

Go to.  https://www.seatguru.com.    Select cheap flights....   only round trip and one way appear to be options at this point....   if multi city (as in differeent port on debarcation) , just search for first trip to port of departure ....  under traveler. select number and class of travel..... select search.....     notice how multi city now appears....  complete search ....  and notice options along left hand margin....    This tools give you complete flexibility   and appears to be competitive with the cheap business class brokers....  

I used it to find. cheapest option to go. to Bangkok from NY and return from Bali in November... Will be flying Premium Economy on Singapore Airlines  ....

 

Have fun and let me know what you think....

[Zach1213]

I love punctuation but man...there's a lot of punctuation going on in that post.

 

Always keep in mind that who you buy from matters. If you're finding a ticket for drastically lower (or even somewhat lower) than the airline itself is selling, you're likely not getting the same ticket. You may be getting the same seat on the same flight, but the terms and conditions can be very different...and usually not in a good way.

 

Who did you actually end up buying your ticket through?

[FlyerTalker]

Note that SeatGuru is owned by TripAdvisor, which also owns Cruise Critic.  And just as TA takes your input and gives you hotel and other pricing, so does SeatGuru.  Nothing magical or special about it.

 

From Wikipedia, here is info on the various companies that TA owns:

 

TripAdvisor Media Group operates 25 travel brands including TripAdvisor, Airfarewatchdog,[8][9][10] BookingBuddy, Citymaps, Cruise Critic, Family Vacation Critic, FlipKey, GateGuru,[11] Holiday Lettings, Holiday Watchdog, Independent Traveler, Jetsetter, lafourchette,[12] Niumba, OneTime, SeatGuru, SmarterTravel, Tingo, TravelPod, Tripbod, VacationHomeRentals, Viator,[13] and VirtualTourist.[1]

 

it is amazing to me how folks believe that there is some secret wonderful one-click way to always get the "best" price without effort, research and diligence.

[Rodmanb294]

21 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

I love punctuation but man...there's a lot of punctuation going on in that post.

 

Always keep in mind that who you buy from matters. If you're finding a ticket for drastically lower (or even somewhat lower) than the airline itself is selling, you're likely not getting the same ticket. You may be getting the same seat on the same flight, but the terms and conditions can be very different...and usually not in a good way.

 

Who did you actually end up buying your ticket through?

 

21 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

I love punctuation but man...there's a lot of punctuation going on in that post.

 

Always keep in mind that who you buy from matters. If you're finding a ticket for drastically lower (or even somewhat lower) than the airline itself is selling, you're likely not getting the same ticket. You may be getting the same seat on the same flight, but the terms and conditions can be very different...and usually not in a good way.

 

Who did you actually end up buying your ticket through?

The tool allows you to  search multiple airlines at the same time... But of course you knew that...  It's a tool... Like any other tool, it can be helpful, but it cannot create the optimum solution without the assistance of someone with a brain.

[FlyerTalker]

2 hours ago, Rodmanb294 said:

The tool allows you to  search multiple airlines at the same time... But of course you knew that.

 

And it is far from the only, or the "best" for such searches.

 

But of course, you knew that.

 

 

On 7/9/2019 at 4:28 AM, Rodmanb294 said:

Have fun and let me know what you think....

 

 

Ho hum.....waste of time, IMHO.

 

 

[hallasm]

When I’m flying in ‘unknown territories’ I’m always using search engines to find what I think is ‘best airlines’ and ‘best itinerary’ - but usually ending up booking direct at the airline web.

[thinfool]

IMO, http://matrix.itasoftware.com is the best place to find a lot of fares.  You cannot buy tickets on this site but it is very helpful and seems to have no financial interest in your choices.

 

That said, there are low cost carriers like Southwest and others who do not participate in a site like that, so more effort is needed to truly find a 'best' price'.

Note, too, that todays 'best' price may be lower than yesterday's 'best' price.

[FlyerTalker]

3 hours ago, thinfool said:

Note, too, that todays 'best' price may be lower than yesterday's 'best' price.

 

And it may be higher.

 

And that might change back and forth over the course of a few hours or less.

[CruiseDigits]

On 7/11/2019 at 11:38 AM, thinfool said:

IMO, http://matrix.itasoftware.com is the best place to find a lot of fares.  You cannot buy tickets on this site but it is very helpful and seems to have no financial interest in your choices.

That is usually my starting point, especially the calendar feature when dates and/or departure cities are flexible.

 

As far a financial interest.... they're owned by Google so all of the search data has financial value, even if they don't make any money on the air ticket sale itself.  Click on the bottom of the page for their "Terms of Use Policy" and it takes you to the Google Terms of Service page.

[iancal]

On multi flight trips we  had different results on itmatrix and google air on a recent search.   Not certain why.  Google yielded the more accurate result.  Same flights....different pricing.  The third leg appeared to be the challenge. 

 

We use skyscanner for shorter flights.  Their results include most of the low cost discount carriers.  Good for flights in Europe and Asia.

Edited July 14, 2019 by iancal