Buying airplane tickets, what's the cheapest route?

[phylodog]

I need to buy a plane ticket for my Son to come up from Houston for Christmas. I've typically used Continental because they fly from there to here non stop. He's turning 18 this month so he can handle a reasonable layover or connecting flight so I'm looking to save some money.

What's the best way to find cheap airline tickets?

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Ticket scalpers?

 

[mwg]

the prices can change from day to day. Keep checking every day until you get a good deal. good luck

 

[Landon]

Use Kayak to search multiple options at one.

 

[rockhopper46038]

I personally find kayak.com to be one of the best avenues for finding unrestricted tickets. Still pretty hard to beat Priceline.com if you have a lot of flexibility in your travel times.

 

[Yup!]

Kayak.com is useful at times. I've found that I use Kayak to see good fares, then book direct from the airline by calling their number, or online.

 

[Yup!]

3 Kayak.com responses in less than a minute....

 

[Classic]

Make sure when you are comparing that you have all the fees and extra expenses (luggage fees, etc.) factored in. Different airlines use different fee structures. Also try to fly at non-peak travel times/days.

 

[jsnowy]

Make sure when you are comparing that you have all the fees and extra expenses (luggage fees, etc.) factored in. Different airlines use different fee structures. Also try to fly at non-peak travel times/days.

Exactly. Most of the comparison websites (kayak, expedia, etc.) have a similar search engine and will return similar results. Many times I have found that Airtran has a low price, but it will obviously vary based on flight times, dates, and destinations. If dates are flexible it's not a bad idea to play with it a bit to see if a better deal is available.

 

[abnk]

Sometimes last day rates are great, but I doubt you want to gamble with your son's Christmas ticket. It's not so much where you buy from as it is when you buy. Lately, I've been checking with Kayak in the months prior to departure and when the price is right, I buy.

 

[jetmechG550]

With tiered price seating on most airlines these days the cheapest fare found through price line, expedia, etc might be the crappiest seat on the bird. I travel pretty frequently for work and most of our trips to reposition are booked last minute. We've found you're really best off going to airlines directly to get the best price. Coming from Houston, options are so so. Continental is the only direct. SWA you may have two other stops and of course it departs out of Hobby and George Bush. Frontier will take you through either Denver or Milwaukee which, IMO, is flying to far out of the way. Unfortunately getting to or from Indy sucks for options. Southwest, no bag fees for two bags, but no seat assignment and unless you pay their higher fares there's no A pass guarantee but you will pull one if you remember to check in at that 24 hour mark. Frontier, if you get classic or classic plus fares you get two bags included as well and classic plus gets you any seat choice, classic is anything but the first few rows which are $10 more if you want to pay. those fares on frontier also get you TV. It's been while since I've flown Continantel and I haven't paid attention to their fare structure. I've seen prices change within a couple hours but your best bet is to look at one of the "discount" sites to get an idea of what you might expect to pay and then book through the airline. Off peak, as mentioned, will always be best and when searching make sure you check the my travel dates are flexible box.

 

[Fenway]

kayak.com

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

As another said above:

Check out all the travel sites that you can...

THEN go to the specific airline's website where you can save a few bucks.

If he'll be coming into IND, which I presume that he is, you can go to the Indy Airport's website to see a list of all the airlines that service IND. Makes it easy to get to their respective websites that way.

Also: Southwest doesn't participate in any of the travel-related websites. Have to search them specifically.

-J-

 

[Htrailblazer]

I used to fly to and from Houston quite a bit. I always flew on southwest. Always out of houston hobby and usually had one stop flights in either atlanta or st. louis. I always looked for flights where I didnt have to change planes. And always check what kind of aircraft the flights are for. St. louis to houston on a turbo prop is no fun. Only made that mistake once. I used to have my favorite flight numbers memorized so I knew what to look for but I am sure they have changed now. Good luck and safe travels to your son.