Nickname: jebworks

Review: Why is anyone surprised that airfares are going up during peak demand season and are fluctuating constantly? The same rules apply here as for any other commodity. Just watch how gasoline prices constantly change. That's the marketplace. Also, to find the absolute lowest price customers have to shop around, again, like for any other product. If you want convenience and easy booking one one site, you're likely going to pay more. Having worked in the tourism industry for years, I never cease to be amazed at how little travelers understand the rules of the market when it comes to travel.

Date reviewed: Apr 1, 2006 5:45 PM

Nickname: WaltIE

Review: I have tried to get the editor of our local newspaper to feature the "shopping bot" sites, but he is obviously too tied into the travel agent interests to do so. If you are able to plan well in advance or are open to optional vacation plans, it only takes a couple minutes a day to visit Bestfares.com (City Low fare finder) and Yahoo Travel (Dream Maps). For a specific destination use the "My Dates are Flexible" option in the regular Yahoo air travel menu. My most recent purchase was for a Labor Day Minneapolis-Alaska trip for under $300. Like many bargains, it was available for less than a day. I look every day except weekends.

Date reviewed: Apr 1, 2006 4:50 PM

Nickname: BenG

Review: When travelling for my company in Europe I need to compare flag carriers with budget airlines. Mobissimo http://exactresults.com is the only real option.

Date reviewed: Mar 31, 2006 6:54 AM

Nickname: qqn

Review: The advice in this article is excellent, except with respect to air+hotel packages from travel Web sites. Air+hotel package prices are generally quoted per-person, per night, with two-person minimum. Standalone hotel rates are quoted per room per night. With great hotel contract rates available from travel Web sites and periodic specials available from hotel chain Web sites, it's almost always cheaper to book your hotel room separately from your flight. Moreover, you have a better chance of being able to cancel or change your travel plans. The cancellation/change policies for air+hotel packages sold by the major travel Web sites are very unforgiving. Often you will lose the entire value of the package, when you could have made a normal (fully cancellable) hotel reservation and a normal ($100-$200 change fee) air reservation instead.

Date reviewed: Mar 31, 2006 2:31 AM

Nickname: Cortney

Review: I am researching ways to make family travel more affordable and easy. Could you direct me to a Web site(s) with this kind of information?

Date reviewed: Mar 31, 2006 2:01 AM

Nickname: Alcheese

Review: Get over it! Often, a hotel room costs more than a ticket to get you there!

Date reviewed: Mar 30, 2006 5:54 PM

Nickname: grewjac

Review: I don't know why Southwest and Jet Blue are called "low cost." When I tried to book from Los Angeles to Palm Beach, I got fares from $600 (Southwest) and over $1000 (JB), while the Continental site gave me a choice of flights that suited my schedule from $350 to $400, including meals at mealtime. Yeah, Southwest is good for short hops, but cross-country is a different thing.

Date reviewed: Mar 30, 2006 4:10 PM

Nickname: Dave

Review: Southwest has some fares that are even lower than their Internet specials. Sign up for "DING" and see those low fares.

Date reviewed: Mar 30, 2006 3:03 PM