Just wondering if anyone has stumbled on any airfare "bargains"......Its going to be a spell before I get back over but I like to watch for unexpected bargains year around and they sometimes pop up during unexpected times. NWA ran a fare from Austin to Amsterdam back in late April and early May that was less than half the normal fare. It was out there only a day or so but lately everything looks to be high or higher (come to think of it thats the way I like to be)

I worte a script to search daily for bargins, not a single discounted airfare in the last 45 days has been offered.
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SAD.

I haven't noticed anything lately either. But it raises an interesting question -- where should one search?

Most people actually start their flite from a non-hub city (Omaha, say, or Birmingham whether it is AL or UK). If you use most search engines, such as Kayak.com or travelocity.com, you will be directed onto the usual airlines. These searches leave out smaller airlines like Czech Air or SAS since they don't tie in to the others as well. So you might miss a good deal.

Another limitation is that most of the search engines require a US departure or destination, so it skips Canadian or Mexican airlines. This is a big loss, since a Cdn outfit called Zip has offered some awesome fares this year.

So, my question is, where should one search? How do you guys conduct an airline-fare search? Maxx mentioned that he wrote a script -- how does it run, and what does it check out exactly?

My fave is kayak.com, but maybe there is a better approach ???

I have used "sidestep" which is actually owned by kayak...I have always had good results.

Search with Kayak or sites like Sidestep, then book the flights using the airlines website. The change fees are much less expensive and more flexible then the search/booking sites.

Thing is, from June 15th to August 25th (or so), it's the peak travel time of the year. Planes are full without discounts, and sometimes I think people are flying now more because they're afraid of future fuel price rises. I've just come back from a week touring Scandinavia and the planes were always packed.

I've found that there's often good fares around the last few days of August to the first week of September - sometimes it can drop in half.

And yes - the pickings in Sweden, Finland and Norway were good. No pros needed - the bars are full of women sick of the football on TV.. :)

Try;

www.mobissimo.com
www.vayama.com
www.globester.com

I've been watching airfares since January for my upcoming trip. Glad I bought when I did, prices have gone up over $120 for the same flight in less than 1 month! Hope they don't start charging for sitting down, using the bathroom, or breathing to make up for a loss on fuel costs....

HW

Hi Harvey...

Another consequence of the " fuel fiasco " will be the cancellation of routes, both existing and proposed.

I have seen this happen the last couple of weeks here in the USA...

SAS had announced a Copenhagen-San Francisco route, which is now scrapped

Continental will announce domestic route cuts( mostly from Houston/ Cleveland ) in the coming days..

New York metro flyers- you will see Continental pulling out of the Amsterdam market soon..that is MY prediction...that only leaves us with Northwest... UGGH

What happens then ?? Less seats=higher prices for those seats...

Best Regards


Smuler