It pays to shop around for airline tickets
The Internet has made it very easy to search for the best deal on airfare. But you'd be wise to check more than one site before you buy that ticket.
Wall Street Journal travel writer Scott McCartney says while every site promises the best prices, there's actually "a wide variation" in the prices they find.
For a recent column, Who's the Fairest Fare of All, McCartney searched for a simple flight: a roundtrip from Phoenix to Philadelphia. He got eight "lowest" prices. Quotes ranged from $284 to $341.
McCartney priced 10 different domestic and international routes, using 14 different websites, and found "a wide range of fares."
McCartney says the lesson is clear: "It pays to shop around, since none of the sites turned out to be consistently cheaper than others."
Besides the airlines websites, check a few of the big travel sites that search fares from a variety of places, sites such as Kayak, Bing, Hipmunk, Mobissimo and Google. Each of these sites uses different ways to search fares.
And keep this in mind: the fares you're quoted could be misleading. McCartney says they sometimes show information that's out of date or flights that no longer have available seats.
Wall Street Journal travel writer Scott McCartney says while every site promises the best prices, there's actually "a wide variation" in the prices they find.
For a recent column, Who's the Fairest Fare of All, McCartney searched for a simple flight: a roundtrip from Phoenix to Philadelphia. He got eight "lowest" prices. Quotes ranged from $284 to $341.
McCartney priced 10 different domestic and international routes, using 14 different websites, and found "a wide range of fares."
McCartney says the lesson is clear: "It pays to shop around, since none of the sites turned out to be consistently cheaper than others."
Besides the airlines websites, check a few of the big travel sites that search fares from a variety of places, sites such as Kayak, Bing, Hipmunk, Mobissimo and Google. Each of these sites uses different ways to search fares.
And keep this in mind: the fares you're quoted could be misleading. McCartney says they sometimes show information that's out of date or flights that no longer have available seats.
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