Buying Airline Tickets Online?

Hawaiian Airlines is having fall specials right now.
http://www.hawaiianair.com/hawaii-travel-deals/

I use Bing Travel to search for fares.
http://www.bing.com/travel/

I shop the discounters to find the dates/ airlines and make comparisons and then I buy from the Airline's own website because the prices are the SAME! At least when I have looked.

I was a full time travel agent for 5 years and still book travel. Use Pleasantholidays.com. They have been doing business in hawaii for many years and have great negotiated rates. I just booked a family of 4 that air only would have been $648 per person. Got them air and car for 7 days at $500 (this it's during high season). You can book it directly on their website or with a travel agent. It should cost the same for the same dates, car, flight.
The TWO things that will make the biggest difference in saving money is 1. The season you go (summer until October is high season, Anytime around Christmas/NewYears is peak season) 2. Advance purchase, the further in advance you go the better. Also keep in mind weekend surcharges, usually around $20, if you fly out friday and come back saturday theres at least $40 right there!
Good luck!
Ps. Auto Club uses Pleasant as a preferred vendor so you should be able to get a similar deal on your own!

We choose through Orbitz.

Try Orbitz and also a travel agent. People don't use them any more - not sure why.

Darn. I just deleted several of these yesterday.
I think they are cheapair.com
Cheapflights.com
sherman travel.com
travelzoo.com
airfarewatchdog.com
http://www.cheapoair.com
Plus the airline websites.

EDIT/ADD: BTW, I just read the post where the lady thinks that if you use a discounter you will be bumped first or denied a room. Not true. Why? Too many lawyers out there. Why did someone else get bumped so her husband could have a room? Because he's a frequent flier/frequent stayer at that hotel. When I was a frequent stayer and had the platinum card, others would get bumped in favor of me. Why? Because the hotels are in business to make money. I stayed at their hotel 150+ nights a year. Some one that stays at their hotel 10 nights a year or less will always get bumped over someone that stays 150 nights a year, if the hotel has a choice. When I flew as part of my job, the airlines would up grade me to first class, before they would bump me. If I asked to be bumped I would be bumped first if they had anyone to bump. It all comes down to dollars and sense.

Hope you have a wonderful time. Good luck to you and yours.

We use http://www.jdpremium.com/9185/travel. It has consistently had the lowest fares of all the sites, and we have used them all.

I NEVER shop discounters. The people who go through the discounters are the first ones bumped.... air and hotels

I only deal directly with American and Southwest websites. You can get some wonderful deals on both of these airlines. You just have to look. Book well in advance and get a better deal. AA has some great specials going on now. My hubby flies to Houston once a month for business and I have him booked through December on Southwest for less than $100 round trip.

We work with the Hilton family of hotels. and I only go through the Hilton website. Again, you can get some great specials on company websites.

Also, when you find the hotel you want, call them directly. They can usually get you a better rate and it is not through a discounter.

True Story... hubby is a diamond member at He needed a room in LA and he stopped by the hotel he usually stayed at when there. He was told the rooms were booked, however, because he is diamond.... they have to make arrangements and he got a room. The man in line behind him booked this hotel through a discounter and hubby got this man's room. Hilton arranged for the discounter to go to another hotel in the area.

True Story.... my mom was visiting from AL and she was insistant on buying her ticket through Travelocity. Well, at the airport, the plane was full and they needed volunteers to give up seats. She was not asked if she would volunteer, she was told she would be put on another flight because??? discounter.

Deal directly with the airline and hotel and if you have issues you are more likely to be able to get them resolved.

Go cheap = Get cheap

itasoftware.com. It will search and compare across different airlines (does not include SouthWest). You need to go to the airline's site directly to purchase the tickets but you know what they cost and that you are getting the best deal.

I love Kayak.com to search -- they have a great matrix for looking at different time periods and they search all the airline and discount sites. Then I usually buy direct from the airline website, but depends on the airfare.

Generally, you'll find that Hawaiian Air is the cheapest, but also the most limited. From SFO they have 2 flights a day so if weather becomes an issue you could lose a day of vacation.

My parents fly several times a year (at least 5), and they always get their tickets through the airline. They usually fly American Airlines.

My parents told me there are several rules to getting their tickets cheap:
- book as far in advance as you can because the price is always cheaper
- don't fly on a weekend unless you must because the rates are almost always higher
-don't fly on holidays (or the day before/after) as those days always cost more
- compare prices at other airlines obviously
- only take one suitcase and a carry-on so there are no baggage fees

For hotels my parents usually stay free or get a huge discount because they stay at the same places all the time. When my husband & I stay at a hotel he always gets the room through the hotel website. He looks for specials or discounts because we've never had luck with those travel sites. We've been able to get rooms that were $200 a night for only $80 a night (and that was a room with a large jacuzzi and ocean view!). It helps to be able to book far in advance, just like the airline tickets. And call the hotel to see what sort of discounts they have. We've been surprised several times at what discounts they offer.

Good luck.

I always go directly through the airline. Sometimes my husband can get a corporate discount through his company, you may want to check into that, too.

i use bookingbuddy.com
you put your info in once and it gives you many choices of the different sites you can use from there.
good luck and have a great trip!

if you're doing a package(air + hotel, maybe car), i have found that expedia usually has the best rates - search dif days of the week too. usually tues/wed has the best rates. when i booked our trip to CA in march(we are going in 2 weeks), for the same package(same exact flight and hotel and car), the rates varied from $2000-$2900 at dif points that week. i just kept searching til it got low again and pulled the trigger then. good luck!

I buy airline tickets directly from the airline, that way if there is a problem or I need a change, it's easier to deal with. I also didn't find travelocity, orbitz or expedia to be cheaper than the airline. As for hotels and rental cars I go through my entertainment book at entertainment.com. When I went to Hawaii 2 years ago, I got a rental SUV for a week for $240, while that is what some people were paying that for 2 days. You may need to buy an entertainment book to use the website, but the books right now are $8.99 a piece. I usually save a ton on hotels as well. There is a hotel in Austin, TX that is usually $240-$280 a night and I got it for $150 a night on a weekend.

I always go directly to the airline and check out their availabilities......

I've used Expedia, but it's been like 2 years since I went anywhere.

I've heard good things about www.cheapair.com

priceline.com is what we use but other sites are hotwire, hotels, kayake (spelled wrong i think) expedia, orbits

If you have triple A, they have pretty cheap deals.

I like using kayak.com