Needing Help Finding Airline Tickets from Those Who Fly Often

Hi J.! I don't know if this helps but I have always had better prices through a travel agent. I was a frequent visitor to Seattle and the absolute best prices I discovered were when I would fly Sun Country into SeaTac and take the midnight Northwest flight home. I don't know if the schedules have changed in the last couple of years but for the 3 years that I traveled that route it worked out so well!
Happy traveling!

Try Kayak.com! It is a great website and it lists all the airlines fares so you do not have to search all over the internet.

try kayak.com first. Other sites to check out include: airfarewatchdog.com, TheTravelInsider.com, Farecast.com, and SeatGuru.com

Kayak.com is good for comparing. Cheaptickets can be good, but if you have specific timetables they aren't good because you don't know exactly what flights you're getting. I personally have been booking on expedia.com lately. Hotwire.com is also out there.

Based on an article I read in Bottomline magagzine a few months ago, it said for uncomplicated tickets (like yours) doing it yourself is cheaper than a travel agent.

Also, depending on which terminal you arrive at in Seattle, you will need to take a train to baggage claim. Seattle can be slow getting bags to baggage claim too (We used to live in Seattle and flew often).

I would suggest going thru the airlines directly. I know for us Allegient is the cheapest but they only go to select destinations. Good luck.

J. I have a distrib in my home bus. team- we do a different one, but she's also involved in a travel discount program.
You might want to try her, or I can hook you up if you want to email or call me.
Her website is ____@____.com I think.
Her phone number is ###-###-####
Her email is ____@____.com

My email is ____@____.com

About me- 47yo med. prof, wellness coach and mom of almost 7yo twin girls

This is the name of the travel agent I use...she's great. If you ahve enough time, she keeps and eye on flights and looks for the best deal for you...so YOU don't have to keep checking the online places, etc.

Champion Travel
(Cena is the agent)
###-###-####

the best days to fly are mon-wed because less people fly. As for a website I have always used www.kayak.com it searches all airlines for the lowest-highest prices. You can choose specific times if you need to as well.

The way to find the best deal is to do all of the suggestions you gave. Check the online sources like Orbitz, Cheaptickets, etc. first to get an idea of what is available price wise. Then contact a travel agent. Last winter when we had to find tickets to Costa Rica I searched online, found what I thought to be a really good deal, but then I called 2 travel agents. One of them found the same flight I had been looking for but it was $40 cheaper per ticket even after the travel agent fee. It just all depends, because the airlines offer different packages to the online sites and to agents and it depends what has sold out. The travel agent I used was Como Rose Travel. You also contact airlines directly through their own individual sites (or call them) and sometimes that is the best deal.

I travel frequently for work. I usually use Expedia. I know tickets are high right now, but I am sure they are going to keep going up. I would check consistently for a week or so to see if the prices change. Don't go through a travel agent, you would have to pay them a percentage. I hope this helps. Good luck on your trip.

Hi J.,
Just keep checking in with the sites you're already using. Also try Sidestep. It may not feel like it to you, but August is a long way away in "airline" terms. In fact, I saw a "blurb" on CNN recently about this very problem, and they recommended waiting a little bit because as the summer season starts to close, the airlines will most likely reduce fares. Hold out until about 4-6 weeks before travel time and then see what they can offer.
I'm traveling early July and started looking at fares in late April. I watched the fares fluctuate and then drop back down the last week of May and I got what I wanted to pay.
Good luck..and I apologize if my advice doesn't "pan out"..I feel getting decent airfares these days is a gamble!

Hi J.,
We have family in Seattle, so we've been a few times. Airfare can be quite expensive, but occasionally, they have a deal around $200 to $300. I would suggest you keep checking things like Travelocity and Orbitz for a few days and see if you can get a good price. I think both sites have a way to set up so that they email you when there is a fare pricing drop.

Good luck and have fun at the retreat.

K.

Try www.kayak.com. It is a site that searches all the other airfare sites. If you register (for free) you can do custom searches, like searching 3 days before and after the dates you put in to find the very cheapest day to fly, etc... I use it for all my travel. It's a bit cheaper because you actually buy the ticket from the airline, so there are no booking fees. If you have a lot of flexibility, and don't care what time your flight leaves, you can use PriceLine, make a bid on a ticket, and see if they accept it. My husband and I just did that for a rental car, and got a family-sized SUV for $25 a day. Hope this helps!

I look at kayak.com it takes prices from all those discount websites. You are able to choose your time of flight as well. good luck! And safe travels.

We used to live west of Seattle, and we flew back to the midwest to see family through MSP frequently. We found that most of the time our cheapest direct flights were through Sun Country. You can certainly fly other airlines--we've enjoyed Southwest--but I think Sun Country and Northwest are pretty much the two that fly MSP/SEA direct, and Sun Country definitely has better service, better seats, and better prices. Oh, and you fly the Humphrey Terminal, which I think is a million times easier. Occasionally, Northwest will have "area" deals--fly from this area to that--for cheap (we flew to SanFrancisco this spring for $120/person round trip) but your times have to be pretty flexible.

I buy all our airline tickets through Orbitz. I can always find the best price there. I just booked myself a ticket to New Orleans for $170.
Set up a profile on there and set your search, and check it often, and set it to send you alerts so you can get an e-mail when the best price comes up.

I would not contact a travel agent. When I have comparison shopped for flights, they are always the most expensive.

I have bought tickets off of Travelocity, and I have always gotten a good deal. That is my favorite website by far.

Midweek is always cheaper to fly, if you have the option. The more flexibility you have, the more you can save. This includes the time of your flights. (Of course, your savings may be lost if you have to pay for an extra night's hotel, so choose wisely.)

Are you flying out of Mpls/St. Paul Int'l? Go to their website and see what smaller, charter airlines fly out of there. We have gotten some really good deals ($99 one-way) but my husband bought the tickets and I don't remember what the airlines were.

Good luck!

I have used Cheaptickets.com a couple of times and it worked pretty well for me. I am pretty sure consulting a travel agent is free, so it never hurts to check into it. Also, the futher in advance you make the reservations the better. When it gets down to crunch time they know you NEED the tickets so they jack up the price. I didn't have any problem with cheaptickets and they linked me to a pretty reliable parking lot with coupons for a discount on parking. I prefer buying the tickets online then with an agent you can usually pick which seat you want on the flight by looking at a picture of the the seating arrangement. Good luck with your flight!! I hope this helps. I admire you for your volunteer work.

If you fly out on the 23rd and return home on Sept. 1 vs. Aug 30th you can get a much cheaper ticket. Northwest has a ticket for $365.

Sun Country has direct flights to Seattle and their prices are better than the huge airlines even with a layover! Plus, they have the best customer service, better in-flight food, and the HHH Terminal is easier to navigate with shorter lines and a more pleasant waiting area...

Go to their website directly to book your flight. You'll save money and have a more pleasant journey.

I have an online travel agency and it uses the same search engines that all the other companies use and offers great prices. It is www.ytb/jtarrer.com. Let me know if this works for you.

I my experience, I usually check out the sites that you've already mentioned, then go directly to the airline sites that have the best rates. You can usually find the same prices or even a little better without paying the third-party fees. Plus, that way you're backed by the airline itself. Good luck!