Booking your flights.

DebbieandJerry · May 12, 2008

We have "bid" on Priceline and actually got a fabulous deal a few years back. But, you need to know your market (hotel, location, etc.)

Great point..... the big downside for us .. because it is all about location to us..and close just sometimes isn't close enough

Joey, have to agree. "Close" doesnt' cut it. We, too, are specific on where we want to stay and when we want to travel. So the bidding on Priceline really isn't our style. It did fit for that particular trip because it wasn't a cruise.

As for cruising, we like to arrive at least one full day before sailing, sometimes even earlier. We don't like the "arrive in the city just hours before sailing". Tucson to anywhere doesn't leave many travel options. If you get bumped, you might be waiting an entire day before going out again.

hazelson · May 12, 2008

Interesting - I always check for the prices and routing too - most often it is cheaper to book through the airline but it just doesn't always work out. Will have to see once we actually decide it's time to book.

Longboysfan · May 14, 2008

I use them to price the flights, see which airline is best and then go to the airline website to buy the ticket, saving the service charge.

Same here - I use the airlines web site.

Almost all the time the price is lower - no extra $5 per added to book.

They are good for getting an idea what the cost to fly is.

Why I said almost - the Orbitz and Travelocity have a limited number of seats available to them.

If you look at the seating chart for a flight through Travelocity then through the airline there are more taken seats in Travelocity.

I found one time the price lowere - it was a contract mess up on their part. Save $50 per person.

The other 20 plus times I have used the airlines site - this was usually Continental or American.

hazelson · May 16, 2008

How about for booking hotels?

mercedes · May 30, 2008

I used hotels.com to book my hotels in London, Paris and Vienna back in 2005 and the service was great.

DebbieandJerry · May 30, 2008

Marcy and I have been "watching" the airline prices for our March 2009 cruise leaving San Diego. We have looked at the airline websites, Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia, etc. We have also used some of the fee alert sites.

Airfares are changing rapidly. It's scary. I'm guessing that booking flights xxx amount of months in advance will be a thing of the past. For instance, Southwest (which offers one of the best prices) only books 5 months in advance. Needless to say, if we were to wait until October to book on Southwest and their fee wasn't any better, we'd be gambling as to what the other airlines would cost.

So, we took the leap. We went directly to the airline websites (no extra service charges added on after I did all the comparisons). We booked United going to San Diego and US Air coming back. Overall, we saved about $20/per person by not booking a round trip. And, we were able to get flight times that better met our needs.

Here's what we figure: Between now and March, even if the airlines make changes, we still "win". We got a really good rate and no add on fees.

Now we need to find the same for the hotel.

JoeyandDavid · May 30, 2008

From Tuscon to San Diego I think I would consider leaving a couple days early and drive.... even with the hotel on the road you may come out with a bargain when you consider the aggravation factors involved..

hazelson · May 30, 2008

We have used hotels.com and it worked out well for us.

DebbieandJerry · May 31, 2008

From Tuscon to San Diego I think I would consider leaving a couple days early and drive.... even with the hotel on the road you may come out with a bargain when you consider the aggravation factors involved..

Joey, we did try and factor in the drive. It's not the length of time in the car, or the cost of gasoline. It's the cost of PARKING for the 16+ days that we will be gone that put us over the edge! So, we will be flying the friendly skies (oh that's a different airline all together.)

JoeyandDavid · May 31, 2008

From Tuscon to San Diego I think I would consider leaving a couple days early and drive.... even with the hotel on the road you may come out with a bargain when you consider the aggravation factors involved..

Joey, we did try and factor in the drive. It's not the length of time in the car, or the cost of gasoline. It's the cost of PARKING for the 16+ days that we will be gone that put us over the edge! So, we will be flying the friendly skies (oh that's a different airline all together.)