Booking flyts

smegballs · World Chat Champion Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Karma :

How do you go about booking flights?

I usually use skyscanner to get an idea of what will be best, then always go and book directly with the actual airline rather than using one of the 3rd party sellers.

Anyone got any good/bad stories or names to avoid?

RedPanda · Could Be A Chat Bot Joined: 07 Oct 2014 Karma :

I do the same although I make sure I delete my cookies before I book. That's saved me money a few times (and for trains).

Apparently Google have a similar website to Skyscanner but they receive enough of my business.
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CBF125 (2013) -> CBR600F (2001) -> 'Ninja' 300 (2014)

Ste · Not Work Safe Joined: 01 Sep 2002 Karma :

EasyJet

Everytime. Laughing

Suntan Sid · World Chat Champion Joined: 07 May 2009 Karma :

Lord Percy · World Chat Champion Joined: 03 Aug 2012 Karma :

Skyscanner seems to not be very accurate with the prices. My old flatmate swore by it but I could never find a good deal, with advertised prices always coming out different when I clicked through to see about actually buying.

I use Kayak. They have an app too. 99% of the time you pay exactly the price advertised.

Apparently if you clear cookies etc you get better deals as they can't tell you're revisiting the site.

The Artist · Super Spammer Joined: 06 Jan 2008 Karma :

https://www.google.co.uk/flights/

-Matt- · World Chat Champion Joined: 28 Apr 2013 Karma :

Where is it you're going to n' from if you don't mind saying?

Skyscanner can be useful i've found, particularly for getting a vague idea of busy/off-peak days with a lot of the airlines, but it doesn't always seem to be that accurate in terms of the ''cheapest offer''.

Its more time consuming, but running the same flights through specific websites often ends up showing there are quite a few cheaper return options for example, or even cheaper flights both ways sometimes - particularly if you're willing to do stop-overs or change multiple times on longer distance stuff. Sometimes half of those options done through airline websites don't seem to even show up through Skyscanner. It is definitely useful as a guide though either way.

Last minute type booking sites can be incredibly good value sometimes too if you're just looking for a generic ''get away'' sort of trip and don't have to make sure you get a certain location for certain dates, although there is always the risk you don't get a deal for anywhere and end up paying more than you might of booking earlier if you're determined to go somewhere regardless.

Chinaboy · World Chat Champion Joined: 13 Jan 2007 Karma :

I travel a lot for work and going home to Asia, I have found that a good company is Southall Travel, very competitive.