From meals to hotels to rental cars, the expenses of a vacation or business trip can add up quickly, and it usually begins with one of the more expensive purchases—airfare. Finding the best deal often means going from website to website, comparing tickets, but fortunately, there are now plenty of sites that can help.
- One of the most popular is kayak.com. The site, which recently merged with another comparison site, sidestep.com, includes hundreds of airlines and offers flexible dates, allowing buyers to see what ticket prices are around their departure date. In some cases, waiting another day or week can lower the price significantly. Kayak.com will also show if landing in a nearby airport instead of the first choice will lead to lower fares.
- One of the best tips to finding the lowest deals is to be flexible. Although many sites offer adjustable options, voyij.com takes it to a new level. Instead of just offering flexible dates, the site suggests cheaper locations that fit with your hobbies. For instance, if travelers want to take a beach vacation, voyij.com will show the cheapest flights to seaside destinations.
- Bing.com offers another tool to help find the lowest tickets—its travel site was created from the merger of MSN Travel and Farecast. On top of flexible searches, Bing features the “Price Predictor,” which monitors whether fares are rising or dropping, and advises travelers when to buy or wait.
- Yapta.com also searches for the cheapest flights, but takes it a step further. Often times, ticket prices fall after you have already booked your flight. In these situations, many airlines offer what is known as a “guaranteed fare,” which means they will offer travelers credit or vouchers in return. Yet few people check up on ticket prices after buying, and even fewer know about the offer. Yapta tracks these prices and will send alerts when you are eligible for the credit. iBi
