What website gives you the best airfares?
Wondering which Internet site gives you the best chance of finding the lowest fare? Associated Press reporter Anick Jesdanun compared the three big online travel agencies -– Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity –- to four travel search engines that check multiple sites at once. Those sites –- also called aggregators -– scour both travel and airline sites, and sometimes uncover Web specials and fares on low-cost airlines that the big three online agencies might miss. Once you're ready to book on an aggregator, those sites then take you to the website the fare was found on. Of those sites, Jesdanun looked at Yahoo's Farechase, Kayak, Mobissimo and Sidestep.
So what did Jesdanun find after putting the sites up against each other? “Yahoo appeared to give me the best fares most of the time — before I noticed it rounded prices down, making them appear $1 cheaper. Shame on Yahoo,” Jesdanun writes. “Factoring that in, Kayak.com most often had the best fare — six times — while Yahoo came up best — or tied — five times. Mobissimo was on top four times, and SideStep tied for first once.” The travel agency sites rarely had the lowest fare since they add a service fee (usually $5-$7), though Jesdanun writes that the “agencies' fares are only a few dollars pricier after the fees are added.” Even with the higher overall prices, Jesdanun adds online travel agencies should not be dismissed completely, noting that Orbitz turned up an Aer Lingus fare to Paris that was $423 cheaper than what the search engines found. One other advantage to the big three online agencies is that they have agents who can help you if something goes wrong with your travel plans. The aggregators will simply refer you to the site that sold you your tickets. If all that’s too much to sort through, there are still traditional travel agents out there who will do it all for you.
http://www.kayak.com/ http://www.sidestep.com/
Kayak and SideStep are now one company; we've merged. We're very excited about this because we can combine our strengths and create a better travel search product for you.
Whether you have been a Kayak or SideStep user, you will benefit from access to more comprehensive rates and availability data, a faster search, larger portfolio of products and services and an overall improved customer experience
Kayak and SideStep are a travel search engine. Which means we search hundreds of travel sites from all over the world, provide the information to you in an easy-to-use display and send you directly to the source to make your purchase. More than any other travel site, we help you find the perfect flight, hotel, cruise, or rental car. After all, what good are 1000 options when you can't find the flight you want? Once you make your choice, we link to the travel sites to make your purchase. Kayak allows you to choose which site to purchase from– through an online travel agency or consolidator such as Orbitz or Airfare.com. Kayak's search engine can find all kinds of travel products– from flights and hotels to rental cars and cruises.
Mobissimo is the ultimate travel search engine with a simple mission: improve the way people seek and discover travel information. The Mobissimo search engine performs real-time queries of the multiple websites that travelers traditionally check manually (plus dozens of others that are often overlooked). In a very short time, Mobissimo returns the most comprehensive travel search results available on the Web today. http://www.mobissimo.com/search_airfare.php
Mobissimo empowers customers to quickly find and book travel deals that suit their needs. With innovative industry leading technology, the most extensive coverage and selection of worldwide travel suppliers, and a proven business model that supports customers and suppliers alike, Mobissimo is uniquely positioned to deliver to its users a differentiated and superior travel buying experience.
Vayama.com is a first-of-its kind travel Web site that gives Americans a whole new world of choice in international air travel. Using the latest in web technologies, vayama offers a massive selection of airlines, flights and fares, many never previously available online, so you can find the lowest prices and best schedule options for all your international travel. Even though vayama is new, the company was founded by travel experts with decades of experience, and is backed by one of the largest travel organizations in the world. Our extensive background in the travel industry means you are buying from a reliable and trustworthy source. Simply put - if you buy your international travel from vayama, you will save money and find more flight options. http://www.vayama.com/jsp/home/home.jsp
Founded in May 2000, QIXO was the first to launch a webfare engine and quickly established itself as one of the leading webfare engines. Using advanced proprietary search and auto-booking technology QIXO has matured from an innovative technology company to become an experienced online travel agency. QIXO has maintained its technology focus and continues to develop high-end software products for travel industry professionals and businesses. QIXO's B2B business model has licensed its technology to over 700 online travel suppliers to empower their website, allowing them to provide seamless searching and booking on over 25 major airline and airfare aggregator websites. http://www.qixo.com/
Farecast, the site that tells you when to buy your airline tickets to get the best price.
