Traveling advice needed for those that fly often
 

I'm planning a ski trip in March to Jackson Hole Wyoming for a conference. It's been a few years since I booked a flight online and wanted to know what is the best means to date. A few questions:

1. Which search engine do most use (Expedia, Hotwire, Travelocity, ETC)?
2. Does one "do it all" or do you still need to try several?
3. Can you really save any money booking the hotel with the flight?
4. Any reason to use a travel agency these days?
5. Tips on getting the lowest fair. How long should you wait before you book.

Thanks,

Now, some posting etiquette:
 

Traveling advice needed for those that fly often.

Don't talk about where on the plane is the safest place to be in case a bomb go off.

LOL

I mostly use the Air Canada website since I travel frequently for business. But when I do need an alternative, I use Expedia. I find the sched that fits & then hit the airline's website to price check. Sometimes it is cheaper, sometimes not. So it is worth poking around.

Usually the further out you book, the cheaper the flight but not always.

I never buy flight/hotel deals but you might save. For hotels, I am loyal to the Hilton family but when I stray I just book on hotels.com. But again, I always check the hotel's own site because sometimes they are cheaper direct.

A good travel agent can sometimes save $s. Sometimes not. The deals they find are often carved in stone so you can't make any changes once booked.

Sorry for the vague response but that's my experience.

Ian

Any airlines that you flat out refuse to fly also. I'm sure eveyone has a horror story about every airline out there. US Airways (which is based out of Pittsburgh has a crappy history, even before landing the plane in the Hudson). I've got 100's of thousand of frequent flyer miles with them but they fly no where I need.

As you said, every airline has it's share of horrors. Yes, I have many, many stories. Avoid the cheap & dirty charter carriers. They don't care since they only carry one-timers to holiday destinations.

Ian

Actually, most airlines websites are the cheapest place to buy tickets. You dont have much choice going to Jackson anyway.

I usually hit travelocity, hotel.com, and expedia and compare prices.

Ask friends and co-workers if they know a good travel agent, I have heard of people getting smokin deals from professional full time travel agents.

I stress the professional part because it seems a lot of people are doing it as a side line biz and I seriously doubt they get the inside deals a full time pro would.

For me, because Houston is a Continental hub, Continental is usually the cheapest to many destinations. (I usually don't bother with Southwest). But I'll occasionally hit one or two of those other sites, travelocity, priceline, etc... to see if there's anyone very different. Usually the price at those sites is $5 or so higher than if you just bought direct from the airline on the airline's site.

There's no reason not to use a travel agent, but my experience has been that they buy the tickets the same way I would. So I usually cut out the middleman and do it myself. The nice part about that is that I get to pick my seat and make all of the arrangements exactly as I'd want them.

I'd suggest you check a site like www.kayak.com or www.airgorilla.com,

which will search all the other (travelocity,expedia,hotwire, etc.) AND the airlines' websites and then chart it out for you. Be thorough, though, because for example, kayak.com does not include Southwest.

Also try to get a good handle 'hub-wise." For example, if you're going to Jackson you probably need to stop in Denver, which is a Frontier and United hub, which probably means those airlines will have the cheaper fares to Jackson than Continental, for example.

March Ski Trip Jackson Hole...
Spring Break for many schools.

Good advise for airfare above.
Book NOW-You're leaving in 6-8 weeks for March trip

Go online and find a LOCAL ski resort specialist in Jackson Hole.
Local travel agents not familiar will just pick up a brochure and say "Sorry sold out"

GL
John_AZ

I have good luck with Orbitz

You need to check often. Fairs change on a daily basis, up, down, up, down, down up, up

Some say the best deals are usually posted on a Tuesday. I can't confirm that though.

Oh yeah, add I always check the airline's website.

And the deals travel agents get are usually on package deals... haven't used a travel agent myself in years but I know someone who got a great deal on a trip to Mexico with one.

Personally I am avoiding flying like the plague... I love flying but all the useless "security" bullcrap is too much for me to stomach anymore.:mad:

Another question: Why will they list the same routes, but have listing costing more and more with more lay overs and connections?? Why would someone rather travel to the same destination and make an extra 1 or 2 connections along with taking twice as long and pay sometime 3 times as much? Are they just trying to catch you napping?:(

Flying has become no more than a mild to medium form of abuse. The whole ritual is truly mind-numbing.

Ian

Where are you seeing this?

My experience is that direct fights are the most expensive and then the prices go down in correlation with the inconvenience i.e. more layovers and redeyes etc.

This happens to me at work, the bossman wants the lowest price and tries to stick me with some flight that stops all over the place... until I point out that will make my travel day over eight hours and I will have to charge him overtime. ;)

To get into Jackson you'll either be on United, Delta, or maybe Northwest. You can also book a flight into Idaho Falls (IDA). If the weather is OK the drive will take around an hour from IDA to Jackson.

It's been pretty foggy in that area lately so I'd try to get a flight that arrives mid day. The late night and early morning flights tend to get canceled if the fog reduces visibility too much.