Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SmarterTravel.com,
Priceline.com,
and
Opodo
(www.opodo.co.
uk). Meta-search sites (which find and then dir ect you to airline
and hotel websites for booking) include
SideStep.com
and
Kayak.
com—
the latter includes far es for budget carriers like jetB lue and
Spirit as w ell as major airlines.
Lastminute.com
is a gr eat source
for last-minute flights and getaways. In addition, most airlines offer
online-only fares that even their phone agents know nothing about.
British trav elers should check
Flights I nternational
(
&
0800/
018-7050;
www.flights-international.com) for deals on flights all
over the world.
• Keep an eye on local newspapers for
promotional specials
or
fare
wars,
when airlines lower prices on their popular r outes.
•
Consolidators,
also known as bucket shops, are wholesale brokers
in the airline ticket game. Consolidators buy deeply discounted
tickets (“distressed” inventories of unsold seats) fr om airlines and
sell them to online ticket agencies, trav el agents, tour operators,
corporations, and, to a lesser degree, the general public. Consolida-
tors advertise in S unday newspaper travel sections (often in small
ads with tiny type), both in the U.S. and the U.K. They can be
great sour ces for cheap international tickets. O n the do wnside,
bucket-shop tickets are often rigged with r estrictions, such as stiff
cancellation penalties (as high as 50%-75% of the ticket price).
And keep in mind that most of what y ou see advertised is of lim-
ited av ailability. S everal r eliable consolidators ar e worldwide and
available online.
STA Travel
(www .statravel.com) has been the
world's leading consolidator for students since purchasing Council
Travel, but its fares are competitive for travelers of all ages.
Flights.
com
(
&
201/541-3826;
www .flights.com) has ex cellent far es
worldwide, particularly to Europe. It also has “local” websites in 12
countries.
AirTicketsDirect
(
&
888/858-8884;
www .airtickets
direct.com) is based in Montreal and leverages the Canadian dollar
for low fares; it also books trips to places that U.S. trav
27
2
el agents
won't touch, such as Cuba.
• J oin
frequent-flier clubs.
Frequent-flier membership doesn't cost
a cent, but it does entitle you to free tickets or upgrades when you
amass the airline 's r equired number of fr equent-flier points. You
don't even have to fly to earn points;
frequent-flier credit cards
can earn you thousands of miles for doing your everyday shopping.
But keep in mind that awar d seats ar e limited, seats on popular
routes are hard to snag, and more and more major airlines are cut-
ting their expiration periods for mileage points—so check y our
airline's frequent-flier program so you don't lose your miles before
you use them.
Inside tip:
Award seats are offered almost a y ear in
