Budget Travel - Trying to match my Sunday paper travel section...

Every Sunday, the travel section in my Sunday Paper includes a graphic showing lowest prices from LAS to various domestic and international cities.

Examples are (all round trip) Frankfurt for $320, Japan for $600, Dubai for $500 etc. The prices are always listed as "lowest published fare on major carriers for previous week."

Try as I may, I can never find anything CLOSE to these prices, using websites like Kayak.com and ITA.

Are there other sites I should be checking? Or is my newspaper neglecting some major fine print like "taxes not included, must fly cargo in a cat carrier, passenger must prove desire to fly by snorting asbestos prior to takeoff."

My guess is they're not including the taxes and junk fees, in which case they'd be doing their readers a real disservice.

A good way to cross-check is to get on farecompare.com, go to this page:

http://www.farecompare.com/maps/compareDestinations.html?departure=LAS

and mouse over the fare, as it'll give an estimate of the base fare and the taxes.

The tax/junk fee component of international fares has become really significant, and with many countries it's a double-whammy if the other country has high taxes as well. The UK and Australia are two that are bad about that.

My guess is they're not including the taxes and junk fees, in which case they'd be doing their readers a real disservice.


Thanks for the link... Haven't been able to actually buy any of these fares, but it gives me a good metric for judging prices.

"Doing their readers a real disservice," would be a good slogan for the Review Journal.

My guess is they're not including the taxes and junk fees, in which case they'd be doing their readers a real disservice.

A good way to cross-check is to get on farecompare.com, go to this page:

http://www.farecompare.com/maps/compareDestinations.html?departure=LAS

and mouse over the fare, as it'll give an estimate of the base fare and the taxes.

The tax/junk fee component of international fares has become really significant, and with many countries it's a double-whammy if the other country has high taxes as well. The UK and Australia are two that are bad about that.

that is the usual tactic to add extra $$ after.... just to offer a price lower than the competition... sunday paper always has flights for 1/2 the price of an agent.... until you call them that is...

I'm a big fan of newspapers, and I really hope they don't disappear. There's nothing like kicking back with a cup of coffee and the Sunday paper. The internet (hopefully) will never replace that.

That said, the "lowest fares" maps that some Sunday travel sections produce are a relic. One of the things the internet shines at is the ability for the average person to find the cheapest fares within seconds. Those airfare maps are outdated long before the Sunday travel section is distributed.

I'm a big fan of newspapers, and I really hope they don't disappear. There's nothing like kicking back with a cup of coffee and the Sunday paper. The internet (hopefully) will never replace that.



Too late. Get a Kindle.

Too late. Get a Kindle.

I still get a paper delivered to my front porch every morning. How am I "too late"?

I have never been able to get LVRJ advertised fares on my own. IIRC, Prestige Travel (AMEX) is the agency supplying the fares. Perhaps a visit to them is in order? Report your results!