Count me in as another one who discovered FlyerTalk through a web search for asaptickets.com, to find out if they were legit. What I read on this site satisfied me that they ARE legit, i.e. they sell usable plane tickets, even if they use deceptive advertising techniques. I am dismayed by the use of these techniques, but I need to save money even more, so I just gave them roughly $1300 worth of my business, for a simple round-trip ticket from ORD to IST at the absolute height of the high season. After spending several days exploring kayak.com, sidestep.com and various "discount" travel agents based in NYC and San Fran, I found that this was the best deal--not by a mile, but by about $50. I say OK, I'll take that $50 margin and run with it.

A similar service, with similarly narrow profit margins and Eastern European pedigree, appears to be atcostflights.com, which also uses the sneaky technique of "finding" fares in its database that aren't real fares, just so you'll call them. Then when you call, the fares they offer are very competitive, if not the absolute cheapest, available--but several hundred more than advertised...

I called atcostflights too, but didn't buy from them because the rate they quoted was a few dollars more than asaptickets. But I do want to share my experience that they both seem like real companies that provide a real service. agents are very hardworking, too. IF something goes terrible wrong at the airport in June, or on the return flight in August, I'll post about that. But for now, I'm satisfied.