Originally Posted by wanaflyforless

Use FareCompare to find out what routes to explore.

FareCompare is very useful in showing what routes have low fares published. FareCompare does not do a good job showing when/if the low fares that exits might be available (what dates have airlines made applicable inventory available).

So after using FareCompare to find out what routes might have interesting fares, then go to ITA software and do month long searches to find see if/when those fares might work for you.