Dec 4, 14, 4:06 pm
Last edit by: CDKing
Here is a list of sites that may be helpful in booking that next trip. Please also visit the Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies forum for advice on these and many more obscure booking agencies and some discussion on how to use these sites to your benefit. These are the sites that most people on Flyertalk use to check for good fares; there are no "secrets" or other sites which will do any better for the usual traveler.
Online Travel Agencies
They will sell you tickets directly. Most of these fares are available directly on the airlines website. If you want to cut out the middle man, use these sites to see what fares are out there and then plug in the same search directly on the airlines website to book direct.
Orbitz.com
Cheaptickets.com
CheapoAir.com
Expedia.com
Priceline.com
One feature of Priceline is you can name your own price. You pick the date and destination and bid on flights. The downside is sometimes the flights you get will not be the most convenient. They may also have reduced mileage earning or no mileage earning so be aware. You will also not know who the airline is until booking is complete. They also allow you to search published fares. Please also see The Priceline Bidding Primer on flyertalk
Hotwire.com
Aggregators
They will search multiple sites so you don't have to
Kayak.com
Kayak searches many well known and unknown OTA's (online travel agencies). They also seem to have introduced a travel hacker fare which combines multiple tickets. Be aware those can be risky as you are not protected on a later flight should the first flight be delayed.
Google Flights
Don't know where you want to go? They offer a map based search where you enter your origin and some dates and the map will be populated with fares that are available.
Route Happy
Search for flights and displays results by a Happiness factor score. It rates flights by amenities offered, length of travel or number of connectons. They also have the ability to search for cheapest, less travel time etc. This site will push you to the airline site or to an OTA (online travel agency) to complete the booking.
Southwest Air
Southwest air flights are available on the web only through https://www.southwest.com/ and may offer good alternatives for you, so check them as well as the sites mentioned above.
Online Travel Agencies
They will sell you tickets directly. Most of these fares are available directly on the airlines website. If you want to cut out the middle man, use these sites to see what fares are out there and then plug in the same search directly on the airlines website to book direct.
Orbitz.com
Cheaptickets.com
CheapoAir.com
Expedia.com
Priceline.com
One feature of Priceline is you can name your own price. You pick the date and destination and bid on flights. The downside is sometimes the flights you get will not be the most convenient. They may also have reduced mileage earning or no mileage earning so be aware. You will also not know who the airline is until booking is complete. They also allow you to search published fares. Please also see The Priceline Bidding Primer on flyertalk
Hotwire.com
Aggregators
They will search multiple sites so you don't have to
Kayak.com
Kayak searches many well known and unknown OTA's (online travel agencies). They also seem to have introduced a travel hacker fare which combines multiple tickets. Be aware those can be risky as you are not protected on a later flight should the first flight be delayed.
Google Flights
Don't know where you want to go? They offer a map based search where you enter your origin and some dates and the map will be populated with fares that are available.
Route Happy
Search for flights and displays results by a Happiness factor score. It rates flights by amenities offered, length of travel or number of connectons. They also have the ability to search for cheapest, less travel time etc. This site will push you to the airline site or to an OTA (online travel agency) to complete the booking.
Southwest Air
Southwest air flights are available on the web only through https://www.southwest.com/ and may offer good alternatives for you, so check them as well as the sites mentioned above.
Need to book a trip? A list of Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and Aggregators
Dec 4, 14, 4:03 pm
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
Need to book a trip? A list of Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and Aggregators
Since it seems we get a lot of visitors who want to know where to book airfare. It would be nice to put together a list of some of the major OTA's (Online Travel Agencies) and Aggregators (search engines) some of the perks they offer. The Wiki can be updated by any members with 90 posts and 90 days of membership.
This will not be able to cover even a portion of what's out there. Please also visit the Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies which has some good threads on how to use these sites to your benefit.
This will not be able to cover even a portion of what's out there. Please also visit the Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies which has some good threads on how to use these sites to your benefit.
Last edited by CDKing; Dec 4, 14 at 4:21 pm
Dec 4, 14, 4:05 pm
#2
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Atherton, CA
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP; Owner, Green Bay Packers
Posts: 21,691
Since it seems we get a lot of visitors who want to know where to book airfare. It would be nice to put together a list of some of the major OTA's (Online Travel Agencies) and Aggregators (search engines) some of the perks they offer. The Wiki can be updated by any members with 90 posts and 90 days of membership.
This would probably be good as a "Sticky"
Last edited by aBroadAbroad; Mar 10, 15 at 9:41 pm Reason: cleanup for thread relocation
Jun 11, 15, 10:25 pm
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SGF
Programs: AS, AA, UA, AGR (former 75K, GLD, 1K, and S+), now an Elite Peon
Posts: 23,129
Some resources to consider analyzing and putting in the wiki:
Skyscanner
Skiplagged
Hipmunk
I haven't used the first two but they're ones that came to mind when a friend asked where he should look for cheap flights. The latter is more useful to me as a conduit to book fares found on ITA, but it has its uses for other purposes, too...
Skyscanner
Skiplagged
Hipmunk
I haven't used the first two but they're ones that came to mind when a friend asked where he should look for cheap flights. The latter is more useful to me as a conduit to book fares found on ITA, but it has its uses for other purposes, too...
Jun 22, 15, 11:33 am
#5
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 1
My advise....
There are a lot of OTA's and aggregators around the world.
The most well know are Booking.com, Expedia.com, Kayka.com.
However, often you can find better deals on specific niche location by searching local OTA's and aggregators.
When I was in South Asia a few years ago I used a lot the OTA AsiaRooms.com (I think they have now been bought out by another company.)
When I am in the UK I usually use http://Hotels-Fairy.com, they are a UK hotel price comparison website so you get rates and deals from UK hotels and B&B's that you don't usually find in the big OTA's like booking or Kayak.
On the other hand, when I want to book a flight in Europe or in Asia, Skyscanner.net seems to have the cheapest flights. However, you have to very careful with them when you book multiple flights as they are an aggregator and quite often prices tend to change when you go to the airline or travel agent website.
I hope this helps.
Regards
Nectarios
The most well know are Booking.com, Expedia.com, Kayka.com.
However, often you can find better deals on specific niche location by searching local OTA's and aggregators.
When I was in South Asia a few years ago I used a lot the OTA AsiaRooms.com (I think they have now been bought out by another company.)
When I am in the UK I usually use http://Hotels-Fairy.com, they are a UK hotel price comparison website so you get rates and deals from UK hotels and B&B's that you don't usually find in the big OTA's like booking or Kayak.
On the other hand, when I want to book a flight in Europe or in Asia, Skyscanner.net seems to have the cheapest flights. However, you have to very careful with them when you book multiple flights as they are an aggregator and quite often prices tend to change when you go to the airline or travel agent website.
I hope this helps.
Regards
Nectarios
