I get updates from Travelocity for our regular travel spots. I go there or Kayak to check prices on most major airlines but I always buy directly from the specific airline and book online. There's never a difference in price. But depending on your specific destinations, remember that not all airlines are linked up with the consolidated websites - like Jet Blue or Southwest and I'm sure others. You need to check their websites directly.

There's a great website, hipmunk.com, that lists ALL of the flights for a particular day from every airline. You can check prices, times, etc. I've used it several times to "sort," but then I generally book through the airline's website.

I've found that kayak.com always has the cheapest flights when I have been looking.

I usually check Kayak.com and Tripadvisor.com first. If Southwest flies from your area you need to check their website separately, as they don't list their fares on any of the the travel sites.

Thanks for the Kayak.com tip!

I just searched it and while their prices are the same as other sites I've checked, it gives a little (!) warning if the layover is shorter than 45 minutes or the flight doesn't have a good record for being on-time. Neat features.

Jennifer

Kayak.com doesn't actually sell the tickets. They just point you to who has the best deals on flights. I like that you can sort by shortest flights or price and you can also limit your searches to number of stops/layovers, etc. When you are ready to pucrchase you will be redirected to whatever site is offering that fare, sometimes it's the airline's own site, other times, it's a site like Travelocity, Expedia or Cheap Tickets.

Timely post, Golddust!!

I am going to book tickets tonight for DC to visit our DD over the holidays and I couldn't remember the kayak.com site name. Thank you.

In addition to Southwest, some of the other 'budget' airlines like Spirit and Jetblue also don't appear on the kayak, sidestep etc. sites. So those are worth checking separately as well in my experience.

I ALWAYS check Southwest first. I like the free baggage, their reputation for being on time and for not losing bags as much as other airlines do. I love the quality of caring I feel when I fly with them, too. You have to go to their website to find their prices, but I have them bookmarked on My Favorites, so that's not a big deal.
But . . . You had me wondering for a minute if you were, perhaps, heading to New Mexico for a trip. How cool would that be?!?
Lynn

Just booked a flight on Southwest to NY! They have a calendar that shows the daily flights and the prices! I was able to pick my flights based on the cheapest fares!

I found hipmunk.com better than kayak because it shows EVERY airline's flight for the day of travel. You can link to orbitz.com if you want to book through them, or just right to the airline's site.

Travelzoo....it's online and give you all the options to look at....

I use orbitz if I don't have the opportunity to book directly through the airline (ie there are several choices) but 99% of the time I just book through Alaska airlines. We have miles coming out the kazoo with them and almost always get an upgrade free. Me likie first class lol (not enough to pay for it though!).

igloo we've flown Alaska twice now to visit our son in WA and I love that airline!! Would have loved first class for that 4 hour flight but like you won't pay for it and it's gonna take a while to build up some miles.

I just went through a website today called onetravel.com and got great prices. Round-trip tickets from DC to Boston, four seats, for 521.00 including all taxes. Then got a rental car for the weekend for $90 for three days from the same website. For the whole three-day weekend, airfare and car rental for the four of us came to $593! (there was a $20 discount if you booked right away). This website combines airlines, so we are flying out on JetBlu and returning on United. I also just called them on the phone to get seating assignments and got them right away. I was very happy with this - I'll have to visit my family in Mass more often with these prices.