Nowhere do bargains seem more prevalent than in travel, and the Internet provides an attractive way to find them.
Air fare wars, once occasional and off-season, have become virtually a permanent feature of travel marketing. As soon as one fare war ends, another seems to begin. Some are very short-lived, however, requiring that to get an advertised fare, you buy within a few days after it is announced. So to spread the word quickly to as many potential buyers as possible, the airlines and travel agencies are doing so on-line.
Pick just about any airline, visit its site on the World Wide Web (virtually all have them) and see what’s there. On a recent Sunday, for example, American Airlines (www.americanair.com), United (www.ual.com) and Northwest (www.nwa.com) were all advertising deep Coach discounts for those ready to buy. America West (www.americawest.com), meanwhile, offered discounts on a wide variety of First-class fares.
It can be very time-consuming, however, to surf airline sites for the best fares. Subscribers to America Online can check the “Bargain Box” in the Independent Traveler section (keyword IT). Updated daily, it includes just about every domestic air discount available anywhere, and many international ones too. The information comes largely from tips received from readers, who get bonus points toward AOL amenities if their tips are accepted. (I have written for other areas of the Independent Traveler.)
Several on-line travel agencies also are in the discount game. Preview Travel, Travelocity, Microsoft’s Expedia–all heralded the summer/fall wars, although they didn’t all ballyhoo the same airlines. On July 14, in fact, Preview said in one place on its site that tickets had to be purchased by the previous day; in another place it said the deadline at TWA and America West had been extended to July 18 but it did not mention that United’s had too. On July 14, Travelocity promoted the United sale while noting that it had expired July 11.
Sound confusing? Well, that’s largely what bargain-hunting on the Internet is about.
The major on-line travel agencies have all introduced tracking systems that supposedly keep you informed of lowest fares and fare changes on routes of your choice. For example:
– Preview’s Farefinder (www.previewtravel.com/Farefinder): You specify up to three potential departure cities and whether you want to fly to major domestic cities, international cities or “top vacation spots,” such as Acapulco, Grand Cayman or Palm Springs. “Unlike the low-fare listings in your Sunday paper, Farefinder displays only fares that are actually available,” Preview says. “And If you find a fare that you want to purchase,” Preview says, “you can go directly to our reservations system with just the click of a button!”
To test, I chose Philadelphia, Chicago and Dallas as my departure points for major domestic cities. Farefinder promptly produced a detailed chart of presumably lowest round-trip fares from the departure cities to 33 domestic destinations each. Farefinder said the fares were updated twice daily and were for round trips.
– Expedia’s Fare Tracker (www.expedia.msn.com): Once you have enrolled in Microsoft’s Expedia (which is free), you can sign up for the complimentary Fare Tracker service. You specify up to three trips you would like tracked, such as New York-London, Seattle-Miami and Chicago-Dallas. Each week Expedia will notify you by e-mail of the lowest fares on those routes.
– Travelocity Fare Watcher EMail (www.travelocity.com): This lets you specify up to five round trips you want watched. Travelocity promises to keep an eye on the fares and notify you by e-mail whenever a round trip increases or decreases by $25 or more.
– Internet Travel Network Low Fare Ticker (www.itn.com): You specify up to five destinations and the round-trip fare you’d be willing to pay. ITN promises to tell you by e-mail as often as you choose, from daily to once a month, about fares within your budget.
– 1Travel.com Airfare Savings ALERT! (www.1travel.com): This program of 1Travel.com, a discount agency, is far different from the other fare trackers. It specializes in the short-term specials that are posted weekly on their Web sites or e-mailed to subscribers by American Airlines, American TransAir, Canadian Air, Carnival Air, Continental, Northwest, TWA and US Airways and by Hilton, Hyatt, Inter-Continental, Radisson and Sheraton hotels. The program alerts subscribers by e-mail about where they can find the specials on-line.
Consolidators too
Some of the steepest air fare discounts are to be found not at the sites of airlines or general travel agencies, but from consolidators.
Consolidator tickets are a legal but sort of under-the-table passage that the airlines permit others to sell for them at reduced rates because otherwise the seats would probably go empty. They aren’t always the cheapest available seats, and they aren’t usually available for all flights on a specified route. Typically, however, they are great buys if they fit your itinerary. Understand their restrictions, however, and to protect yourself, it’s best to pay by credit card and to know with whom you’re dealing.
A major on-line link to consolidators is the Travel Information Software Systems (www.tiss.com and also reachable via Travelocity–see above). Another link is TravelHub (www.travelhub.com), and a third is 1Travel.com (see above).
1Travel.com is cautious, however: A message on its site says, “With the many special fares, (etc.) it is difficult for a computer to be creative enough to get you the best fare.” Therefore, it suggests that you submit a request by e-mail, with a reply expected within one business day, or resort to that primitive device, the telephone.
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Paul Grimes can be reached by e-mail at paulmark@aol.com)
