Quick Airfare Q

[eyespy]

How much will plane ticket go up from now til Aug? Like right now I seem to get about 300 more for tickets, but people tell me it's because it's Jan and booking so far ahead costs more. So if I wait til April/May or something, what should the prices to fly from:

Toronto - London
Toronto - Berlin

Look like? Any ideas? Thanks.

[Kim]

Hard to say what they are going to be.

I'd wait on it for now and check it out say in February, cause often they don't have summer rates yet.

You should be able to fly into to London for a reasonable price, Berlin isn't usually as cheap from Toronto but you might stumble upon a sale.

If you are under 26, make sure to ask for youth fares.

Kim

[eyespy]

Should I talk to a travel agent? Or are the internet sites better deals? I'm hoping to keep airfare at 800 or below as the net sites give me roughly that (though most are confusing offers and maybe an agent would be best?) And I can fly out of Ottawa, Toronto or Montreal if that helps (you know which of the 3 is cheapest?)

I may also start and end in Vienna. Anyway, not that that matters lol.

Back to the first Q. Is a travel agent the best idea for finding deals? Thanks.

[Michelle]

Even though a lot of people are now doing all their travel arrangements online, I would tend to shy away from it. I'm a travel agent in BC, and my main reason for reccommending not to book on the net is that you may come across a site with a great fare, and let's say you purchase it, and your ticket never shows up. A lot of web-based companies are strictly web-based with no phone number you can call when something goes wrong. At least you know if you book through an agent, and if something goes wrong, you can speak to them.

But don't get me wrong, many people are totally comfortable booking online. Searching the web for prices and info is great, but a travel agent can help you get specifically what you want, answer all your questions and offer advice on what they think is the cheapest/best route to go.

Eyespy, I would reccommend calling a few travel agents around where you live and tell them what you are looking for. Don't be afraid to ask them questions, it's their job! They'll have a good idea if things may be going on sale, when you should book, and ultimately, they will help you find the best deal.

That's my two cents!!

~Michelle

[eyespy]

Ok great, thanks!

As if a few things have gone up in my budget (adding time for my girlfriend to come along at the end) and I would really like to keep airfare around what I expected.

I'll be sure to visit/phone a few agencies within a week or two just for some info and input on what they can do for me. I have a long while before I need to finalize, but I would like to know if the agents can do better than the web right away (The web site is Travelocity...everyone knows they are safe. Only prob is they are a little confusing with some of their flights)

[WillTravel]

Charter flights are often cheaper.

I'd look at Air Transat - www.airtransat.com - for flights from Toronto. The problem is, I'm not sure if their prices might decrease in price over the next few months. Their prices go up and down in no apparent pattern. The standard seat on Air Transat is miserable, but budget trumps that, for me. Air Transat goes to various European cities.

Most likely there will be a seat sale on Air Canada for YYZ-Europe flights in the next couple months, but no guarantees of course.

Two other charter options, but I think they might only fly to the UK, are Thomas Cook and Zoom. I recommend looking up Thomas Cook flights at www.thomascook.ca to help you find your flight. Note the price, and then see if you can beat that at www.canadianaffair.com. Zoom's web site is www.flyzoom.com.

In my case, I found a ticket for under $800 Canadian for dates I would really like to fly in June/July this summer. (YVR-LGW) on CanadianAffair.com. This is a very cheap fare for the height of summer. But I am resisting the urge at this point, until I know what my schedule will be like.

[LHR02]

eyespy....try 'sidestep' for comparison. It is a pop up program that will, well, pop up on the side if you are visiting a travel site like travelocity. And then will compare prices on most of the other travel sites for the route you are checking. Does the same for hotes and cars too. It is quite useful to quickly check the range of pricing out there. You have to download the program.....I've had it for months with no problems at all. Also, if you see a good price with say, Air Canada, on travelocity....be sure and head on over and check their own web site directly. Oftentimes they are running a sale of their own that the other big ones don't have access too. And for what it is worth, Orbitz beats travelocity about half the time for routes I check regularly.

[Cil]

dustoffmom said:

Oftentimes they are running a sale of their own that the other big ones don't have access too. And for what it is worth, Orbitz beats travelocity about half the time for routes I check regularly.

Travelocity, for me, is consistantly lower than Orbitz.
I think this may be because United Airlines, an Orbitz member, has my town, Denver, in a bit of a headlock.

It's true that some airlines will quietly have their own sale going on; when I ticketed on British Airways' sale back in November, the airfare sites, including both Orbitz and Travelocity, did not reflect this sale at all.

There is Hotwire:
www.hotwire.com

I know people who have used Hotwire with great success. You can get a really good fare. But you don't know which airline you are flying until after you purchase.

[Robs]

I had been checking the various sitses (travelocity, orbitz, etc) and had gone to Tavelcuts to see what they could get me..... And low and behold I wound up finding my best price at Air Canada! $50 cheaper than what TravelCuts was able to dredge up for me, and I won't be on a crappy Air Transat flight.

It's still worth while checking their (Air Canada, or other airlines) site regularly. The first time I looked I just about choked on the prices. For whatever reason I went back though, and found a sale! No other site that I checked that day (or the next) was able to beat the price. So....looks like I'm flyin' Air Canada for $649, Toronto - Amsterdam.

Good Luck with your search!

Robin

[WillTravel]

TravelCuts often does not give the cheapest fare for Air Transat. I don't know why. Neither does the Air Transat web site. You should still check those, and also check these sites:

www.selloffvacations.com
www.itravel2000.com

I think there are several other sites that also sell Air Transat tickets for varying prices. Of course if you get a better deal with Air Canada, take that for sure!