Cheap airfare search sites
 

I'm trying to find a website that searches for cheap airfares the way I want it to search. So far, I haven't found exactly what I want, but there seem to be so many search sites I thought I'd ask for suggestions before I continue surfing from one to another. Here's how I'd like to search:

1. I put in a departure city and an arrival city.
2. I put in a time window defined by the soonest I'd like to leave and the latest I'd like to be back home.
3. I do NOT define exactly when I want to leave and return within the window defined in #2. I want to find the cheapest fare for any duration within that window; ideally by being given the choice of "leave on these dates, return on these dates, for these fares".
4. THEN (this is the hard part, I think), I want the search engine to search every site it can find, all in one click from me. I do NOT want it merely to display a screen full of Expedia, Orbitz, and bunches of airlines' logos for me to click on, myself, one at a time!

Does anyone know of any site that at least comes close to the dream site I've described above?!

Thx.

www.itasoftware.com allows for a search up to a month but it will only display airlines, not travel sites and it's not a booking agent.

If nothing else it's always a great indicator of what you can expect to find, although sometimes you will find lower fares somewhere else. Just remember, it's not a booking site, so they don't compete with anybody. Their software is used by some of the major travel sites and airlines.

They don't display many of the LCC. They will only display airlines that use one of the Global Distribution Systems, or GDS.

For whatever reason, ITA has not found some fares (YVR-MEX) that I've been able to find directly on the Delta and Continental sites. No doubt there's some reason for it.

I like kayak.

www.kayak.com

I think it will only allow you to search flexible dates by a few days either side of your preferred departure, not a month at a time. It does link you to the other sites, and you have to click on them one at a time, but it displays the prices first and the details of the flight, so you only have to click on the link when you're ready to book the reservation.

I also like Kayak. These days I've gotten used to using it as my first stop to compare airfares and to get a sense for what they are like.

I'm not sure about the flexibility window feature you asked for though on Kayak. For me it's not such a big issue because my dates are not flexible. I usually have very definite dates when I need to travel.

You can check off comparison sites (eg. Priceline, Expedia) on Kayak if you don't want their windows to display while Kayak searches.

Kayak looks great! I just tried it for DH's trip (multi-city) in Nov, Dec, Jan. It does a great job of searching.

BUT I don't like their pricing! Kayak price for DH's complete trip is #3680. If I go directly to the airline and put in the flights, I get $2903.24. BIG difference. I realize Kayak isn't a booking site, but I'm concerned about the difference in price. What's up?

Carol

simpson check out travelation. I have never used them but they seem to have slightly lower fares than the airline directly.

Sarah
I just checked travelation. The initial price for the flights I'd like to get for myself looked good; but after fees and taxes were added on, it turned out to be not as good a deal as on the airline's own site. But thanks for the tip, in any case. I'll check this site and kayak in the future, I'm sure.
Carol

Thanks Carol, I could not get my lab top to the next screen beyond price without taxes. Good to know.

laptop

I have now booked two flights with Lessno.com. The first one was to heathrow out of Seattle and the other was Vancouver to Hawaii. I don't know that they are always lower but certainly there was a considerable savings on each of these flights.

Love Kayak.

I also like this site www.lottaworld2see.com (it's a franchise travel booking agency) for one feature I really appreciate: you can sheck available seating on any flights you're considering, BEFORE you select the flight - a bonus if you have particular wants or needs and would like to get a scope on it before going too far into the process.