Online not ALWAYS the lowest
 

I am going to London from Raleigh in September. Orbitz- AA 874.00 Expedia - AA 878.00. Not to start a war here but my travel agent got the same flights for 658.00 inclusive of taxes and fees. Another example of why always to shop around.

Well, thanks for the reminder, Suzanne. It does indeed ALWAYS pay to shop around. And these days, I'd rather have a paper ticket than an e-ticket, which the on-line people charge cash-money for.<BR><BR>(You aren't a travel agent yourself, of course.)

No, not a travel agent. But from reading some of these posts I could be one for very little money. I'd love to work 2 jobs full time!

I've always found that booking online is the cheapest way to purchase airline tickets from my departure airport. I've always checked travel agents but they have always come in somewhat higher. I'm not sure of your departure airport, maybe at major airports you can get a cheaper rate thru travel agents but our airport isn't a major airport and you rarely get any deals. You are right, it's always best to shop around.

I always find my fares on expedia.com and then call my travel agent with the info. She gets me the same price and prints me up a paper ticket for my flights.<BR><BR>

Low fares are not governed by big or small airports...but by the airlines that service them. Consolidators have the lowest fares on NW, DL, CO and UA. Since consolidator space is purchased well in advance at a specific price sometimes the web can find even lower fares if seats are not filling up. In any case, I say go for the lowest, no matter who you buy from, and keep the $$ out of the airlines pockets. They seem to waste it anyway.