I was just hoping to spend some time with my kids today and not be in front of the computer all day...and try to buy tickets online.<BR><BR>Also trying to cash in AMEX points and upgrade to business class. <BR><BR>What are the best sites to look? Thanks in advance!<BR><BR>

The three best sites to invetigate basic published fares are <BR><BR>www.expedia.com<BR>www.travelocity.com<BR> <BR>and<BR><BR>www.orbitz.com<BR><BR>Orbitz is more likely to have "web fares" that are (typically) lower than what the airlines will quote you over the phone.<BR><BR>But, on the flip side, this is one time when you would probably be better off if you DO talk to the airline(s) over the phone - - there are many promotions that do NOT allow upgrades, and depending on what you want to do (such as some tickets from rewards, and others as purchases with upgrades), the airline(s) might be the best place to get specific and accurate info on what you can and cannot do.<BR><BR>By AMEX "points", I assume that you mean Membership Rewards. There's a lot of info available on their website at http://home3.americanexpress.com/rewards/explore/explore.asp<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR><BR>

Mike here's another vote for Orbitz. They typically beat all the other websites in price or at least that's been my experience. <BR><BR>I believe that all their fares are upgradeable. I just bought tickets for Hawaii that I thought were real cheap ($550.00 each) for travel in May. I called American Americans first because we want to use our Citibank Miles to upgrade. The could not match the fare I got on Orbitz but the agent I spoke with said that all the fares on Orbitz are upgradeable. The problem was finding flights that still had upgrades available. I did that first with the AA agent, then booked the flights on Orbitz, called AA back with the Orbitz Record Locator and then they booked the space for the upgrade. Sounds like a pain but that's what ya gotta do for a cheap fare. <BR><BR>Good luck!

The lowest prices I have found are at TravelTeam.com and Blueskytravelinc.com.<BR>They beat Orbitz by $200 for a trip to Italy.I find Travelocity and Expedia a little on the high side also.

I usually run a cocktail of online fare searches as no single site is consistently cheapest in my experience. I start by opening Sidestep which compares many different airline sites for published and web-only deals. Within Sidestep, I run Orbitz. Then I adjust dates if I'm flexible and run Qixo and Farechase. If I need to stay &gt;30 days, I will check consolidators one-by-one. Travelocity and Expedia sometimes have good deals, so I check them individually as well I rarely book through these site; instead once they point me to the best deal, I usually book directly from the airline's website to get mileage bonuses. And if I'm really serious, I'll get the absolute lowest available offer and then see if Priceline or Hotwire can do better--subtracting the value of miles foregone. Good luck.

Don,<BR><BR>It seems like you are the "world-famous" Don from www.eurotrip.com - - have you had a falling out there? (I notice that Eurotrip has now been acquired by another company called Wandrian). I cannot access the "Eurotrip Cheap Flight Forum" - - is something going on there? I also noticed that there have been a number of posts from "you" recently - - and none of them mention Eurotrip.<BR><BR>If you are not the Don I know from there - - and assuming that the Forum there gets back on track, it (and he) might well be the best source of info on bargains anywhere (though it is inherently haphazard on what routes have bargains on any given date).<BR>

Can anyone share experiences with economytravel.com? (travelselect) The site is really user friendly, but I don't know their track record. Thanks. J.

Definitely airlineconsolidator.com<BR>The cheapest fares to most destinations.

Mike,<BR><BR>Be sure to speak with the airlines before you buy to find out their policies regarding upgrades with points. Most will not upgrade a discounted ticket. Good Luck!