Ok I've found an airfare to Europe on cheaptickets.com that I can live with for this summer. I've never used Cheaptickets before and would like to know if there are any red flags or something I should be careful about when booking with them. Also I have never used an e-ticket before(I assume this is what is issued) and wonder if I have to do anything differently than with a paper ticket. Thanks

I've used cheaptickets a few times through the years and have had no problems with them, and as far as e tickets-that's all I've ever used since the airlines began using them-years ago. I don't like paper tickets (which they still issue for tickets to Asia in some cases)

You don't have to do anything differently with an eticket, just print it off and take it to the airport with you.

Girlspytravel, I can breath easier now, Thanks for the heads up.

I've also had good luck with cheaptickets. They will email you if there are any changes in flight times.

Look through your Cheaptickets confirmation for the airline confirmation/itinerary number(s). Then, go to the airline's website and double check the dates, flight numbers, times. Usually, you can also pick your seats, if you haven't already.

Check again before departure as flight numbers and times could change.

I have bought tickets from cheaptickets.com for years now and there is some things to consider:

--Use cheaptickets.com only, and only if you can not get a similar fare directly from the airlines.

--Use cheaptickets.com only, and only if they are offering a more advantageous itinerary that involves using more than one airline.

-- there are carriers that are not associated with cheaptickets.com; check them out as well.

-- The new hot European travel trend these days is the expansion of European airlines in the US. DO NOT buy a ticket without checking their prices; eurofly.com, martinair.com, LTU.com, condor.com, flyglobespan.com. These guys are shaking up things pretty good this summer.

-- keep in mind that in the event of cancellation you will pay higher cancellation fees using cheaptickets.com. They will typically pass their airline cancellation fee to you on top of their own cancellation fee.

-- their customer service is nowhere near that of the average airline; much more involved to get hold of them. Expect to be on hold for a while.

That said, I keep checking them because they frequently do offer good deals, mind you, not all are, you need to weed out their rates very carefully.

Thank you for that very detailed post with links, V. I got an amazing deal on our flights to Munich next month with Cheaptickets. I tried the airline site and many, many more and could not find this deal. It stayed low for about a week, then they all jumped up. I'm singing their praises!

ditto djk.

I bid for a ticket on cheaptickets, but by the time the sale went through, that rate was no longer available. They refunded the charge that I had approved to my credit card within 24 hours, a sign of good business practice to me. I have used them other times with no problems, as well as other services online.
With the e-ticket many airports allow you a rapid check-in without waiting on the line or have a self check-in booth. Ask an aiport personnel when you get there. You can confirm your return flight and print your eticket during your trip. Most hotels will help you out if you out if you don't find an internet cafe or are unsure how to do it.

They do not issue etickets for Europe. Mine arrived via certuified mail. You cannot check in for an international flight at a ticket kiosk, I'm 99% sure.

When I purchased Boston/Paris tickets several years ago on Cheaptickets (because they were $150 less than the same flights with Air France), the tickets were e-tickets. But, perhaps it depends on the airline.

bookmark

I've used cheaptickets twice for trips to Italy, and they certainly do issue etickets.

Yes, SusanP is right, Linda-I know one of my international tickets in the last few years was cheaptickets-and it was an eticket-if you go on their website to "customer service" they tell you they issue etickets.

Okay,for the etickets, do you have the kiosk option? I always understood that for international flights, you had to check in at the sesk and show pasport. Anyone?

I assume you are aware that the advertised price on cheaptickets is far less than the actual cost by the time you run the ticket through for purchase and have all the fees and taxes added on. I am used to some add-ons, but cheaptickets added on far more to their listed price than others. Twice I thought I had found a major deal, but when all the fees were added on, the fare wasn't any better than several other companies or the airlines themselves. PJK

This is penance for the last post I made. I went to cheaptickets to check my own ticket I am about to buy, and their layout is similar to most, i.e. appears to show the full price with the initial search. I think I must be mixing them up with some other company. This spring, I thought I had a $299 ticket to Paris. That is what the search initially pulled up. My daughter and I were "on a roll" until we began to punch the purchase through, and the total ticket was about $500. Still not a bad deal, but not the steal we thought we had. (And we have found a $299 ticket before so we were not totally crazy to think that was possible.) Sorry for the caution that may not be fair to cheaptickets. PJK

I ignore all websites that don't include all taxes and fees in the search results. (Except for 1800flyeurope)

Thanks for all the updates. I will be very mindful of Cheaptickets.com and will check the other sites mentioned. I usually start with sidestep.com and kayak.com and go from there. It's just hard to find any acceptable fares for August from FL on an open jaw. (MCO to LGW, CDG to MCO)

I've never found a fare on 1800flyeurope that was better than I found on the airline websites or some other airfare search engine. I have found the cheapest fare from time to time on cheaptickets.