annieladd

I'm looking for a flight from mci to pisa, returning florence to mci in September. (mci=kc)

Everytime I pull it up on kayak.com, I come up with different prices and different flights. Is this normal? Do the prices and flights change every few minutes, or do certain flights just not show up everytime? Sometimes it seems the Delta flights don't come up...

Next question, do you use kayak just to review information, or if you find something you like, do you click on airfare.com or cheaptickets.com or wherever it directs you?

If you do click on one of the links, and make your reservation will it allow you to choose your seat?

Finally, are there pros and cons to going ahead and booking through the links, or should I go directly to the airline, or travel agent, or what???

Thanks, annieladd

J62

I use kayak only to view my options. For booking I go directly to the airline website.

Kayak searches UAL.com, AA.com, etc, so some of the links take you to there as well, depending on which airfare you choose.

irecommend

I think if Im reading this right you may be bringing the flights up by different criteria-price, nonstop, time etc. You can sort strictly by price usually.

annieladd

No, I've tried many times over the last several days pulling up the same thing, and I seem to get something different every time.

Operaman

So, if you find a great deal on Kayak book it. I have used them many times with no problems. As far as going directly to the airlines website; if the deal is from the airline Kayak provides a direct link to them, if it is through other providers there is also a link. Sometimes providers like airfare and cheapseat, etc. buy blocks of tickets and offer deals that you won't get directly from the airlines. Either way Kayak does not charge any fees and has been fine with me.

djkbooks

If the fare is exactly the same (along with the flight numbers and times) for a pair of flights, there may be several links - for example, Delta, Air France, Cheapfares.com, airfare.com

If the fares vary, each link will be listed seperately.

Note that there are typically many, many pages of results, not just one, which is why you may believe Delta flights don't always come up.

After all results are listed, if you're interested in Delta only, under Flights, click on Clear All, then check Delta.

I just tried this with our dates to Paris in September. At first, there were no Delta flights (on the first page), but when I clicked on Clear, then Delta, there's a long list.

However, if you find flights/prices you like, go to the Delta website.

Flights on Kayak available through Airfare.com, Cheaptickets, and Orbitz for $935 are $911 at the Delta website, for the dates I tested.

It's always better to book directly with the airline online than a third party air fare booking website, unless there is a really significant difference in price (and I haven't seen that lately).

JayZee

I love to use Kayak as a starting point but then I always go to the airline's web site to purchase. For travel within Europe I also check with Ryan Air & Easyjet.

sglass

I had the same Kayak experience- literally in the time it took me to go to the airline site to compare info, by the time I went back to Kayak it had already timed me out and I never saw that particular (fabulous!)combo of cities and price again! I tried again for three more days! On the other hand, thanks to their first creative city mix, I tried that again, myself, eventually, and for only about 100$ more than the original Kayak price I was able to book through the actual airline Website, armed with my Kayak "research"...seat choice isn't usually released until 90 days prior to departure (if that is the same for all of them) so it might depend on how early you are booking. I usually call the airlines after dealing with a consolidator to make sure they have the reservation in their system(s). One last thing- some of the connections they offered for the lowest prices seemed very, very short- so check those details carefully and consider airport size, time of year, etc. when deciding.

ira

Hi A,

For our upcoming trip, I found a fare at Kayak and then checked the price with the airlines.

In this case, it was $6 less to buy through the airline site.

In the past, I have found Kayak to be a couple of hundred $ less, and bought through them.

You have to check.

Yes, airline prices and availability change from hour to hour.

annieladd

Hi, Ira, and thanks everyone.

Getting from KC to most anywhere in Italy is difficult and expensive!!!

BobtheN suggested straight from JFK to Pisa, but finding a flight to JFK is a battle.

I'm still working on it. Thanks, annieladd

Christina

I use Kayak just for an easy check of fares, although I did go to airfare.com once to get more serious about one of them. I thought they always sent you to the site that had the fare listed, but haven't ever bought through them.

I think your listings are unusual, and maybe you are changing something in your query, or it's just the route and date you chose, as I've been checking 6-8 weeks for one particular route (haven't bought yet) on only a couple dates, and the results are never that different, it lists the same vendors, airlines and the prices aren't changing that much. They've never been different findings if I do it a short tiem apart.

amyb

"It's always better to book directly with the airline online than a third party air fare booking website, unless there is a really significant difference in price (and I haven't seen that lately)."

I was going to ask about this because I am seeing nearly $300 difference (less) through airfare.com which I found through Kayak for Rome/Milan open jaw in October/November. The only thing holding me back is when I check the same flight combinations through the airlines themselves (United and Lufthansa), I don't get the same fare at all, which makes me nervous. Is there any reason NOT to snag this if I can get it through airfare.com?

Christina

That's because airfare.com is a consolidator. So, it's not the same as booking through a regular travel agent or airline itself.

ira

Hi amy,

In case you don'r know, consolidators buy blocks of tickets at a large discount and then sell them at a small discount.

amyb

Thanks, Christina and Ira. I just checked the Airlines forum and based on what I read there, I'll keep waiting for another flight from a non-consolidator to come up in my price range. I don't want to take any chances.

hopscotch

I don't remember who it was here at Fodor's in whose post I first saw Kayak.com. Whoever, THANK YOU!

I used them in the past and just did it again for my daughter flying from LAX to MIL mid-July to mid-August. I've been shopping at Kayak.com for a few weeks. Prices are different every time I give it a try. This morning at 02h00 I hit on a flight plan for $1,245 from Orbitz. This was $300 to $400 lower than prices I had been getting, so I clicked.

She'll be going on AF through CDG and returning through LHR on Alitalia and AA.

Seat selection was only available on AA at this time. The initial flight is about 70 days from now but the AA return flight is about 100 days away. I guess that it's an AF/Alitalia thing that seats can't be assigned through Orbitz.

BTW, does anybody have experience getting NW FF miles from AF and Alitalia flights? TIA.

natc143

Prices change daily in my experience. Maybe more often!