julies

I have always found my best (read cheapest) fares by using the Travelocity Dream Map feature first & then often the flexible fare finder option. When I went to try it recently I kept getting a message that this wasn't available & to try the exact dates function. Assuming this was some kind of programming error, I e-mailed them. This is the response I got.

"We are sorry to inform you that the Best Fare Finder Path(Fare Watcher, Flexible dates option on the flight search page) will no longer support International Markets anymore. It was just a business
decision and we sincerely regret any inconvenience caused. This includes US-International, International-US, International-International, US-Mexico, Mexico-US routes.

We request you to continue your search for international fares using "Exact search" option on our advance search page. Please be assured that even when searching with this option, you have access to the best fares offered by the airlines."

What a bunch of you-know-what. Was the business decision perhaps due to the fact that people actually used this feature to find good fares? I e-mailed them back to let them know that I now would have no reason to use their site over any others because this function was the one feature that really set them apart from the rest of the bunch.

FainaAgain

No more fare watcher? This is BAD!!

Dukey

I'm not sure other engines have made the same "business decision" or have they?

tcreath

This is terrible! I have found several excellent deals to Europe by using the "flexible date" option. I am so dissapointed!

Eloise

You can find something similar to "flexible date" on www.farecompare.com.

It gives you 11 months of fares that you can break down into the weeks of each month and the days of each week.

A few of the airlines have "flexible dates." I seem to recall that British Airways and Swiss International do.

julies

Eloise--

Thanks so much for the link to farecompare.com. I checked it out & it seems a bit more cumbersome to use, but, on the otherhand, it offers lots more city combos than Travelocity did. I'll be bookmarking this site.

rex

topping for my future reference (to the farecompare.com website).

tcreath

Eloise, thanks for the link! I have never heard of farecompare but will certainly check it out.

Tracy

esm

Thanks Eloise for the useful link.

wojazz3

great site! thanks!

Bill

Flyboy

It looks like farecompare.com could prove to be a very useful tool. I was sorry to see Travelocity dropping its flexible fare finder option since it was something that was very handy for quick checks.

julies

Latest update from Travelocity. Here is their resonse to my follow-up e-mail to them.

"We can understand your concern regarding this matter. However, we would like to inform you that when
you select the 'Flexible Dates' method, all published ( discounted) fares are displayed. These
published fares are no longer available for international sector and hence this feature is no longer
supports International Markets. Hence, while booking international reservations, we request that you
choose 'Exact dates only' or '+/- 1 to 3 days Flexible method search options."

Are they trying to say that for their site these fares are no longer available, or that this feature is not available anywhere on any site for the international sector?

derekflint

I don't understand this - the ability to search international flights on flexible dates was the main reason for preferring Travelocity over its competitors, at least for me.

ITA software will still search over a specified month long period for international flights. It doesn't show a map, but it does have a nice grid interface for choosing flights - easier, I think, than Travelocity ever was or farecompare is. It is also very powerful and finds some odd combinations of flights that would never show up elsewhere. There are no ads - they do this to demonstrate the power of their software which they sell to places like Orbitz, Cheap Tickets, etc.

Note: You cannot book through ITA, you only find the flights.
The software will show all fees and taxes, etc., broken out charge by charge. The link below will take you to a login screen. Just click the 'login as guest'; there is no need to create a login.

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/

tuscanlifeedit

derekflint

The link to ita software isn't working for me... is it me, or a glitch?

USAirways also removed the flexible dates search feature from their website; I wrote to them and got an answer that basically said they were sorry that I was disappointed. Nearly every ticket I bought from them was off the flexible date search feature. Hmmmph!

julies

USAir has taken this away too!! I also always used that to find fares with them. Apparently none of the airlines wants us to be able to find their cheaper fares.

I've also used ITA, but frequently I would not find the fares that I could come up with using flexible search on Travelocity.

derekflint

The ita link works for me this morning but if you are still having problems with the direct link try going to the top level, www.itasoftware.com and working down from there if you can.

I can't remember doing specific comparisons between ita and Travelocity, but I do know that the ita software often comes up with odd routings and pairings of airlines that look like they would be challenging to actually book.

SandyBrit

Bookmarking - thanks.

Betsy

Tagging for future reference.

Cameron

Thanks for the good info. Bookmarking.

milliebz

In general I think Travelocity has just gone to hell. I used to love Travelocity and relied on it very heavily. Now I can hardly get the fare it advertised at the first level. I further annoys me to be routed to India when I have a problem. I am thankful to have alternatives.