Message: Earlier message stated domestic - sorry! -
What I need is:
I need to know the best (cheapest) way of buying air tickets in the US.
I live in Australia but will be having a month in Hawaii in July/August.
My company has said that if I get a reasonably priced ticket Honolulu to Japan then they will send me there for work for a week.
I have a friend in USA who can purchase the ticket for me so that's no problem.

How does the system there work - is internet bookings the cheapest or is direct to airlines best or can anyone help me out with the name of a consolidater in Hawaii if this is the way to go?

Any info on the way its best done over there would be great
Cheers

Cosmo it is not as easy as it was. Your friend will have to match the passport of you when he buys. We also don't have consolidators anymore. Not to my knowledge anymore. You should find a consolidator in Australia.

To the top - hoping for some help here

thanks the info Sarah - your reply only appeared after I posted my ttt

Check the internet sites, such as Expedia.com, Travelocity.com or the airlines directly (United or American Airlines specifically) and see if they will mail ticket to Australia. If so, there should be no problem with you booking them personally and having them send directly to you. You should even be able to have the tickets sent to your friend as long as they are listed with your name as the traveller on the ticket.

orbitz and travelocity are owned by the airlines. I forget who owns Expedia but I have never found expedia or travelocity to be cheaper than orbitz. shop around though always good to check several spots.

I would look at OneWorld Alliance - www.oneworld.com - for "Circle Pacific" or (via Qantas) for "Global Explorer" fares. These give you a mileage allowance (26,000 or 29,000 miles for instance) that you can travel using any of the OneWorld airline members. I looked at the Qantas website, for example, and saw that in certain periods of the year a 26,000 mile "Global Explorer" ticket costs around A$2500 in coach, or almost exactly the same as the ordinary return ticket between SYD and HNL. Thus if you could work the Hawaii-Japan leg in (either as a round trip, which might be difficult as "doubling back" is discouraged) or as an add-on stop on your way back to Oz when you're done working in Honolulu, you might be able to get away for very little, if any, additional fare. Prices out of Australia on a wide range of global products (like round-the-world fares) from OneWorld or Star (the other big alliance) are really tempting, compared to comparable prices in US$.