Kayak is an excellent site to price out airlines and compare sites such as Orbitz and Expedia. Using Kayak to see what the going rates and schedules are one can then choose how to book, sometimes directly with the airline. The only problem is that you need to do a direct Southwest site search as that airline is not covered by Kayak for some reason. But it shortens the search immensely. You can play with variables such as date, time, time of day, airports used…
Not sure flight insurance is warranted because if planes can’t fly they usually accommodate at no extra charge. One year son booked a night owl from Seattle to Tampa via Phoenix instead of Minneapolis to be sure there were no cancellations. His flight left 2 hours late because the plane left snow delayed New York so he missed the early Phoenix flight and came hours later. He had no trouble returning via Minneapolis. In summer once it was 100 degrees in Phoenix at 10 pm local time when we did the reverse trip. Somehow we ended up on time after more than a half hour on the Tampa tarmac while a storm with lightening went through- people were so slow boarding after they told us if everyone hurried we could get out before the storm hit. This summer after hearing about hot tarmacs and cancellations we avoided Phoenix.
You can pick the seemingly best option and things can go wrong. Mother Nature changes plans.
btw- choose your airline carefully. Allegiant has been notoriously bad- they are replacing their fleet but that will take a few years. Likewise reputations for bumping people and paying for even carry on bags…
Like others above, I do my research with Kayak, then book with the airline.
For expensive, messy trips, I’ve had travel insurance with TravelSafe https://www.travelsafe.com/travel-insurance-plans/ Fortunately, I’ve never had to collect, so I can’t say anything about their service.
I tend to use Orbitz for research (plus checking Southwest and IIRC Virgin separately) and then book through the airline directly. Have noticed that when I don’t use private browsing, the prices go up on my subsequent searches.
I research using matrix.itasoftware.com. I especially like using the time bars and shortest duration sorting.
It allows you to choose on that date only or plus or minus 1 or 2 days, whether you have flexibility of nearby airports, etc. once I figure out what I want, I go directly to airline to book.
My only suggestion is that before you book that you look up the company you’re buying from on both trip advisor and Elliott.org. If there are issues with it, you’ll find out before you purchase a non-refundable ticket.
Sky scanner and kayak don’t guarantee that all of the companies they show are on the up-and-up
I use Momondo for international flights. I like to use it mostly as a search tool but I have booked through them as well. For me, it’s the best flight search engine. Google flights is more expensive. I go through USAA for travel insurance. For me, it’s essential as I have elderly parents.
International fares from US to Asia are always more expensive than from Asia to US. Asian travel agents cannot book flights originating from US. You can call Asian travel agents based in SFO or NYC, LAX, they sometimes have better prices than advertised online by taking some of the group booking seats.
Yes, in HI, some of the local travel agencies specialize in Asia and can get fares not offered to the public that are quite reasonable, so it is definitely worth calling around, especially if you live near a large gateway city.
In our experience, the airline will only give you minimal food vouchers and a discount on a motel room. I’ve had teenagers stuck 3 different times that resulted in an overnight stay enroute, at my expense, then reimbursed by travel insurance. I book all my tickets with my United Explorer card precisely for the travel insurance benefit. It covers things like delayed luggage too (been there done that). You can get reimbursed if you meet the criteria and need to, for instance, buy a change of clothes.
That card also provides comprehensive PRIMARY rental car insurance, I always use it when renting.
Like many other posters, I also use congregator sites for searching, then book directly with the airline.People booking through discount sites are first on the list to get bumped.
More and more I end up booking two one way tickets instead of a RT, as there is no huge surcharge on one ways anymore and quite often one airline has the best schedule going and a different airline has the best schedule returning.
Thanks. It turned midday here and wow, price surges, so I am going to suspend my search until midweek next week and hope they go back down to what I was seeing in the middle of this week. You have all given me some good strategies.
I actually saw that happen last Tuesday, but I had just started shopping. Will look again next Tuesday, hoping for a slight drop. Don’t want to wait too much longer.
I used to think that and that prices were highest on weekends. The last tickets i bought were on Thursday and Saturday. The price on Saturday was $200 lower than the same seat bought on Thursday! Fortunately I only paid for the Saturday seat–got a scholarship for Thursday.