Internet tips for maximizing airfare savings

I recommend a couple of reliable Internet web site tools to quickly and easily clear through the clutter and pinpoint today’s best airfare deals.

Rarely do I go to an individual travel site (like Travelocity or Expedia) to search for airfares. In fact, I haven’t used those sites for years in purchasing plane tickets. Instead, I go to travel site aggregators—sites that pull up all of the content on the most popular travel sites, all at once.

If I want to do a quick fare search, I use Kayak.com. Kayak boasts a very simple landing page and search mechanism (a huge plus—uncluttered, intuitive, with lots of white space). Just type in the airport codes in the From and To fields, choose your dates and click Search. Kayak gives you the option to generate additional pop-up windows from brand-name travel sites,  but I usually just view search results in the single Kayak window. Why complicate it?

The trick is, Kayak searches 140+ sites, then sorts and filters them in a matter of seconds. The simple interface displays all of the fares in a center roll (low-price on top) with corresponding web sites and prices in small type under the airline logo. If you want to book the flight, you click on the link and take care of business.

Kayak also offers multiple tools on the left rail which custom-control results: you can delete all listings except nonstop, vary flight time choices, eliminate airlines, show layovers, restrict aircraft, and even change the currency in the ticket price.

At Kayak, you can also aggregate potential hotels in and around your destination. Refine the search by number of star-rating, brand name or amenities. While Kayak offers an email alert service so that you can track airfare changes in advance of your trip, for that operation, I prefer FareCompare.com.

Sign up at FareCompare for Trip Alerts and every few days (sometimes daily) you will receive an email whenever a lower fare is detected. The fares have a star rating so that you can see instantly if this is a big deal or not. Four stars means you ought to pay attention.

FareCompare also has a visually appealing (and easy to use) interface featuring big, bold, calendars. See the date, click on the price for departure and return. FareCompare loads them up in the center space. All you have to do is click Select and you’re on your way to purchase tickets at a travel site with the lowest fare. The only hitch is, the actual airline site may be a few dollars cheaper. But what FareCompare is good at is constantly tracking fare trends.

Whichever way you like booking tickets online, I wish you happy travels (and plentiful savings) during these stressful economic times.