so i've not done any out of state traveling in about 4 years. We're going to go back East to NY to see my sister and her family in January. (and all the other NY relatives who'll drive in to see us)

so obviously i'm looking for a great price and i'd rather buy the tickets now while i have the money - thinking this far in advance i shoudl be able to get a good fare?

who do you use and like to book your travel? expedia? priceline? travel agent? go directly to an airline?

www.skyauction.com is awesome!! sometimes priceline is ok, i just hate not knowing times and flights until afterwards.

hrm. that might work but you can only bid if they have tickets. i need four tickets and so far i'm only seeing auctions for 2 tickets. will keekp looking around that site tho thanks. iv'e never even heard of it

yes, but click on the 2 ticket auctions... and you can usually bid on more than one set. :) Sometimes up to 4 sets.

Orbitz is what we always use. Their customer service has been fantastic. We used them when we flew to IN and got stuck there after 9/11 (we were scheduled to fly back 9/12. They were so helpful and friendly during all that. Joe also booked a flight into the wrong airport once and they actually let him change it with no charge and were nice about it. Their prices are generally the same/lower than others as well.

Have fun in NY

j

I usually do a comparison of all options - Travelocity, Expedia, actual airlines sites, etc. I've never used priceline or an auction site though.

OH! Also, buying ahead of time, www.southwest.com is also killer, most times it's $99 each way airfair or less!

Last time I flew, I checked prices on all the big one, priceling, expedia, yada yada. Anyway, point being, once I priced flights, I called the airline direct, and got the same low price as found by the search engines. This was a few years ago- a year after 9/11 to the week, so I don't know if that influenced anything

so far southwest has the best deal with their online page $99 one way. with taxes and all its $232 per person

not going til January but boy those flights book fast. I am going to try to book this week so we don't have to fly in and arrive at midnight! ack

You probably won't find a cheaper flight than Southwest. I usually check the airline sites and then Orbitz, Hotwire and Travelocity for comparison.

If you're flexible on your dates, the cheapest days to fly are Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. The past two times we've flown east, we went on a Wednesday and that's a NICE flying day - airports are calm, I got LOTS of help (a bonus when managing 2 carseats thru the airport), and the planes weren't full. Also, if flying on a calm day, ask at the ticketing counter (when you check your bags) if the person who's bringing you to the Airport can accompany you thru security. They let my mom do it in Albany to help me get thru everything. It often depends on the security level (red/orange/yellow) of the country at the time.

-amey