I have used all the big travel sites some plus hotwire & Priceline. Travelocity was a little slow in solving a booking problem I had but otherwise the big 3 were fine. For the best prices I find Priceline the best with Hotwire similar, as long as you flexible on your location. For booking directly I have used Delta, American, Air Canada and Westjet and all seemed fine. Delta and American both delayed my luggage and American customer service I found quite poor!

Posted By Andre Corkum on July 20, 2007, 11:15 AM

I normally go straight to continental.com for research & booking. If I want a comparison, I'll use one of the online booking agents, but will still go directly to the airline site for booking.

Posted By Bob Mathews on July 20, 2007, 11:40 AM

I always check available flights using several booking engines (cheaptickets, hotwire, travelocity, orbitz), but book the ticket through the chosen airline direct. I find that usually the flights are cheaper because they don't charge the high booking fee like the booking engines. Also, when it comes to customer service, they are a lot better to deal with if you booked through them directly.

Posted By Elle on July 20, 2007, 12:16 PM

I always first start with Kayak. Then to book I'll move to Orbitz or (most likely) the carrier's own website (because sometimes this gets me a few frequent flier miles and I can avoid the Orbitz service fee).

When I need to search for something a little out of the ordinary (different airport depart and return, for example) I usually find that that Orbitz has deals that the carrier's own websites don't offer.

I prefer the Orbitz matrix layout over what's offered at Travelocity, Expedia, etc. I like to use the matrix and all the tools to tweak the results a million different ways.

With Travelocity I sometimes get the feeling that the search leaves out information.

Posted By chandler on July 20, 2007, 1:24 PM

I've found that many of the flights (although not all) that are available on Orbitz are also on Priceline's site, and Priceline isn't charging a booking fee this summer, so it's that much cheaper.

Posted By Mike on July 21, 2007, 6:30 AM

I booked a flight for August through Travelocity back in January. Within 2 weeks they sent me 3 updates on my travel plans. I believe they have sent me 6 so far. I called them and they said it was beyond their control, it was the airlines, not them. She gave me another schedule closer to the original and said to check three weeks prior to my flight to comfirm. Since then, they have sent me another update. Very wearisome.

Posted By Carol on July 21, 2007, 4:52 PM

Warning: Just because Expedia sells you an e-ticket doesn't mean the airline will accept an e-ticket. Always doublecheck with the airline directly and see if they need a paper ticket. I was abandoned by expedia last week in Zurich when their e-ticket proved unacceptable to Thai Airways and I had to purchase an entire new ticket on the spot. Orbitz has to be more reliable than this and have proved so in the past.

Posted By richard kamradt on July 21, 2007, 8:04 PM

As a long-term front desk clerk at a nicer hotel (read: 4 stars), I recommend searching through sites such as Orbitz or Expedia, then booking directly with the property or through the online reservation system. If you encounter a price difference (with the search engine being cheaper, clearly), simply tell the clerk you are speaking to. With most hotel chains, there is some type of best rate guarantee - if you find a published rate, that property must match it.

Posted By Ariel on July 21, 2007, 9:22 PM

I usually use Travelocity, and was given and "update" for an upcoming reservation on Northwest. I have been put on another flight. The original flight has not been cancelled, they just wanted to put me on another flight (probably overbooking). I was on the phone w/Travelocity for 1 hour, and the upshot was that they could not help me because it was Northwest's fault, and Northwest wouldn't help me because I didn't book with them directly. Catch-22.

Posted By Kate on July 23, 2007, 12:00 AM

I also use kayak.com first. I like how it has the taxes already figured in and I think the site is easier to use. It seems to have more airlines too, and there is less moving aroudn the website to find what you need and less deadends(travelocity!). Then I book thru there, or directly on the airline if I have an account on it.

Posted By Tom on July 23, 2007, 8:47 AM

None of these sites would sell me a ticket on Air Mauritius from Perth to Mauritius in 02. Neither would my travel agent who usually provides excellent service. Some stupid red tape.
I finally faxed credit card info from Kinko's to MK's Perth office and they FedEx'd me the ticket. Whew!
(I later found out they had a New York office; I don't know whether I could have ordered the ticket from them).
--Roger Williams, Boulder, Colorado.

Posted By Roger AC Williams on July 23, 2007, 11:35 AM

I have had great success with Sidestep for low prices. They have saved me money on cars, flights, and hotels. If the price is anywhere near that of the airline, however, I have learned through experience(as others have noted)that it is better to deal with the airline directly. For reservations which can be cancelled easily for hotels, I have had great success with booking.com, and venere.com in Europe.(no prepayment necessary).

Posted By ROBERT MOYER on July 23, 2007, 12:30 PM

I use both. I check on the third party site before and then check the company airlines or hotel if they can offer me/beat the price. I have booked with third party sites mainly for hotels (expedia, flightcentre, hostel.com) and I keep it direct for the flights or I contact a travel agent.

Posted By Sophie on July 23, 2007, 12:30 PM

I use Bestfares.com for all my travel needs. They always beat the rates of the other sites. I've booked flights all over the world and even a Princess cruise thru them and have been delighted with the price and dependability. I love their display that shows me which day, time, or alternate airport will get me to my vacation the cheapest.

Posted By Katherine on July 23, 2007, 2:57 PM

Dear Richard,
That's a ridiculous practice by Expedia. Have you been reimbursed by Expedia for the ticket you couldn't use?
To everyone else--thanks so much for posting your comments.

Posted By Blog Editor on July 23, 2007, 3:06 PM

Dear Lewis,
Good question about free Wi-Fi in-flight. I wish that both power connections and Internet service would become standard soon. It's rumored that either Southwest or JetBlue will start offering onboard Internet service before year's end. Compliance with federal safety regulations, cost, and privacy are key issues.

Thanks for your comment,
Sean

Posted By Blog Editor on July 23, 2007, 3:19 PM

I have no loyalty and will use all 3, often then checking the price with the airline's direct website. No one site has consistently been the cheapest. I do like the Orbitz layout the best, but on multicity trips, i think either Expedia or Travelocity can be an easier planning tool. For hotels, I often use the big 3 to see what's available and check with the hotel directly for a better deal. I like Orbitz activity tool, it can be helpful in arranging airport transportation in unfamiliar countries.

Posted By Catie on July 23, 2007, 9:13 PM

I learned about Kayak by reading Budget Travel. I used it to help me find air fares for a trip to the NYC and DC this fall. It was great, it laid out all these different options in a nice, neat manner. It was much easier to use than the big three too. I then booked directly with the airlines. I booked one way tickets on two different airlines and am saving about $100 over a roundtrip ticket on a single airline. I joined the frequent flier clubs for both airlines before I bought my tickets and found that more airfares were reveled to me when I logged in to the airlines web sites as a member. That saved me another $25 per ticket.

Posted By Sally on July 23, 2007, 11:17 PM

I do my research. If, for example, I want a trip from Long Island to North Carolina then I look at the normal budget sites (ie: expedia, travelocity, ect..) and then I look up the individual airlines that run between my route. For a long time sites like expedia won hands down but lately the airlines themselves are offering great deals on their websites.

Posted By Tara on July 28, 2007, 7:19 PM

I employ strategies similar to those previously stated - scan favorite mega sites freqently but book thru the airline. Frequent checking can find short-lived air deals; we flew United to London in May for $488 RT/PP (purchased in April) and we are flying United to Paris in September $569 RT/PP (purchased 2/07) For car booking, lately we've used Nova which is less expensive or comparable to AutoEurope, etc., but includes much more comprehensive insurance coverage. Dolores

Posted By Dolores Maminski on September 3, 2007, 9:20 AM

I have been with AOL for over 10 years so started out with Travelocity. I always go there first but do not hesitate to go to other sites for comparison, such as Expedia. The prices on Travelocity seem good but ocassionally I can get a booking elsewhere that Travelocity doesn't have available at all.

Posted By Nancy on September 3, 2007, 10:39 AM

I have found all of the booking engines to be similar in features and price, but overall, my favorite is www.gr8adventurestravel.com. The search engine is easy, fast, and the prices are more competitive a great percentage of the time.

You can book air, cars, hotel, cruises, flowers, special events ticketing, trip insurance, etc.

Posted By Jeff Burgess on September 7, 2007, 1:43 PM

I usually check out all of them. Mostly starting with Kayak.com because it checks all the airlines and major sites fast. Then redirects you to those sites directly. I also like www.planetholiday and also www.virtualtourist.com.

Posted By Ralph Autilio on November 5, 2007, 1:00 PM

For a good site for cruising in small ships to out-of-the-way places, try www.smallshipcruises.com

For an overview of a destiation try the tourism agency for that destination.

Posted By Shirl on November 5, 2007, 4:57 PM

I have used everyone of the sites mentioned by the contributors to this article. I finally bought a membership in YTB, The newest kids on the block. a recent trip to Las Vegas, was booked about 150 bucks cheaper on YTB at the same resort and flying the same airlines.Check us out at:
www.ytb.com/travelingguy. My site.

Posted By Tom Robertson on November 5, 2007, 7:50 PM

I use Tripadvisor to research hotels, attractions, etc. Their forums are tremendously useful for finding out about an area, the best way to get there, and what not to miss!

Posted By Anita on November 5, 2007, 8:31 PM

I usually used Travelocity, until stumbling into a "lost ticket" episode that required lots of calls to customer service. They have offshored all their customer service to Mumbai and, bless them for being very considerate folks, they would put me on hold to get answers and I finally had to get into a shouting match with them to let me talk to someone in the states who had direct authority (and no accent) to get resolution. I hope Travelocity reverses their offshoring decision or I won't use them again....

Posted By Roger Brindle on November 6, 2007, 6:09 AM

Last year I heard of a new website that was similar in concept to priceline. With Priceline you do not know what hotel or airline you will end with. The new site allows this knowledge beforehand. Does anyone know the site?

Posted By Lea Ann on November 6, 2007, 12:13 PM

I prefer sidestep.com

Posted By sf on November 8, 2007, 12:52 PM

I almost always start with Sidestep.com for air, auto and hotel reservations.... I then go to the direct site of the provider and compare. Usually I can get a better deal directly with the air, hotel or auto provider.

I also use the Entertainment Book for auto reservations....one use of the discount usually covers the cost of the book and more.... and I tend to use it (auto discount) three or more times per year.

Posted By psuag on December 4, 2007, 7:22 PM