Finding the Best Airfare

[CaliforniaChief]

Hey all, let me start with the obligatory sorry if repost comment...

And tap into the collective wisdom of CP.

I'm looking to take the family to Minnesota for a couple weeks in July. We've done this trip before, but things are a little tighter for us financially than in years past...so I'm trying to find the best fare.

A couple of things:
1. I've independently checked Southwest and Air Tran.
2. I've used the flexible date searches on the search engines.
3. I've generally found the price to be about $350-$380/ticket.

Do you guys think I can do better? I like Hotwire because it gives you the after-tax, take home fare.

Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[DaFace]

You probably won't do much better than the approach you're using these days. Have you looked on Bing to see if they're predicting the price will change in the future?

[Fritz88]

It will be tough.

Try priceline.com
Try the customized search in TripAdvisor.com where you set a price and ask it to notify you if it gets there. However, this approach is better with plans that are a couple of months away.
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[Rain Man]

That's pretty much it, I think. You could try other sites like kayak or whatever, but they're pretty much all the same.

Your other option is to gamble and wait a little to see if prices go down, but it's like betting red in roulette. You might win and you might lose.

[bevischief]

That's pretty much it, I think. You could try other sites like kayak or whatever, but they're pretty much all the same.

Your other option is to gamble and wait a little to see if prices go down, but it's like betting red in roulette. You might win and you might lose.

Kayak searches everything for you.

[scho63]

Today's airfares are both very high and very, very competitive; almost to the point where they seem like corner gas stations, all alike.

It is VERY rare to find a sudden low fare that doesn't take you to 11 stops.

A few keys to a good airfare; the longer the time to book the less the fare and more likelihood to get a deal; join as many clubs as reasonable like Spirit Air's $9 club. My friends have gotten many R/T to Florida for $9

Make sure you compare AFTER tax and fees and don't get fooled by someone missing all the extra charges, they add up quickly.

Whether it's Kayak, or Travelocity, or Compare.com, or Hotwire, they all grab the same feeds and you will rarely find something on one you can't find on another.

You just need to do a lot of research and if you gamble and wait, you will likely pay more

[Saulbadguy]

Sign up for a Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card. Have your wife sign up too. Free flights as far as the eye can see.