Most of the time we here at SmartCanucks are the ones trying to inform you — now we’d love it if you could inform us!
The internet is plagued with sites promising cheap airfares and last minute deals on flights, but which ones really work? Do we have any frequent flyers here? How do you save on airfare?
Hopefully your answers can help out other readers looking to plan a trip on a big tin bird — readers like me. I’ll be going out to California in July for a press event and I’d love to save every penny I can on the trip. Right now I’m using farecast.com to plan the flight, and although it has some great features I like (emailing me the lowest ticket price every day, tipping me off on whether or not they expect the price to go up or down) I’d like to see what else is out there. Come on, SmartCanuckers! Help me fly those friendly skies!
My best way to save on airfare is using my Alaska Airlines credit card. This is probably only good for those on the West Coast.
Basicly, you sign up for the card, you pay a $75 annual fee and EVERY year you get a companion ticket for $50. That means you can buy a seat sale for Victoria to Puerto Vallarta and get your partner to fly with you for $50.
Its a great deal. You don’t to collect points or anything!!
Love it!!
Ladena
There are a lot of smaller airlines people don’t know about. For instance, I just bought my mom a return air ticket from Vancouver to London for $700 tax included. The airline we chose was called ‘zoom air’ and then there are classified sites where airlines advertise coupon codes or sales. The one for Vancouver is http://shopping.vancouver.canada.com/ROP/Categories.aspx
Also, my favorite travel deals list is travelzoo.com
I second Zoom!!
I use Kayak. It is said to be the google for traveling.
http://www.kayak.com/
I just fly within Canada (toronto to vancouver or calgary)
With all the scares with little airlines disappearing with everyone’s money and leaving ppl stranded I just use westjet and air canada.
If i’m planning a trip, I just watch their websites for a couple of weeks or so and look for good prices.
When you use these ‘far-finding’ websites which say they are offering you the best deals, do you also check the actual airline’s website to compare prices for the exact same flight and time to compare?
Flightcentre.ca
I’m not sure how they do it, but the prices quoted there are consistently lower than I’ve seen practically everywhere else.
Zoom is pretty good. PLease note though that the prices shown initially on their homepage are BEFORE tax.
Additionally, since I live 1.5 hours from Buffalo and just over an hour from Toronto, often I just fly into Buffalo since airtravel within the US tends to be cheaper than from the US to Canada.
Air Trans has great fares: LAX BUF one way $150 2 months ago vs Delta LAX BUF $245 2 months ago (when I bought my tickets) for travel in July.
I have an american friend who just bought tickets with ultimatefares.com He said that the prices were great vs expedia and he saved about 2000 dollars on 4 tickets vs Expedia. CKY-LAX. BUT, I am not sure if they sell to Canadians…That’s my 2 cents worth.
I havent had great success with frequent flyer cards
We did Joel’s idea of flying from Buffalo and it was super-easy and would do it again for sure. Saved at least $100 per flight.
One annoying thing when I booked with Expedia was that the price listed was different than the price when I actually booked and the agent said that the flight prices change daily. It was a significant difference but he did manage to search out a cheaper one for me and was really helpful.
http://www.kayak.com is a good website to start with. I usually try a site like Expedia to see which airline offers the cheapest ticket and then I go directly to the airline website to book. It’s usually cheaper than the price they offer on Expedia.
Fly out of Buffalo instead of Toronto…
Joel — I’m kicking myself. I was planning the exact same trip and the Airtran tickets were $273 when I first looked. Didn’t buy and now the cheapest are $500. Grr…
I drive over the border into Bellingham Washington, and fly Allegiant Air. the tax on the fare is $33 compared to over $200.00 from within Canada. the deals are a lot cheaper also, I can fly to Las Vegas (round trip) and luxury hotel for 4 nights for $200.00, (the cost of the tax in Canada)
kayak is a good one. i also use sidestep.com as well as mobissimo.com.
I forgot to say how much I love hotwire.com
This is by far the best site I’ve come across.
Last summer I booked the Sheraton downtown Toronto for $79/night and the Sheraton downtown Montreal for $89/night.
I’m booking my car rental there for our trip to Hawaii next month, they have the best prices.
I use priceline for getting a hotel. I’ve gotten $35 for an orlando hotel and about $100 for paris.
I first use http://www.biddingfortravel.com and see what recent bids people have won to get an idea about how much to bet. There are also clues on how to rebid within 24 hrs. And of course, then i use http://www.greatcanadianrebates.com to link to priceline to get my rebate!
PM me if you have any questions.
Hi there – I’m a Travel Agent and at this point, your guess is as good as mine (sometimes) – for international or more complicated itineraries, I would certainly use a travel agent – with their negotiated rates with airlines/hotels/consolidators – a lower fare for you most of the time – and the added protection i.e missed conections/lost luggage/visa information – you have a person to speak with & to assist you – you don’t receive that infomation or assistance from a website or Air Canada. Most Travel Agents have a 24-hour Help Line to assist you after regular business hours. You may be charged a Professional Fee, but that charge provides you with a professional to resolve your issues.
rubyy and others,
Dont waste your time with a travel agent. I have never found a cheaper fare with a travel agent than directly from the airline website. (The only exception is travelcuts for student fares). Almost all services travel agents provide, are already offered by the airline or through most major credit cards (make sure you check your credit card policies). Missed connections – every airline will book you on the next available flight – period. No need for a travel agent.
Lost luggage – covered under a lot of credit cards and fill out a claim. Dont need a travel agent for this either.
Travel agents receive alot of kickbacks and incentives from companies and sometimes charge a huge fee.
If you want to save money, stay away from travel agents (exception: Travel cuts for student fares)