# Flight price checker



## DaveNV (Nov 1, 2016)

Not sure if this is new, or if I've just been under a rock...

Seattle news station had a story today about checking for the cheapest airfare. They said Consumer Reports did a check of nine most popular (Kayak, Expedia, whoever else.)  As expected, not all of them were created equal.  CheapoAir, for example, was never the cheapest.

Then they said something that was very interesting:  *www.google.com/flights* will show you the cheapest flight from and to your city of choice on the dates you need.  I checked it out, and it's pretty cool.  It even tells you when a slightly sooner or later date for going or coming would give a lower fare.  Worth looking at.



Dave


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## AwayWeGo (Nov 1, 2016)

*Does Not Show Flights On Southwest Airlines.*

Southwest is not always cheapest, but it's often close & always in the running. 

Southwest does not charge extra for checked bags & carry-ons.  

Even better, Southwest does not charge for changing reservations.  

That doesn't mean we always fly Southwest.  (We flew Frontier Airlines to & from Orlando FL last summer.)  

But unless some other airline is way cheaper for our preferred flight times & destinations, we generally prefer Southwest.  Plus, we get Southwest reward points for ordinary purchases made by Visa card -- & double miles for using the card to buy tickets on Southwest. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## DaveNV (Nov 1, 2016)

AwayWeGo said:


> But unless some other airline is way cheaper for our preferred flight times & destinations, we generally prefer Southwest.



So, then check Southwest and this Google site, and choose the better option.  Way easier than checking a bunch of search sites like Expedia or Kayak, right? 

Dave


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## Luanne (Nov 2, 2016)

Thanks for the info Dave.  I hadn't heard of using Google for this before.


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## bobpark56 (Nov 2, 2016)

*Google Flights has been working well for us*

Google Flights has been working well for us.


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## Ann-Marie (Nov 2, 2016)

I recently discovered this site also. I really like it.


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## PigsDad (Nov 2, 2016)

I have had good experiences with Google Flights as well.  I haven't ever noticed any one site having higher or lower prices, but I like Google's interface the best.  I used to like Kayak the best, but I don't use it anymore because of the constant pop-up ads and other ads you have to wade through.

The only down side is that these sites don't include all airlines, with the most notable being Southwest.

Kurt


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## x3 skier (Nov 2, 2016)

I always check Google Flights but I use an app called ITA. ITA was bought by Google a bit ago. I like the ITA app interface better than Google's but it has the same info.

Cheers


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## rapmarks (Nov 2, 2016)

Thanks for the information.   One way flight to fort Myers in October cost over one hundred more on southwest so they are not always cheapest


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## AwayWeGo (Nov 2, 2016)

*Hacker Air Fares.*




DaveNW said:


> So, then check Southwest and this Google site, and choose the better option.  Way easier than checking a bunch of search sites like Expedia or Kayak, right?


One of those air fare web sites -- Kayak or Hipmunk or some such -- sometimes shows what they call _Hacker Fares_ -- round trips on different airlines (e.g., Delta 1 way & United coming back).  

I saved a few bux that way a couple of times. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## happymum (Nov 2, 2016)

I tend to use either Google Flights or Kayak, with slightly different results. However, when recently searching for an odd itinerary (Oslo, Norway to Kauai) I was having limited luck with either. The choices ranged from ugly to just plain nasty, both price and time-wise. Tried Momondo and it came up with an excellent solution. No cheaper, but way better itinerary, all on one carrier.
Turned out, it was a return ticket, which I hadn't thought to try for, since I didn't need the return portion. I was impressed though, that Momondo came up with the solution and we will simply not use the return portion of the ticket.


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## ronandjoan (Nov 2, 2016)

Thanks, Dave, being also from SEA this will be very helpful.

We just pulled a RT $110 via Jetblue to LongBeach to see our grandson in two concerts there (he's in college there) , plus our granddaughter who will be auditioning for 3 colleges down there, next weekend.

Terrible costs getting them home for holidays, e.g. Thanksgiving.


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## cerralee (Nov 2, 2016)

I came across a nifty android app called hopper, it tracks your flights and predicts if it is a good time to buy or is it better to wait.  You can save flights to track on the app and it also gives you a calendar showing when fares are lower.


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## PigsDad (Nov 2, 2016)

AwayWeGo said:


> One of those air fare web sites -- Kayak or Hipmunk or some such -- sometimes shows what they call _Hacker Fares_ -- round trips on different airlines (e.g., Delta 1 way & United coming back).



Last I looked, Google Flights does the same thing (but doesn't call them out as "hacker" fares, just as other options).

When there isn't a difference in the fare, I will book a trip as two one-way itineraries instead of round trip.  This gives you a bit more flexibility for making changes, etc.

Kurt


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## Glynda (Nov 2, 2016)

*Southwest*

I have never checked Southwest prices before today.  I don't understand the "Anytime" and "Wanna Getaway" fares.  "Business Select" and "Senior" makes sense but what the?????  Help Tuggers please!

Glynda


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## PigsDad (Nov 2, 2016)

Glynda said:


> I have never checked Southwest prices before today.  I don't understand the "Anytime" and "Wanna Getaway" fares.  "Business Select" and "Senior" makes sense but what the?????  Help Tuggers please!


On the page where the flights and prices are listed, just simply click the heading ("Wanna Getaway", "Anytime", etc.) and a nice chart will pop up that lets you compare the different fares.  I always just choose the cheapest, but if you want a fully-refundable fare or other feature, you can choose a higher-level fare.

Kurt


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## PDXGolfer (Nov 3, 2016)

Are there any flight price checkers that are particularly good for finding business or first class cabin deals (for the occasional splurge  )?


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## DaveNV (Nov 3, 2016)

PDXGolfer said:


> Are there any flight price checkers that are particularly good for finding business or first class cabin deals (for the occasional splurge  )?



If you click the Google link I posted at the top of this thread, you can choose what kind of seat you're looking for.

Dave


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## brownhaired_girl (Nov 4, 2016)

*Google flights*

On the Google Flights you can also set up flight trackers that will email you of price changes.


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## x3 skier (Nov 4, 2016)

PDXGolfer said:


> Are there any flight price checkers that are particularly good for finding business or first class cabin deals (for the occasional splurge  )?



As noted, the Google Flights and ITA allows you to check Economy, Business and First.

Cheers


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## Ron98GT (Nov 4, 2016)

DaveNW said:


> Not sure if this is new, or if I've just been under a rock...
> 
> Seattle news station had a story today about checking for the cheapest airfare. They said Consumer Reports did a check of nine most popular (Kayak, Expedia, whoever else.)  As expected, not all of them were created equal.  CheapoAir, for example, was never the cheapest.
> 
> ...


Thanks, I never knew about Google/Flights.  I just used it for a trip to NYC next year and it worked great at letting me tweak the dates and times.


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