Most People Visit 5 Sites Before Booking Flights

Despite the growing number of comparison sites which make it easy for you to quickly compare fares it is not until you start the booking process that you actually discover the full cost of your flight. Different airlines have different policies as to what is included as standard so it is impossible for any site to compare prices on a like for like basis, especially since each traveller may have different personal requirements which will affect the final cost.

As an example, if you are travelling on a family holiday and taking hold luggage you may well find that a more expensive flight with one airline is actually cheaper than a bargain flight once you have paid the optional extra for your luggage with another airline.

Since the only way of establishing the exact fare for you particular needs is to visit the suppliers website most people will visit on average five sites before confirming their booking. We did a test search on several sites on one day for both long and short haul fares to see how the prices can vary for the same flight and if you would like to see the results they are available here.

Book directly with the airline and you will normally pay the full published fare, although they often have special offers which are only available on their own website. This is especially true if you are making your booking early so it is still important to check their fares for booking direct.

With many budget airlines you will either have to book direct or may find that a reservation agent adds a booking fee to your tickets since they will not receive a commission from the airline. However it is still worthwhile using a price comparison search since not only will it list other flight options but some (although not all) do provide pricing from budget airlines and then link direct to their website thus avoiding any additional agents fees.

Online flight reservation specialists enter into commercial agreements with several airlines and may negotiate special rates due to the volume of business they transact and then offer these flights at a discounted rate making them cheaper than the airline itself. These agents are also competing with each other so prices can vary from agent to agent. However, no single agent will have these special agreements with all suppliers so is unlikely to offer the best deal for every possible flight or route combination.
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Although not selling flights themselves they make it easy for you to search multiple sites with little effort. Like booking agents these comparison sites enter into commercial agreements with suppliers to list their prices and although some may include other results in addition to these they can not list every single available fare from every supplier so both prices and companies can and do vary from site to site depending on route/day etc. Also since their prices are not normally retrieved in real time the listed fares can be unavailable by the time you book.

No single site will compare every available airfare from every airline. You can find out more about how price comparison sites work and why you should search more than one here.

Finally, you must ask yourself whether it is really worthwhile seeking out the lowest possible fare. The price of airfares can change rapidly and it is very easy to spend a great amount of time searching trying to save a pound or two only to find the original deal sold out whilst you were searching so you will now have to pay more. The advice really has to be that if you feel happy with the price you have found BOOK IT whilst it's still available.

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