One of the most consistent complaints I hear from people that are starting the travel process is how frustrating buying flights can be. What is the best way to track flights?
Prices fluctuate, seats get taken from under your nose while you have an airline’s website open, and in the back of everyone’s mind is the sickening feeling of having to shell out hundreds or thousands of dollars just to GET to where you’re going (not even to enjoy it yet!).
Luckily, there is a bounty of online businesses popping up that try to help with what many consider the most stressful part of travel planning. Below is part one of three common digital formats for tracking (not buying, necessarily) airline tickets. In addition, I’ve added my assessment of the various pros and cons, as well a couple of my favorite companies.
FLIGHT AGGREGATORS
I’m sure you’ve all heard of Expedia, Travelocity, Kayak, etc. They are huge and have big marketing budgets so you have most likely seen their ads on TV or online. These companies (you guessed it) aggregate data from various airlines into one place so you can shop across. In some cases, there are aggregator aggregators that search across aggregators! Phew…
Pros
- Very user friendly
- Can search flights, hotels, rental cars, or a combo bundle ($ savings!)
- Can book directly via the aggregator
Cons
- Need to know the exact date and location you want to travel to (in most cases)
- Customer service may give you the runaround, e.g. tell you to take issues up with the airline, not them
- Has a (in my opinion) deceptive insurance offer on purchases
- Certain airlines do not share their data with aggregators (cough, Southwest) so not all possible flights are shown
The Meticulous Traveler’s Faves
I always check Google Flights to start. You can easily search an itinerary then tag it to email you when the price drops.
Additionally, there is a user-friendly date grid that can show you how changing your departure or return date can affect pricing.
Skyscanner is a must. One of the “aggregator aggregators”, it looks across Expedia, etc. to find the best deal AT the cheapest website. In addition, you can bring up a calendar to show how much you might save by switching your trip from say Friday-to-Friday to Monday-to-Monday instead. Additionally, it will send you directly to the cheapest way to book the flight which saves time and hassle.
ITA Matrix is my absolute favorite, and is also an aggregator aggregator. A cool difference beyond Skyscanner is that you can set the currency of your flight into the host country’s currency. This potentially saves a lot of money when booking, because you are basically tricking the system into thinking you are a local buying tickets in-country. There is lots of info about ITA Matrix online if you want to read more.
Also, see the other posts in the flight tracking series:
My Favorite Ways to Track Flights Part 1: Flight Aggregators
My Favorite Ways to Track Flights Part 2: Tracking Apps
My Favorite Ways to Track Flights Part 3: Flight Communities
