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This reminds me: I procrastinated and haven't booked my Christmas ticket yet... Bay Area to Atlanta — anyone got any tips? I think Google Flights is the best

This reminds me: I procrastinated and haven't booked my Christmas ticket yet... Bay Area to Atlanta — anyone got any tips? I think Google Flights is the best way to find the cheapest ticket, but if there's something else out there I'd be glad to know!

mav3rick 8y ago
If you can, just stay longer and work remotely for a couple of days ? Google Flights tells you day-to-day flight prices.
mellow-lake-day 8y ago
When I was buying a ticket to Europe for study abroad I was checking these sites, in the end I used the first one, but all were helpful: * http://www.momondo.com/ http://www.momondo.com/ * https://www.kayak.com/flights https://www.kayak.com/flights * https://www.cheapoair.com/ https://www.cheapoair.com/ * https://www.google.com/flights/ https://www.google.com/flights/ ($$$) * https://www.hipmunk.com/ https://www.hipmunk.com/ ($$$) * http://kiwi.com/ http://kiwi.com/ * https://www.skyscanner.net/ https://www.skyscanner.net/ The ones with the dollars signs were the most expensive. These sites are not all equal some are more reputable than others, etc.
potench 8y ago
Anecdotally, use the brave browser to look for hotels and flights. Since it blocks tracking I’ve heard you will see lower cost flights (I’ve also heard the converse that searching with iPhone/safari may result in higher prices.) https://www.reddit.com/r/BATProject/comments/9gkcow/brave_browser_is_best_for_booking_flights/ https://www.reddit.com/r/BATProject/comments/9gkcow/brave_br...
- bigmattystyles 8y ago
  When I tried it with their built in TOR, many travel sites just refused to serve me a page.
- laken 8y ago
  This is quite an ancient myth of flight pricing, and I'd love to see it die, but alas it will not. Your cookies and/or browser fingerprint has basically no effect on flight prices. In addition, the "proof" provided on that subreddit has quite a few problems: A) That route is priced ridiculously anyway, and they are looking at Delta, who always price ridiculously. Delta doesn't care about price-conscious shoppers, so they have virtually no incentive to try and segment fares based on browsing history, etc. B) They're looking at a third party flight aggregator. These are the WORST ways of buying flight tickets. They're decent for _finding_ deals, but 9/10 times, the airline's website sells it cheaper, and the airline's website gives you more benefits anyway (as you're the buyer and/or owner, not the online travel agent). C) Furthermore, these online travel agents cache flight lookups _very_ heavily. My guess is that the search with TOR routes to a different edge server with a different cache. API calls to the airlines are extremely costly. The best way of getting a cheaper flight has nothing to do with your browser, so don't worry about it. The best ways of saving money are based on _when_ you buy, and of course what airline. Don't buy on a weekend, and try not to fly on one either. Holidays are similar, except it's not a bad idea to actually fly ON a holiday, but not around one.
  - potench 8y ago
    What about using a vpn to change your geo to try and get geo-based deals? This website appears to have some proof of this approach working: https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2018/07/how-to-get-cheaper-flights-by-using-a-vpn/ https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2018/07/how-to-ge...
telesilla 8y ago
I set Hopper for a date I'm interested in and let it tell me the best time to buy. https://www.hopper.com https://www.hopper.com
vinay427 8y ago
It's very advisable to consider a low-cost online travel agent if you're really trying to save a few more bucks (usually 5-10%). Find the flight that works for your budget on Google Flights, then search for those dates on something like Momondo which lists many third-party OTAs, and you'll likely find the same ticket for a little cheaper. Note that most of them won't offer the free 24-hour cancellation required in the US for airlines, and I have heard about problems with tickets sometimes not being issued correctly, but I have used whichever OTA happens to be the cheapest when I'm booking and have never run into problems.

mav3rick 8y ago

If you can, just stay longer and work remotely for a couple of days ? Google Flights tells you day-to-day flight prices.

mellow-lake-day 8y ago

When I was buying a ticket to Europe for study abroad I was checking these sites, in the end I used the first one, but all were helpful: * http://www.momondo.com/ http://www.momondo.com/ * https://www.kayak.com/flights https://www.kayak.com/flights * https://www.cheapoair.com/ https://www.cheapoair.com/ * https://www.google.com/flights/ https://www.google.com/flights/ ($$$) * https://www.hipmunk.com/ https://www.hipmunk.com/ ($$$) * http://kiwi.com/ http://kiwi.com/ * https://www.skyscanner.net/ https://www.skyscanner.net/ The ones with the dollars signs were the most expensive. These sites are not all equal some are more reputable than others, etc.

potench 8y ago

Anecdotally, use the brave browser to look for hotels and flights. Since it blocks tracking I’ve heard you will see lower cost flights (I’ve also heard the converse that searching with iPhone/safari may result in higher prices.) https://www.reddit.com/r/BATProject/comments/9gkcow/brave_browser_is_best_for_booking_flights/ https://www.reddit.com/r/BATProject/comments/9gkcow/brave_br...

bigmattystyles 8y ago
When I tried it with their built in TOR, many travel sites just refused to serve me a page.
laken 8y ago
This is quite an ancient myth of flight pricing, and I'd love to see it die, but alas it will not. Your cookies and/or browser fingerprint has basically no effect on flight prices. In addition, the "proof" provided on that subreddit has quite a few problems: A) That route is priced ridiculously anyway, and they are looking at Delta, who always price ridiculously. Delta doesn't care about price-conscious shoppers, so they have virtually no incentive to try and segment fares based on browsing history, etc. B) They're looking at a third party flight aggregator. These are the WORST ways of buying flight tickets. They're decent for _finding_ deals, but 9/10 times, the airline's website sells it cheaper, and the airline's website gives you more benefits anyway (as you're the buyer and/or owner, not the online travel agent). C) Furthermore, these online travel agents cache flight lookups _very_ heavily. My guess is that the search with TOR routes to a different edge server with a different cache. API calls to the airlines are extremely costly. The best way of getting a cheaper flight has nothing to do with your browser, so don't worry about it. The best ways of saving money are based on _when_ you buy, and of course what airline. Don't buy on a weekend, and try not to fly on one either. Holidays are similar, except it's not a bad idea to actually fly ON a holiday, but not around one.
- potench 8y ago
  What about using a vpn to change your geo to try and get geo-based deals? This website appears to have some proof of this approach working: https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2018/07/how-to-get-cheaper-flights-by-using-a-vpn/ https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2018/07/how-to-ge...

telesilla 8y ago

I set Hopper for a date I'm interested in and let it tell me the best time to buy. https://www.hopper.com https://www.hopper.com

vinay427 8y ago

It's very advisable to consider a low-cost online travel agent if you're really trying to save a few more bucks (usually 5-10%). Find the flight that works for your budget on Google Flights, then search for those dates on something like Momondo which lists many third-party OTAs, and you'll likely find the same ticket for a little cheaper. Note that most of them won't offer the free 24-hour cancellation required in the US for airlines, and I have heard about problems with tickets sometimes not being issued correctly, but I have used whichever OTA happens to be the cheapest when I'm booking and have never run into problems.