Comments
Consolidators, dicounters, brokers and bucket shops are usually used to refer to anyone who sells discount tickets. This is a bit inaccurate, there are some differences between them, but on the net, the words seem interchangeable. Most are reasonably honest, but not all - and beware of bait-and-switch tactics. I've tried calling a few that had unbelievably low rates, just to find out they only apply if you fly according to some impossible schedule, " BUT, for just a few (hundred) dollars more, you can...". Right. Keep in mind also, that most quotes do not include airport taxes.
My usual strategy, whch has worked well, is to surf several of these places, find the cheapest rates I can, and write down the prices and which airlines are offering them. Then I go to a local travel agent (wherever I am), show them the prices I found on the internet, and ask if they can do better. So far, every time, they have, though once it was only by $5! This is because the big wholesale consolidators do NOT sell on the internet. They have little interest in selling retail, and deal only with travel agents. There are some times when you can do better on the net - usually on vacation specials and promotions. I just saw a round-trip west coast US to Egypt, including two nights in a hotel, for US $199. Good deal, if you want to go to Egypt, from US west coast, for only two days! But do check all sources, you have a much better chance that way.
I tested the ones that handled US flights with a flight halfway around the world - from US east coast to Thailand. I've taken that flight previously and am familiar with costs on it. The rest, I just looked to see if they seemed to have reasonable prices. Most didn't seem worth the bother.
A few hints:
Flights leaving in the evening are almost always better bargains. Mid-week flights are usually cheaper than weekend flights. Make sure that if you are a student or senior citizen, that you mark that - there are some bargains there too. You can also get discounts by being willing to take long layovers and multiple stops. That can be a lot of fun sometimes, I turned one 10 hour layover into a several day layover and had a nice time, for no extra ticket cost, and I had friends in the city - so no hotel cost either. We won't mention party costs!
Discounters and Bucket Shops
AirDeals.Com USA - searchable database of 8 million airfares mostly international with some intra-US/Canada. The lowest price flight for these guys was $765 US. Same airline and date as the onetravel.com, too. Only problem is most of their flight info seems to be in/out of North America.PI Travel These guys are out of Australia, they seem to have decent pricing, but most of the flights they are advertising online are to/from Aus, and in Australian dollars, so I can't be too sure.
Fly First Class - for less If you must fly first class. They have a few deals. Their business class is as cheap as the economy from the unimpressive sites.
traveldiscounts.com My test flight came through for $789 on this one. Pretty good. Except I couldn't get any non-US flights to come up. Another US to XX only.
travelnow.com My test flight came through for $899 on this one. They use more expensive airlines in their database. If you can't stand the China or Malaysia Airlines types (who are usually the cheapest), you might want to try here. Their highest flight was $2000 though! They say they are international and do have international flights, but the prices I saw were way high. 1350 USD from London to Bangkok round trip? You may do better though.
Skytours Medium good prices, but they at least know what the word "International" means. I got prices on many routes, and they offer several currencies. They do require a log-in, but bogus information seems ok, I put Not(last) Your(first) Business(middle) as my name and got referred to as "Your" thru the rest of my test run.
Auction
SkyAuction Make a bid - see if you can get it cheap! You might be pleasantly surprised! There are very good deals here. Mostly they are to from the US, unfortunately. They issue the tickets themselves, so don't try to use them for next day flights. Almost all their auction items have a range of dates, and availability may change between the time you win the auction and confirm, so a bit of adaptibility is very helpful.
Priceline A new concept on the
internet. A reverse auction. You tell them what you want to pay, and merchants
tell you if they'll sell at that price. Can't hurt to try! I don't know anything
directly about them, but haven't heard anything bad either. Unfortunately, they
seem a bit US-insular also. Send them an e-mail and complain. Again, you do need
to be a bit adaptable for leaving and return dates.
Unimpressive!
I am not sure why these sites keep coming up so expensive, I suspect they may be switching to business class, even when economy class is specified.
One Travel: They advertise low price. I ran my test flight on this one. Their 'farebuster' fare was $2742 US!Expedia: Microsoft owns these guys now - found no real bargains here. They were $232 below onetravel.com at $2510. Gee - what savings!
Travelocity: These travel specialists(?) couldn't find a flight from Miami to Bangkok. No comment.
Good things to know
FAQ This guy has a good explanation of discounters. Keep in mind that he is a travel agent, and has a book to sell, so he is a bit biased.Another FAQ This one is by a bunch who sell consolidator fares, so they are a bit biased in the opposite direction. More good information here. I didn't include them in the consolidators site list, as they did not have extremely good prices - not near as bad as the unimpressive ones though. They DO have inter-country flights other than US to XX or UK to XX or Australia to XX, so you might want to check them for comparison purposes.