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Siam Man

Online Flight bookings - who do you use?

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Here is a good primer for using advanced codes with Matrix that allow you to plan routes using specific airlines or routing thru LAX or NRT or wherever:

 

http://hackmytrip.com/2012/09/using-routing-language-with-ita-fare-matrix/

 

You can't book trips with Matrix. Instead, you print up your itenarary and either give it to a travel agent or call the airline directly. There is no way for the consumer to input the all the codes into airline websites. I use Matrix for my flights, and it has always been my experience that giving the codes to a TA is easier than trying to book codes directly with the airlines. The airlines act as if you are pulling their teeth out when you read out all those booking codes to them over the phone. TA's are happy to do it for you because you have already done all the legwork for them.

 

Thanks very much. I've used them for years and didn't know this. ;)

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I have been looking around for flights ex BKK to go to London. Aside from the fact prices have gone up a lot, it really does appear that the Internet age has not hit Thailand, at least as far as flight bookings go. From what i can see, the best fares are on the airlines own websites.

 

I will check out some real travel agencies as well over the coming weeks. seems like 32,000b is about the best economy fare and 82,000b the best Business class fare (South Asian/Indian carriers excluded - I have done the Mumbai transfers before for business and vowed never again).

 

Hey Mardhi, Etihad have got some excellent Business Saver fares on at the moment.... I just paid 65k to get to Amsterdam... then will hop over to my regional airport and stay in the dam on the way back for the weekend.

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I use these guys a lot to get a reference price. They've been way ahead of the curve for a long time, mainly because they've developed the search engines for most of the airlines. It was a bit of a secret for awhile. Now they're more generally known. Nowadays, many of their attractive features have been added by some airlines (like looking ahead a month for the best price)...good for us retirees who aren't bound by the demands of wage slavery.

 

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

 

This is a superb product !!!! Been looking at plenty London bound flights for November and this has just cut through the crap - cheapest by far is some 22,000b ex BKK on KLM in economy. That is half the price i have seen before.

 

Many thanks for suggesting this - aside from the GDS systems used by agents, this is way ahead of plugging through each airlines website. The month feature is really handy as well.

 

Good job that man for suggesting it.

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If you have the time and dont mind a lengthy layover, asaptickets.com is one of the best when traveling from the US. Im looking at march right now and from Alaska $738!

 

Neo

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aussie

travel.com.au

thaiair full service 800 to 1000

budget airasia and scoot but change sing or kl with lay over

sumtimes change terminal but can pay extra to miss this crap

they get the shits when you drink your duty free and wont serve you coke

ah well

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Kayak,com for finding trends.

Knowing that most sites will disclose the lowest fare is available through an airline, and that most sites tack on $10-$50 above straight airline fee.

 

Then using my agent to scour trends and seats at the airline at that airline to get me best seat and price.

 

I am going MIA BKK 16 October and seemed destined to Qatar Air at ~$1300. But my agent knew both United and Delta were planning to compete with Qatar. I scored Delta at just under $1200, with a routing that gave me the best chance of upgrading and allowing my 3-70lb luggage pieces (I carry a lot of commercial stuff). Got the word today (12 Oct), I was upgraded.

 

The advantage of an agent is overwhelming, as long as you know the questions. And, no penalty to change or cancel with 24 hours of reservation (payment not due for 24 hours as well).

 

By the way, this fare is almost $1000 usd more than I paid in June. Thank you Qatar for fare drop. I could have found $1155 flights, but travel time was 30 hours plus.

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I booked Cathay Pacific from LAX to BKK for $885 on October 16th. The fare sale ended Sept 30. There was a Delta option for $790. Delta was the same plane with 2 hour stopover in Tokyo.

 

I sat with my travel agent using matrix.itasoftware.com on my laptop, while she was on sabre. Quite fun actually.

 

I chose Cathay as it is 5 star to Delta 3 star rating. Plus my brother is a mechanic for Delta and a few years ago they pretty much wiped out his retirement in a reorganization. After that move it is hard to see giving Delta another dollar.

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This is a superb product !!!! Been looking at plenty London bound flights for November and this has just cut through the crap - cheapest by far is some 22,000b ex BKK on KLM in economy. That is half the price i have seen before.

 

Many thanks for suggesting this - aside from the GDS systems used by agents, this is way ahead of plugging through each airlines website. The month feature is really handy as well.

 

Good job that man for suggesting it.

 

My pleasure. It's fun to contribute and fun to find out it helped somebody. :)

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I had an interesting experience booking my flights on Cathay Pacific that should be noted. After getting an email from Cathay about super low fares I booked flights. as mentioned above I took my laptop and used matrix.itasoftware.com and we worked together to complete the booking.

 

When I had decided which flight I watched on her computer as she booked the flight and then we went on to seat assignment. I am a bit claustrophobic so I tend to carefully select seats. I had plenty to choose from and got some excellent seats. Or so I thought.

 

Last night I was doing online check in and the system asked me what seats I would like. Hmmmm I thought this was already done. I tried a couple of times. I dug out my paper itinerary and looked and sure enough no mention of seat assignments. I called Cathay and they were closed and open only during regular business hours in my time zone. So I called the next morning.

 

After giving my reservation code I was politely told that as per my fare code, the seat arrangement we made was a "request" for seating not a "confirmation" of seating. Of course the lady said, if I wanted better seats I could buy them. I talked to my travel agent today and she apologized as she had missed any mention of this. And as far as the travel agent could see after closing the window of seats they showed up on her Sabre text screen. So she was really none the wiser either.

 

My seats suck............... live and learn

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I always use Expedia, they always seem to be the cheapest from OZ, but don't confuse them with any questions, or change of plans

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I always use Expedia, they always seem to be the cheapest from OZ, but don't confuse them with any questions, or change of plans

I was using them a fair bit but have found helloworld beats them quite often now . Always cross reference with the airlines own site of course . Just remember to clear your cookies when searching for a particular date , as they tend to bump the price up sometimes .

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Last Dec I was booking a flight to the US and started with matrix.ita.software and I thought geeez these prices seem high. Sure enough when I went to Expedia, Kayak and Orbitz the prices were very different. Of course one cannot book through matrix but I was always a good research tool as it gave a lot more information over a 30 day stretch.

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Have to beg to differ there .

Ps give me some good ones then. I have tried many and the airlines seem to give best especially the mid eastern and Asian airlines.

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Ps give me some good ones then. I have tried many and the airlines seem to give best especially the mid eastern and Asian airlines.

A couple have been mentioned already . Put it this way , if the airline's own site was mostly cheaper the third party sellers wouldn't do business . :)

Edit . I'm a member of a frequent flyer forum also . It has some useful tips and some discounts too which is a bonus .

Edited by Boomerang

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Just pays to shop around though , as it can vary from hour to hour even .

 

Edit : not sure where you are from dav , but next time just before you book put up your deal here & maybe others may assist .:)

Edited by Boomerang

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Thank you. I have tried many online sites and the major issue is the rates they quote online at those sites were very rigid and in economy most of the times. My times need to be flexible and to be honest I am in aviation and have been all my life and also a member of the flyer forum too. Yes there are sometimes good rates from Europe and US to Asia but those don't work for me because of these issues.

Thank you for the advice

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Thanks Youngone. I am limited to mostly the gulf carriers as and as you say its a bit easier to change if you buy direct from the airlines or use a reputable travel agent.

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I primarily use:

www.google.com/flights/

https://flights.idealo.com/

https://www.momondo.com/

Occasionally also

flights.booking.com & flights.agoda.com/

I've heard that

www.skiplagged.com

supposedly was so good. Anyone who can confirm that?

11745381_10153102497722293_4258122542672

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I use Skyscanner which is an aggregator, but it has some traps such as cheaper flights that don't include luggage or all fees. Especially for regional travel, full service airlines can be better value than budget airlines as they are typically an 'all in price' listed on skyscanner.com and budget airlines still have fees to be added in the booking process, sometimes can come close to 50% of the originally searched ticket price. 

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