Ethnic agencies, however, didn't always deliver the best bargain. We did find lower fares on some major travel Web sites, but only on itineraries with connecting flights. For nonstop tickets, ethnic agencies came in with the lowest price nearly every time. In our exhaustive search for bargains, we discovered that online consolidators can also pay off in savings. We researched fares on AirlineConsolidator.com and found that, while the results were uneven, the site did turn up some that were cheaper than those on other Web sites; in one case, it even beat the ethnic agencies. From Los Angeles to Kuala Lumpur, AirlineConsolidator.com offered a fare of $1,174, which was $185 less than the lowest offered by Kayak.com; it also produced the best price on a route from Honolulu to Bangkok. And from San Francisco to Bangkok, AirlineConsolidator.com offered a $1,208 ticket, a savings of $140 to $263 over other Web sites' fares—even beating an ethnic agency's quote by $484.

The Catch
Most tickets sold by ethnic travel agencies are consolidator tickets, which are highly restricted—usually completely nonrefundable and nonchangeable. "These tickets will absolutely save you money," says George Hobica, president of Airfarewatchdog.com, a site that monitors airline pricing. "But personally, I wouldn't buy them. They're kind of use 'em or lose 'em," he says, noting that, unlike regular tickets, they will not be accepted by another carrier in the event of a flight cancellation or an extended delay and will not earn you mileage.

And no matter how well you plan, a snafu is sometimes unavoidable. Richard Carpenter, a pathologist from Irvington, Virginia, used a travel agency that secured tickets from an air consolidator to book a trip to France last year as a thirtieth-wedding-anniversary present for his wife. He locked in a $3,500 package with flights on Air France, but on the day of departure, the couple missed their plane after being delayed by traffic near Washington's Dulles Airport. The carrier agreed to book them on a later flight—for an additional $2,000. "I thought I would only have to pay a hundred-dollar change fee for each of us," says Carpenter. "I was floored."

While he was contesting the fee, the later flight was canceled. At that point, an Air France agent informed the Carpenters that the rebooking would now cost more than $10,000, even though they were told that there were 68 empty seats in economy. With that news, the couple canceled their trip. Carpenter spent months writing to Air France and his travel agency—to no avail. He even contacted the consolidator but says it was unresponsive, telling him that it works only with travel agents.