ITASoftware.com is a great vehicle for determining all your different air itinerary options.
by Wendy Perrin

Amy Higer of Maplewood, N.J., writes, "Hi.  I heard you on The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC Radio last week.  You mentioned your favorite website for finding the best air fares, but I neglected to write it down.  Would you be able to tell me the site?  Thank you so much."

I recall mentioning two air fare search engines. The first was Kayak, and here's why. The second was ITASoftware, and here's why. Neither is a travel agent: You use them to find the most convenient flight/route at the best fare, then you buy from the airline.  Hope this helps!

If anyone else has a favorite air fare search engine, won't you share it by clicking on "comments" below?

Pretty civilized for an airplane, huh?
Photo: Silverjet

by Wendy Perrin

Attention, anyone who needs to get to London this spring and can't face coach: Silverjet, the swank new all-business-class airline that flies between Newark and London's Luton Airport, today announced an air fare deal so sweet that I couldn't not pass it on: You can fly in April, May, or June for $919 each way, as long as you book your ticket by this Friday, April 18.

Silverjet's mission, as its CEO Lawrence Hunt was telling me in my office the other day, is to "bring back the values that have been lost in today's world of mass travel by offering a private jet experience for an exceptional low fare."  What impressed me the most was not that the seats recline into 6-foot-3-inch flat beds, each with their own in-flight entertainment system and A/C power, nor that you get expedited through a fast-track security line. No, what made my mouth water was that you can check in for your flight as little as 30 minutes before departure. In fact, Lawrence explained, you can leave Manhattan only 1 1/2 hours before flight time: If you're at Penn Station at 6 p.m., you can catch the 6:11 New Jersey Transit train that arrives at Newark Airport at 6:38, hop on the AirTrain to Terminal B, and make the 7:30 p.m. flight to London. Flying into Luton sweetens the deal too: You get to avoid Heathrow.

Looking for a cheap flight to China? A fare consolidator might be your best bet.
Photo: wikipedia.org

by Brook Wilkinson

Question from reader Crasydaisy:

"In the January edition of Conde Nast Traveler, Wendy mentioned independent airfare consolidators. Could you advise me of the names of some of these consolidators that sell to the general public?"

That's right, Wendy did mention airfare consolidators in her article about strategies we used to book our Dream Trip Contest winner's trip of a lifetime.

Airfare consolidators typically buy a large volume of seats at a low wholesale price directly from the airline and then sell those seats either to travel agents or to individuals. This can be a great way to buy last-minute tickets, since the airlines tend to keep increasing fares as the date of departure nears.

One thing to be aware of when buying through a consolidator: These tickets usually aren't eligible for frequent-flier miles. Ask the consolidator. And take Wendy's advice: Use your credit card so that your purchase is protected.

Read on for links to some reputable airfare consolidators that sell directly to the public.

by Brook Wilkinson

Question from reader Frosta, in response to Wendy's post about FareCompare and tips for finding cheap holiday fares:

"What do you think about buying holiday tickets during a sale using 'guesstimate dates' and then paying to change the flight/dates later if necessary? Even with the change fee, this might still be cheaper than the jacked-up holiday fares."

That's some creative thinking, Frosta, but unfortunately it won't work. I checked with Rick Seaney of FareCompare, and he told me that once you change your dates, you'll have to pay the difference between your original fare and the current fare on the day that you rebooked -- by which time the sale might be long gone. You'll also have to pay the change fee of approximately $100 for a domestic ticket, and between $100 and $200 for an international one. Says Rick:

"The bottom line for holiday tickets is shop early, and know what a good price is. Expect to pay a premium. The key is to pay a small premium and not a large one, which normally occurs the closer you get to the travel dates."

Save money on fares to Europe by flying through Dublin International Airport.

By Wendy Perrin

On Monday I shared some of the top 30 travel secrets compiled by yours truly for our 20th Anniversary issue. Here are a few more tips that have garnered the most thank-yous from Conde Nast Traveler readers over the years.

Which are the best days to fly for a long weekend?
Taking two days off work? You'll find cheaper fares and greater seat availability if you fly on a Saturday and return on a Tuesday, instead of going from Thursday to Sunday or Friday to Monday.

How do you bypass the airline phone tree and speak to someone who can actually help?
If a family member has elite frequent-flier status with the airline, use his or her special elite phone number (as well as frequent-flier number and PIN). If not, press the number for booking international flights.

Want to save hundreds of dollars on an international flight?
Find out if it's a code share. When a U.S. airline and its foreign partner both sell seats on the same flight (making it a code share), one carrier's fares could be substantially lower, so check prices on both. The same seat on the same New York-Hong Kong flight could cost hundreds of dollars less through Cathay Pacific than through American Airlines.

More strategies for international flights after the jump.

ITA Software is a great tool for finding the lowest airfares.

By Wendy Perrin

Here are a few of my favorite travel secrets, collected for our 20th Anniversary issue. These are the tips  that have garnered me the most thank-yous from Conde Nast Traveler readers over the years.

How do you get the lowest airfare?
ITA Software provides the most comprehensive and least biased list of fare and route options. Find out which airline offers the best itinerary for the lowest price, then go to that carrier's Web site to book. Itasoftware does not list flights on foreign low-cost airlines, however, so to find out which fly where, use WhichBudget or WeGoLo.

How do you get the best seat in coach?
Before accepting an airline seat assignment, go to SeatGuru and look up the aircraft you're flying. Seatguru will tell you which seats offer extra leg or elbow room and which to avoid -- such as those that don't recline, have immovable armrests, or have an obstructed view of the movie screen.

How can you snag mileage-award seats to your destination?
Lo and behold, there is someone who can help: LaDonna Epler, who used to work for the now-defunct AwardPlanner, knows the tricks and strategies for redeeming miles to get you where you want to go -- by, say, flying on partner airlines or alternate routes you haven't thought of. E-mail her at ladonna.epler@yahoo.com. Another option: Call the carrier you have your miles with immediately after midnight in the time zone where it has its U.S. headquarters. Typically, award reservations expire if they're not ticketed by midnight, so you can possibly nab the seats that someone else has just forfeited.

Which credit card allows you to collect the most miles you can actually use?
The Starwood AmEx card lets you redeem your miles on any of 30 airlines (including every major U.S. carrier) and earns you the equivalent of 1.25 miles per dollar spent: AmEx gives you one point per dollar, but when you redeem points for miles, Starwood throws in an extra 5,000 points for each 20,000 you redeem.

What's the easiest way to earn miles?
Do your online shopping via airline Web sites. Continental, Delta, and other carriers link their sites to an enormous range of stores -- such as Land's End, Staples, and Barnes & Noble -- where you can earn up to ten miles per dollar spent.

Stay tuned for more top travel secrets over the next couple of weeks!

Flying to Jackson, Wyoming, can be expensive during the peak
winter holiday season . . . unless you know the tricks for nabbing
the lowest fares.
Photo: Allen Thornton, Alamy Images

by Wendy Perrin

Yesterday a fellow Conde Nast Traveler editor and ski buff knocked on my door, asking how to snag the cheapest fare to Jackson Hole over the New Year's holiday.  Nabbing affordable fares during peak holiday periods is tricky, of course. It gets trickier if you're flying not to a major hub like Salt Lake City but to a small airport like Jackson, Wyoming.  And it's even trickier if you're not willing to fly on the actual holiday itself or the night before:  During the two-week holiday crunch that starts a few days before Christmas and ends a few days after the New Year, the days with the cheapest fares are Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day.

I knew my colleague needed a baseline:  What's been the lowest air fare between New York City and Jackson during the holidays in past years?  And I knew the tool to use for this: FareCompare.  I even emailed its CEO, cheap-fare guru Rick Seaney (the subject of this fascinating profile on Conde Nast Portfolio), for advice.  Here are Rick's tips for finding the lowest fares, not just for the holidays but for any time of year:

(1) Start about four months ahead (earlier for holiday flights).
The airlines manage revenue in four-month cycles, so any fare you find more than four months ahead is not the cheapest price (with the exception of holiday-period fares).

(2) Pinpoint the current cheapest fare for your route.
Punch your city pair into FareCompare's Find Fares tool. The cheapest fare for NYC-JAC in December and January is $420.  The cheapest fare on the dates when my colleague can fly?  $480.

(3) Find out the historically lowest fare for your route.
Learn how after the jump.

Are you itching for a weekend away, but don't want to drop a ton of cash? Kayak now lets users search for airfares between the same cities over multiple weekends, all at once. If you don't specify certain weekends or days of the week, Kayak will search for the lowest fares leaving Thursday or Friday and returning Sunday for the next five weekends. Not surprisingly, the lowest fares are typically on the weekends furthest out, but I found that having all the information on one page is really helpful. If I wanted to go visit my grandmother in Naples, Florida, for instance, Kayak showed me that I'd get the lowest fare into Fort Meyers by leaving San Francisco on Friday, October 5th, and that I'd pay almost $100 more to leave just one week earlier.

Kayak won't help you find a destination with a great deal, but if you already know where you want to go and are flexible about the dates, it's a quick way to see the lowest weekend airfares.

Aer Lingus has just lowered fares on several routes between the U.S. and Ireland -- including Dublin, where lies St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Photo: Olivier Cirendini, Lonely Planet Images/Conde Nast Traveler

by Brook Wilkinson

George Hobica of airfarewatchdog.com just posted the coming week's airfare deals over on the Frommer's blog. If you've been thinking about the Emerald Isle, listen up: Aer Lingus is having a sale on fares in August and September from several U.S. cities to Ireland -- like Los Angeles to Dublin for just $735, including taxes.

Airfarewatchdog.com employs human beings, not computer programs, to scan the Web and pick out the best available deals, so chances are higher that you'll actually find seats at the fares shown. The downside is that the site has no specific search function, just a listing of sales from your chosen point of departure, so it's more useful to someone who's flexible about both dates and destination. A search that I just did for deals out of San Francisco, for example, generated a fare of $98 to Cleveland on United and $818 to Bangkok on Cathay Pacific (the third-favorite airline among Conde Nast Traveler readers, according to our 2006 Readers' Choice Awards), among others.

by Wendy Perrin

The Cranky Flier has weighed in with a coupla more Web sites for finding low-fare airlines in Europe.  To learn who flies between which cities, I've always happily used whichbudget, but Cranky has always happily used  flycheapo.  He adds that you can skip this step entirely by heading straight to wegolo, which lets you search a lot of low-cost carriers for rates and availability.

Thanks, Cranky, for coming through again with your nifty tips. No wonder you wonstole the 2007 award for Best Informative/Practical Travel Blog out from under me. I've ALMOST forgiven you.

So here's a fun game for everyone to play: Where in the world do you think Cranky is in this photo?  To hazard a guess, click on "Post a comment" below.                        

Photo courtesy of Crankyflier.com

by Wendy Perrin

Question from reader LeslieGKoch:

"What Web sites can I use to book low-cost airlines in Europe?  I need to fly among three capital cities, but Expedia et al. show only the national airlines, which are quite expensive."

Great question. Fortunately, I covered this in depth in my Perrin Report on European low-fare airlines. One thing to remember about these airlines: They sometimes use an alternative airport that is farther from the city center than the main airport. So, before buying your tickets, research public-transportation options and taxi costs from the airport that the plane flies into.

Photo courtesy of easyJet.com.

This photo, entitled "Leaving Las Vegas," is one reader's entry in Conde Nast Traveler's Dream Trip Contest. (Wanna enter too?  You have until April 23.)

By Wendy Perrin

Remember last night I asked for advice?  I wanted to find out if the following fare trick could get my friend into trouble:

She needs to get from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco and back, but the cheapo fares are between D.C. and Vegas. So she's considering booking a D.C.-San Francisco-Vegas flight and no-showing on the SFO-Vegas leg, then driving to Vegas (where she has friends she wants to visit anyway) and flying from there back to D.C.  If she were to book this flight itinerary as a round-trip, the no-show on the SFO-Vegas leg would cause United to cancel her seats on the return, stranding her in Vegas and forcing her to buy expensive last-minute tickets if she wants to get back to D.C.   So my question was: If she books two separate one-way tickets, would she still land in trouble with United?

The experts' consensus: No, and she should go for it. Business travel guru Joe Brancatelli of JoeSentMe says: Make sure she gets a unique record locator number for each one-way ticket. Cranky (a.k.a. Brett Snyder) of The Cranky Flier recommends the same and adds: Even if she somehow gets found out on the outbound trip, it won't jeopardize her return flight. Rick Seaney of FareCompare and The Air Travel Channel points out: "Hundreds of people every day miss connections and/or their return portion of trips for dozens of reasons, so this is not something the airlines dwell on unless they see a large pattern of abuse."  Thank you, Joe, Cranky, Rick -- and the other frequent fliers who commented --  for your very helpful insights.

McCarran International Airport: Not where I'd want to be stranded with two kids.

By Wendy Perrin

Can any of you clever road warriors advise me whether the following airfare dipsy doodle might work or not?  My friend Linda wants to fly with her two kids from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco this summer. She writes:

"My husband has found one-way fares on United from Washington, D.C., to Las Vegas, with a stopover in San Francisco, for $90.  I assume we can disembark in San Francisco and skip the SFO-Vegas leg.  (I realize it means we couldn't check luggage.)  For the return flight to D.C., we would drive to Las Vegas and fly back from there on a separate one-way ticket on United. Do you think it would be safe to book this?  I know that if we bought a roundtrip fare and skipped the second leg of the outbound flight, United could cancel our reservations on the return.  But this is not a roundtrip fare; we'd be using two separate one-way tickets. Can we safely do this, or could we end up stranded in Vegas?"

Great question.  I wish I knew the answer.  I'd feel better if the one-way tickets were on two different airlines. I'm concerned that, with both one-way tickets in United's computer system, it could raise a red flag, United might cancel the return reservation, and Linda would be stuck in Vegas having to buy astronomically priced last-minute full-fare tickets to get home.   Thoughts, anyone? 

By Wendy Perrin

"Why is Tuesday the best day of the week to search the Web for air fares?" asks reader Ed Barkowitz, who just last week got around to taking my Test Your Travel Smarts quiz in Conde Nast Traveler's November issue. To repeat Question 6:

Which of the following days is best for finding low air fares on the Web?
a. Tuesday    b. Friday    c. Saturday      d. Sunday     The answer: a.

Ed, you'll find the cheapest fares at around 6 a.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.  A fare that is $340 on Saturday could drop to $300 by Tuesday morning. Here's why . . . . 

By Wendy Perrin

Caveat emptor.

Delta has launched a massive network-wide fare sale for travel in November and December, for tickets requiring 7-day advance purchase.  Before whipping out your credit card, though, you might want to Google the news coverage Delta has been getting recently, thanks to the woeful lateness of its flights, the mishandling of its passengers' luggage, and the frequency with which it's been bumping people from overbooked planes.  Nobody's said it better than business travel expert Joe Brancatelli in his latest column on "Delta's Meltdown."  If you don't subscribe to Joe's site, (1) you probably should, (2) you can find this particular column at USA Today's site, and (3) here's the jist of it:

"Delta is currently the least-reliable, most-delayed, most-likely-to-lose-your-luggage carrier in the nation.  Even by the diluted standards of the post-9/11, bankruptcy-addled Big Six, Delta is an embarrassment."

By Wendy Perrin

Question from a reader:

"I lost the bookmark for a travel research Web site I just loved, and I'm hoping you can help me relocate it. It was a search engine where you could enter a destination and see the posted fares throughout an entire week or month or any specific time frame. A calendar would pop up showing which airlines have the lowest fares on which days. I heard it was developed by scientists at M.I.T.  I used to use it religiously. Please help!"

You probably mean ITA Software.  I love that site too!  In fact, if you scroll down to my FAVORITE TRAVEL TOOLS menu (below, right-hand strip) and click on "Air Fare and Route Information" . . . Bingo!

By Wendy Perrin

Flew in to St. Petersburg, Russia, a few hours ago, and have not slept since 7:00 a.m. yesterday, so just a quick note before I collapse:

I was thrilled to see that one of my favorite bloggers and mileage gurus, Gary Leff of View From The Wing (fans of Flyertalk know who I'm talking about), has a theory about my colleague's missing miles. As my last post explained, a fellow editor at Conde Nast Traveler flew American Airlines and its international partner Qantas to Sydney, Australia, and now Qantas won't give her AAdvantage miles for the outbound trip.

Gary's educated guess as to what happened:

Photo: Robert Polidori, Conde Nast Traveler

By Wendy Perrin

Question from a reader:

"My husband and I are planning our first trip overseas, hoping to spend a week or so in Northern Italy--definitely Venice and the Cinque Terre, possibly Lake Como and Torino. This was supposed to be our honeymoon--now almost 4 years late!  We do not want to go on a tour because of cost, but we're not sure where to start in planning this ourselves.  I have a bunch of questions as to when we should go, when we should shop for airfare, and how to find inexpensive but clean lodging. We want to maximize our brief trip by minimizing our time waiting in lines.  Additionally, we did not plan on renting a car but rather using trains and other public transportation; is this a good idea?  We'd like to keep our costs down so we can travel again in 2008."   Anne Rollins

First of all, since you have only a week and you're training it, I recommend limiting your trip to Venice and the Cinque Terre. Believe me, all those canals and museums and islands and fishing villages will keep you plenty busy. If you try to work in Lake Como and Torino too, you'll spend too much time in transit and only end up frustrated.

Second, I assume you want to fly into Venice and out of Milan, or vice versa.  The cheapest air fares are in low season--November through March--but you'll probably want to wait till the spring, when it's warmer and daylight lasts longer, so you can pack in more sightseeing.  Consider April: Air fares are lower than in summer, and Italy is not as crowded with tourists as it is in May. Since I don't know which city you're flying from, it's hard to advise you about the smartest way to fly.  You might go to a site called Itasoftware.com to suss out your best route and fare options. (You can't book through Itasoftware; it's simply a comprehensive, unbiased search engine.)  Then go to the site of whichever airline offers the route and fare you prefer.

Third, a great source for small inexpensive hotels in Italy is Venere.com.  Another reason for April: Most hotels don't switch to high-season rates till May. For a great description of Venice in April on Italy del Giorno, one of my favorite Italy blogs, click here.

As for taking the train, I forwarded your query to my friend Colette Carmeris, who lives in the Cinque Terre town of Monterosso three months of the year and never rents a car.  She takes the train all over Italy and, in fact, met up with me on two of my three trips there last year. Colette's advice:

"Definitely take the train!  It's a real bargain in Italy, compared with train prices in the U.S.  Trenitalia will give you schedules for trains from Venice to Cinque Terre via Milano Centrale.  I recommend reserving seats in advance (which means you must buy your tickets at least one day before you travel). Trying to negotiate tickets at the train station can be challenging if you don't speak Italian, and the lines can be madness, so just go to an American Express travel agency in Venice and buy your tickets there.

A good time to go would be at the end of March or start of April, when the weather has warmed up. By the end of March, the boats are running between the Cinque Terre from Monterosso to Portovenere. It's a great way to see the towns because you can jump off and back on the boats all day long. They run every hour.

Most people staying in the Cinque Terre seem to love Vernazza, although one of my favorite towns is Camogli--a wonderful little harbor village about half an hour north of Monterosso with lots of interesting shops, art galleries, and seafront restaurants."

Anyone else have a tip for Anne?  If so, click on "Comments" below.

By Wendy Perrin

I was just reading a bedtime story (Richard Scarry's A Day At The Airport) to my four-year-old Charlie.  This is literally the conversation it led to:

Charlie:  I love airports!
Me:  You do?  Why?
Charlie: There are so many different things to do there.
Me:  Really?  What's your favorite thing to do there?
Charlie: I love when your bags go on the black escalator and come out of the tunnel.
Me: You mean the baggage carousel?  The flat black conveyor belt that goes around in a circle where we pick up our suitcases?
Charlie: No, that takes too long.  I mean the flat black thing that goes in a straight line, where you put your bags on and they go into the tunnel and then they come out again.
Me: You mean the security checkpoint?  That's your favorite part of the airport?!?
Charlie:  Yes!  That's soooo much fun!

I guess it's refreshing that some people still enjoy going through security, even if they're only four. Most people who fly want to deal with as few airports as possible. Which is why U.S. airlines like Delta and Continental are increasingly flying directly to smaller European cities rather than forcing passengers to connect in Europe's hub airports.  Delta has started 12 new routes across the Atlantic (from Atlanta and J.F.K.) since March.  According to today's Wall Street Journal, Delta believes that direct international routes to second-tier cities is the way to make more money.

For now, Delta's tactic means low fares to cities like Nice, Venice, Copenhagen, and Dusseldorf.  These direct flights can actually cost much less than connecting ones, depending on what day you fly.  Case in point: I'm headed to Nice in early December.  Last week, when I bought my ticket, I had a choice of flying directly from J.F.K. to Nice for $577 or flying from J.F.K. to Paris to Nice the following day for $1,957.  Flying nonstop cost $1,380 less!

The interior of Berlin's Sony Center
(Photo: Robert Polidori, Conde Nast Traveler)

By Wendy Perrin

In case you need a little Christmas right this very minute:  I wrote my December Perrin Report for Conde Nast Traveler about trips you can take during the Christmas/New Year's period that actually cost less than they do the rest of the year. Not beach or ski vacations, of course--these cost far more over the holidays--but certain city and European vacations. There's one thing, though, that I couldn't cover in my December column because of timing: Cut-rate fares in Continental's BusinessFirst (a business-class/first-class hybrid) to Europe, which must be purchased 30 days in advance and by December 6 at the latest.  Newark to Berlin or Stockholm is only $1,350 roundtrip.  Newark to Edinburgh or London is $1,430 roundtrip.  Houston or San Antonio to London is $1,630 roundtrip. Even lower fares are available over Thanksgiving.  Happy holidays!

Photo: Eos Airlines

By Wendy Perrin

You can chug as much bottled water as you want onboard Eos, the comfy new all-first-class airline that flies from J.F.K. to London's Stansted Airport.  Today it begins flying twice a day. Before the airport security mess caused by the new carry-on restrictions, my favorite thing about Eos was that you get a seat that's a 6' 6" lie-flat bed with 21 square feet of personal space; the way it's designed, everyone gets aisle access but also privacy.  Now, what with all the airport hassle, my favorite thing is that you're whisked to the gate by an Eos escort who meets you at the curb and fast-tracks you through both check-in and security.

Until now there were two main reasons not to fly Eos. One was that if you missed your flight you'd have to wait a whole day for the next. Now, with two flights daily, that's less of a concern.  The other reason: Cost. It's about $6,500 roundtrip--which is much cheaper than first-class fares on competing airlines but still unaffordable to mere mortals.  If you can book your flights 30 days in advance and stay over a Saturday night, though, it's $2,950 roundtrip. I can dream, can't I?

By Wendy Perrin

By late yesterday American, Delta, and United had all dropped the $10 fare hike that they put in place last week, since rival airlines had not matched the higher fares.  What happened is typical: When airlines try to raise fares, usually one carrier hikes its prices on a Thursday and others match the hike over the weekend.  If by Sunday one airline has held out, then by late Monday all the carriers lower their fares again. 

There's a lesson here for everyone:  Do your Web airfare shopping on midweek mornings.  Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at about 6 a.m. are your best bet. And, of course, use the right sites.