Best Flight Deals: Where To Book Your Next Trip

There are many travel portals that offer deals on flights. Some of the most popular ones are Google Flights, Kayak, Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity. Booking directly through the airline's website will often give you the best price or will be the same as the Online Travel Agencies (OTAs). OTAs like Expedia and Priceline provide loyalty rewards and exclusive deals, but be aware of potential booking fees and restrictions on earning airline status miles. Credit card travel portals, like the AmEx or Chase travel portal, can also be used to book flights with points.

Credit card travel portals

Citi ThankYou

The Citi ThankYou portal is the best option when considering which portal offers the lowest prices, the quickest load times, and the most user-friendly interface. Citi and Chase portals offer the lowest airfare prices, with Citi edging out Chase for the best travel portal overall. Citi's portal has a faster load time than its competitors and is more user-friendly than AmEx. However, it is not as robust as Capital One's portal, which offers more features.

Chase Travel

The Chase travel portal is another great option for booking flights. It offers competitive airfare prices, tying with Citi for the lowest in the comparison. The portal features a sleek and intuitive interface, making it easy to navigate and book flights. Additionally, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers bonus rewards when booking flights, hotels, and rental cars through their travel portal.

Capital One Travel

Capital One's travel portal is integrated with Hopper, a travel booking app, offering features such as a flight calendar view that shows the cheapest dates for travel. It also has advanced features like price prediction and price alerts. While Capital One's portal has slightly higher airfare prices than Citi and Chase, it excels in usability and functionality.

AmEx Travel

AmEx Travel is the most expensive portal, with airfares costing over $100 more than Chase and Citi on average. It also has the slowest load times, making it inefficient and frustrating for users. The interface is clunky, and it lists promotional "insider fares" at the top of search results, making it difficult to find the lowest-priced flights.

When choosing a credit card travel portal, it is important to consider factors such as airfare prices, load times, usability, and the potential for earning extra rewards points. Each portal has its pros and cons, so it is essential to compare them and choose the one that best suits your needs.

Booking directly with an airline

Firstly, let's look at the benefits. When you book directly with an airline, you will generally find it easier to change or cancel your booking. If you need to make changes to your flight, the airline will be able to assist you directly, without you having to go through a third party. This can save a lot of time and hassle, especially if there are issues with your booking.

Additionally, booking directly with an airline can often result in earning points or elite status benefits. For example, if you have elite status with a hotel chain, you may be able to enjoy perks such as room upgrades, complimentary breakfast, or free Wi-Fi. Booking through an OTA may not always allow you to take advantage of these benefits.

Another advantage of booking directly with an airline is that you may have access to more flight options. Some smaller airlines may not be listed on OTA websites, or certain flight routes may only be available through the airline's website.

Now, let's consider some potential drawbacks. One of the main disadvantages of booking directly with an airline is that it may be more expensive. OTAs often offer cheaper prices on flights to attract customers. Additionally, they may offer rewards or loyalty programs that can provide additional benefits.

Another possible downside is that booking directly with an airline may not always be the most user-friendly option. Some airline websites may have clunky interfaces or lack certain features that make it difficult to find the best deals or compare different flight options.

In conclusion, while booking directly with an airline can provide certain advantages, it is important to weigh these against the potential drawbacks. It is always a good idea to compare prices, consider the flexibility of your travel plans, and decide which benefits are most important to you before making your booking.

Online travel agencies (OTAs)

However, it's important to be aware of potential drawbacks when using OTAs. For example, you may not be able to earn miles toward elite status or be eligible for upgrades when booking through an OTA. Additionally, some OTAs charge booking fees, so be sure to read the fine print before finalizing your purchase.

When using OTAs, it's always a good idea to compare prices on multiple sites to ensure you're getting the best deal. In addition to Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity, other popular OTAs include Priceline, Hotwire, and CheapOair. These sites often provide flexible booking options, allowing you to combine one-way flights on different airlines or offering package deals that include hotel stays.

While OTAs can be a convenient way to book travel, it's also worth checking prices directly on the airline's website, as they sometimes offer lower prices or exclusive deals that may not be available through OTAs.

In addition to OTAs, there are also travel search engines like Kayak and Google Flights, which allow you to compare prices across multiple websites in one place. These sites are great for finding the best deals, especially if you have flexible travel plans. They also offer features like price tracking and flexible search options to help you find the lowest fares.

Overall, when looking for the best deals on flights, it's worth exploring a variety of options, including OTAs, travel search engines, and booking directly with airlines. By comparing prices and considering the benefits and drawbacks of each booking method, you can ensure you're getting the most value for your money.

Search functionality and filtering options

Google Flights and Kayak

Google Flights and Kayak are both excellent tools for comparing prices, tracking fare trends, and offering flexible booking options. They also allow you to set alerts to track the price of a particular flight. However, they may be less useful if you have very specific travel plans, as their most valuable features are designed to help you search for deals.

Momondo

Momondo is a travel metasearch engine that offers great price-tracking tools and a visual way to see price trends for your desired travel dates. It also offers Mix & Match fares, which package together two one-way tickets from different airlines to get you the best deal. However, unlike other sites, you must book these types of tickets on two separate websites.

Expedia

Expedia is a well-known OTA that offers a rewards program called One Key, which allows you to earn points for flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and more. You can also still earn airline miles on flights booked through Expedia, although this may limit your ability to earn miles towards elite status or be eligible for seat upgrades.

Priceline

Priceline is another popular OTA that offers a colour-coded calendar, making it easy to see which days offer the lowest prices. It also offers Express Deals, which are opaque bookings where select details of the flight are hidden until the booking is complete. These can offer good discounts but sometimes end up being more expensive than standard bookings.

Orbitz

Orbitz has its own rewards program called Orbitz Rewards, which allows you to earn Orbucks on flight purchases. However, Orbitz sometimes charges a 1% booking fee, which can wipe out the benefits of earning Orbucks.

Hotwire

Hotwire is great if you need to book a hotel in addition to your flight, as booking both together can often save you money. However, Hotwire sometimes charges a booking fee, so be sure to factor this into your calculations.

Skyscanner

Skyscanner is a travel search engine that is particularly useful for travellers with flexibility, as it allows you to search for the cheapest destinations on your chosen dates. It also offers the usual filtering options to help you find the best flight for your needs.

Travelocity

Travelocity offers some nice filtering options, but be aware that prices can change between flight selection and payment. They may also charge booking fees, so keep an eye out for these during the booking process.

CheapOair

CheapOair can offer low base fares, but they also charge expensive agency and booking fees, which can result in a higher price than booking directly with the airline. They also charge a fee to change or cancel any ticket, even within 24 hours.

Hopper

Hopper is an app that predicts the best time to buy a flight, claiming to save you up to 40% on flights. It offers a visual calendar and the ability to set up alerts to watch prices for specific dates or an entire month. However, it has limited filtering options and can only be used on mobile.

Pros and cons of each travel portal

When it comes to choosing a travel portal to book flights, there are several options, each with its own pros and cons. Here is an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of some popular travel portals:

Citi ThankYou

Pros:

• Lowest airfare prices: Tied with Chase for the lowest airfare prices in a comparative analysis.
• Best load time: Quick load times make it efficient for users to find the best prices and routes.
• User-friendly interface: The platform is intuitive and easy to navigate.

Cons:

• Slower load times compared to other portals may be a minor inconvenience for some users.
• The portal's design is not as sleek or visually appealing as some of its competitors.

Chase Travel

Pros:

• Lowest airfare prices: Tied with Citi for the lowest airfare prices in a comparative analysis.
• User-friendly interface: The platform is intuitive and easy to navigate.

Cons:

• Slightly higher airfare prices compared to Citi and Capital One.
• Limited bells and whistles: While the platform is functional, it lacks some of the advanced features offered by competitors.

Capital One Travel

Pros:

• Most user-friendly: The integration with Hopper, a travel booking app, offers advanced features such as a flight calendar view and price prediction.
• Competitive airfare prices: Although slightly higher than Citi and Chase, Capital One's fares are still competitive.

Cons:

Limited bells and whistles: While the platform offers some advanced features, it may not have all the tools and functions that power users might desire.

AmEx Travel

Pros:

Insider fares: AmEx offers discounted fares for Membership Rewards members, although these may not always be the lowest available.

Cons:

• Higher airfare prices: AmEx fares tend to be more expensive than those offered by Citi, Chase, and Capital One.
• Slower load times: The portal has longer load times compared to its competitors, which can be frustrating for users.
• Clunky interface: The platform's interface is not as intuitive or user-friendly as other portals.
• Limited basic economy fares: AmEx does not always offer basic economy fares, which can result in higher overall prices.

Frequently asked questions