Dear TLM:
When a traveler thinks about finding cheap airline tickets, thoughts
often turn to the Internet. For a moment, let's think about how we found good
deals on airline tickets before businesses on the Internet became a major
factor. The answer is that we found a great travel agent.
How do you do that? It doesn't matter much whether you call a travel agent
who sat next to you during your daughter's soccer match, or an acquaintance
in the Junior League, or pick blindly from the Yellow Pages. What does matter
is that you interview that person as carefully as if he or she were a job
applicant.
Ask questions until you find someone who, in your case, specializes in travel
to Europe, is experienced in finding inexpensive tickets, and is willing to
use consolidator tickets (passing all of the saving through to you). Keep
looking until you find that person. And if your next trip is to Kathmandu or
Grand Cayman you may need to go through the interview process all over. The
travel agent perfect for one part of the world or one type of activity may or
may not be right for others.
You asked me to name some consolidators I trust. Although I've used many,
always with success, I can't give you a"trust" generalization for a
consolidator any more than I could for a bank or stock brokerage firm.
However, I'll give you names of seven consolidators that handle tickets to
Europe (I have the names of others, but these should do the job). As with
interviewing travel agents, ask questions. How long have you been in
business? With what airlines do you have contracts? Are you bonded? Are you a
member of ARC and/or AITAN? As you should with a travel agency or airline,
pay by credit card. Confirm your ticket directly with the airline.
Check out Council Travel, which specialized in tickets for students; Fare Deals Travel; Interworld Travel; Overseas Express; Skytours; STA Travel, which also offers discounts to anyone under age 25 and to students under age 30; and Travac Tours.
How much inconvenience are your daughters willing to exchange for saving
money? Are they willing to depart from an airport some distance away? For
example, someone who lives in Memphis would be likely to find better fares
from either Nashville or Little Rock. It's all about airline hubs and lack of
competition. Are they willing to fly at other than prime times of the day or
prime days of the week or to make an extra stop somewhere?
Deals Abound on the Internet
Now back to the Internet. The fact is that businesses with Internet sites now
have substantial impact in the world of travel, far more extensive than I can
review here. You can start by calling GORP's travel consultants at (877) 440-GORP to see what kind of deal they can find you.
However, any discussion without mention of Priceline would be
incomplete. For good deals on car rental overseas, Priceline can be hard to
beat if you bid shrewdly. Significant savings are also possible on hotel
rooms in the US and Canada.
Priceline sold 2.5 million airline tickets during the past six months. Does
that mean you should bid for your daughter's tickets to France? That answer
is definitely NO — until you learn the ground rules. Priceline posts them
clearly but some bidders don't take the time to understand them. They should.
Remember, you could be bidding without full information, including knowing
specific departure and arrival times. You could wind up committed to pay for
tickets to New York that might not connect with your ongoing flight to
France. If your bid is accepted, it's like knocking a ceramic sculpture off
the showroom shelf. You've bought it. Further, until you develop a strategy
for bidding on Priceline you may leave money on the table.
I hope this information helps you save money on your daughters' tickets - and
that you spend every franc (or Euro) on fine meals and vintage wine.
Bon Soir,
Rob Sangster
LaHave, Nova Scotia, Canada
