International Herald Tribune | June 15, 2006
Frequent Traveler: Looking for that 'one-stop' site
People often ask, "Can you recommend a travel site that will let me find and book the cheapest flight between any two places in the world?"
Alas, the answer is no, not yet.
One problem, as everyone knows, is that travel sites are country-specific. Even if you can access them, you're unlikely to get the best deal from where you are to where you want to go.
And online travel agents, such as Opodo (Europe), Orbitz (North America), Zuji (Asia), Expedia, and Ebookers do not show hundreds of no-frills options around the world, such as EasyJet, Ryanair, Air Berlin, German Wings, JetBlue, Pacific Wings, Fly Hawaii and Bangkok Air, that often fly to places that the "full-service" carriers do not reach. You have to go to the specific airline site to find a flight.
Broadly, there are three categories of sites for planning and booking flights:
Those that display a choice of airlines and fares, and allow you to book and pay directly with your credit card on that site.
So-called "comparison sites," that show options from airlines and other travel sites (not necessarily prices) and require you to click via a link to those other sites to book.
And airline sites that, while biased toward their own prices and schedules, may offer a deeper choice of schedules and fares.
OAGflights.com and Amadeus.net display about 500,000 direct and connecting flights (though not prices) from more than 800 airlines, including many no-frills carriers (there are more of these options in OAG than Amadeus).
Sites that specialize in displaying no-frills carriers include: Skyscanner.net which compares fares "for all budget airlines that serve the UK and Europe." You book by clicking on a link to the airline, or other travel site, such as Thomas Cook, Opodo and Ebookers. (When I asked for a flight around 8 a.m. from London Gatwick to Geneva on June 22, I was offered a round trip only with EasyJet for £46.98, or about $85.)
Whichbudget.com lists 113 airlines in 107 countries, 709 airports and 15,997 routes. When I clicked "Gatwick to Geneva," I was put directly through to EasyJet.com which quoted me £25.99, including taxes one-way, on its 8:15 a.m. flight. But does it keep abreast of who flies where?
Lowcostairlines.org lists about 100 no-frills carriers around the world (57 in Europe); it does not compare prices, but does give links to sites.
Lowcost.com claims to display short-haul bargains around the world - in Asia, Australasia, the United States, and South Africa - with a link to airline sites.
Europebyair.com offers a FlightPass for North Americans visiting Europe that allows you to build your itinerary and book one-way travel with 25 airlines, between 150 cities, for $99 per flight. It also offers trans-Atlantic fares, such as New York to Paris, London, Rome or Milan from $610, and discounted hotel booking.
We need sites that allow us to compare prices between no-frills and traditional carriers on any route.
Travelsupermarket.com compares fares between about 35 airline and travel sites, including EasyJet, Opodo, Travelocity and Ebookers, and allows you to choose from three alternative airports; flights and prices are listed three days on either side of the selected departure date.
Gooflight.com "searches for the cheapest flight between two points" among 19 low-cost airlines in 20 countries in Europe. It may combine two low-cost routes for the cheapest fare. (It quoted me EasyJet at £25.99 as the best option for Gatwick-Geneva.)
Cheapflights.co.uk (Cheapflights.com in the United States) is a comparison site that claims to show 600,000 best prices for flights, holidays and short breaks from 600 travel companies. The best they could offer me for my Geneva flight was a round trip with British Airways - by clicking through to Opodo - for a mind- numbing £132. I was invited to "search our partners" online search engines by clicking through to Thomas Cook, Airline Network, British Airways and Ebookers; this was not very helpful in my particular case.
Savvy travelers never assume that a no-frills (or "low-cost" airline as they like to be called) offers the cheapest fare on short-haul routes. Network carriers, such as British Airways, Swiss, SAS and Air France, are adopting no-frills pricing models and offering cheap one-way tickets. They are also often the best bet for late booking.
Aer Lingus claims to have reinvented itself as a low-cost carrier offering cheap one-way fares across its network. Prices from Britain and Ireland to North America are typically much lower than its network competitors; it is not surprising that it plans to leave the Oneworld Alliance as a result of its new strategy.
What we need are "one-stop" sites that allow us to compare prices between no-frills and traditional carriers on any particular route.
A new generation of "one-stop" search engines is emerging that allows travelers to do just that.
Dohop.com is a fast, powerful site that searches more than 660 low-cost and network carriers simultaneously in Europe, the United States and the Caribbean and offers flight combinations where needed. Book by clicking through to airlines and travel agents. (It gave me a choice for London- Geneva of EasyJet at £26 one-way and British Airways at £41.)
Skylow.com is a promising new site that claims to find the cheapest fares among 64 low-cost carriers on 8,700 city pairs at 628 airports in 84 countries. Bookings are made on the site with a $5 booking fee.
"Our goal is to include all airlines in Skylow, enabling everyone to compare fares and book in one place," says Reem Greiver, chief executive of Skylow in Tel Aviv. "But right now, low-cost carriers are our competitive advantage."
Check out the online voice demo, which takes you through the steps to find and book flights, including an impressive "Deal Finder" function.
Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/15/travel/trfreq16.php
