I wanted to forward you those flight search engine websites we spoke about last night. Hopefully these sites will help others in getting a good deal to Brazil. They differ from the household-named services like Orbitz and Travelocity for many reasons (this blogger explains more here: Why Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity Will Become Extinct),but generally they are search engines and not third party brokers who charge fees.
As far as current prices go, American Airlines ($850 r/t) and TAM Airlines ($950 r/t) seem to have the best fares from NYC to Brazil, but the prices can fluctuate. We waited 5 days with no price changes occurring, then all of the sudden the prices dropped and then erratically fluctuated on almost an hourly basis for 2 more days before becoming stagnant again. It was more unpredictable than buying stocks!
* www.sidestep.com - This site is very similar to www.kayak.com or www.mobissimo.com, but these sites do not book your ticket, instead they route you to the airlines' website once you select a flight. They are simply more comprehensive search engines. Other sites you already know of like www.Orbitz.com, www.Travelocity.com, or www.expedia.com may charge a service fee to book your flight, which may also have more restrictions than if you were to buy directly from the airline's website. Also, some foreign or domestic airlines do not give their booking info to sites like Orbitz or Travelocity. And often you might find that an airline's own website will show seats available, but the online services like Orbitz or Travelocity might show the same flight sold out (meaning only the seats allocated to them have been sold out).
* www.farecast.com - This is a great service… it allows you to enter your criteria with your preferred price point, and then the search engine does all the work while you carry on about your work week. The site then emails you when an airline's price drops to or below your specific price point. It can also track prices and advise you on when might be the best time to buy ("buy now", "wait three weeks")
* www.hotwire.com or www.priceline.com – These will offer cheaper flights if you're flexible on your flight times. You choose what days you want to fly, and then they select a major airline and the flight times for you. Be aware that they may choose a red eye or a lengthy layover for you (that's the only apparent catch), but always no more than one connection.
One more note: American Airlines also has a great interface to work with (www.aa.com). If your dates are somewhat flexible, search by "Price AND Schedule" then review tabs on top of the page (see snapshot below) to find the cheapest prices for the times on or around your preferred travel dates. Be sure to scroll to bottom of page and review or select any subsequent pages (you can easily miss the additional pages which may have a cheaper flight time).
I have flown to Brasil with TAM, Continental, United, American Airlines, and Delta. To be honest, all of them were the same!
The travel agency that I am using to book flights and group rates in hotels
(cheapest price and nice people):
www.brol.com talk to Raquel: rachel@brol.com
the other cheaper place that still has flights: Globotur.com
or you can go to:
www.bacctravel.com (info@bacctravel.com)
tel: (212) 730-1010
16 West Little Brazil Street West 46th Street
between 5th & 6th Ave
But Joana Piano buys her tickets to Rio at:
www.sidestep.com
And Paul just found this one out:
http://atiflights.com/
And Joan just saw (03/12/08) tickets by $840 at: www.farecast.com
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