Cheapest Flights? Expedia vs Orbitz Vs Travelocity Vs Cheaptickets.com
You should always get multiple quotations from different airlines and online travel agents in your quest to find the cheapest flight. There can often be considerable variation in airfares between travel service providers and agents such as Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz. |
Let's run a quick test and compare flight prices for various routes for a 2 week economy class return in 2008. We will check fares on Expedia, Orbitz, Cheaptickets.com, Travelocity, Priceline and also double check the aggregators Kayak and Farecast. All prices are in US dollars.
1. New York City to London
| Expedia | $453 (Continental CO) |
| Orbitz | $457 (CO) |
| Travelocity | $457 (CO) |
| Cheaptickets | $457 (CO) |
| Comments | Farecast and Kayak found a $447 fare direct from CO's website. Priceline quoted the flight at $446. |
2. Los Angeles to Hong Kong
| Expedia | $673 (United) |
| Orbitz | $748 (China Airlines) |
| Travelocity | $677 (United) |
| Cheaptickets | $748 (China Airlines) |
| Comments | Farecast and Kayak quoted $737 direct with China Airlines, whilst Priceline came back with a $707 China Airlines fare. |
3. Amsterdam to Cape Town
| Expedia | $1,083 (Turkish) |
| Orbitz | $1,066 (Air France / South African) |
| Travelocity | $1,723 (Lufthansa / South African) |
| Cheaptickets | $1,066 (Air France / South African) |
| Comments | Orbitz / Cheaptickets come up with the best deal. Travelocity significantly more expensive. Farecast and Kayak could not find anything cheaper; Priceline could not quote a non US fare. |
4. London to Cairo
| Expedia | $377 (KLM) |
| Orbitz | $391 (Air France) |
| Travelocity | No Fare Available! |
| Cheaptickets | $391 (Air France) |
| Comments | Farecast came up with a $315 fare from Vayama on KLM. |
The aggregators are useful because many times it can be slightly cheaper to book directly on the airline website. Also by booking directly it will be easier to manage your booking and make any changes. Don't forget to check the rules and restrictions on your airfare tariff.
5. Miami to San Francisco
| Expedia | $290 (American Airlines) |
| Orbitz | $290 (AA) |
| Travelocity | $290 (AA) |
| Cheaptickets | $290 (AA) |
| Comments | Domestic US fares are quite similar on the online agents. Farecast and Kayak quoted a $284 fare direct from AA. |
6. New York City to Buenos Aires
| Expedia | $675 (both American and Delta) |
| Orbitz | $626 (LAN) |
| Travelocity | $633 (AA / LAN) |
| Cheaptickets | $626 (LAN) |
| Comments | Farecast / Kayak came back with the $626 fare, also available on Vayama. |
7. Sydney to Singapore
| Expedia | $701 (Malaysian) |
| Orbitz | $615 (Emirates) |
| Travelocity | $630 (Emirates / Qantas) |
| Cheaptickets | $615 (Emirates) |
| Comments | Farecast and Kayak return the Orbitz $615 fare. |
8. Paris to Bangkok
| Expedia | $836 (Gulf Air) |
| Orbitz | $1,040 (Turkish) |
| Travelocity | $840 (Gulf Air) |
| Cheaptickets | $1,040 (Turkish) |
| Comments | Kayak comes back with $874 direct with Etihad. |
Note that this is by no means a complete test - you would need to check a huge amount of flight price data to get a statistically significant result. You can see that Orbitz and Cheaptickets (now the same company) brought up identical results.
This short experiment does illustrate that there can still be differences of hundreds of dollars in airfares amongst agents. This is primarily due to the above agents using different mainframe systems - each will be biased towards various airlines and alliances.
So the golden rule is always do your homework and shop around to get the cheapest flight. Don't just get quotes from the major agents. Also check the airlines themselves and some flight consolidators. The more legwork you put into your flight search, the more likely you will find a lower fare.
If you want some great insider secrets and strategies for getting into the first class cabin on a budget, maximising your upgrade chances and reducing your airfare massively then see our Ultimate Airfares & Upgrades Guide. The guide also lists the some of the most useful websites worldwide to help you find the very lowest airfare.
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