cheap flight search engines - NOT

[Bern Oulli]

I was looking for a cheap flight from London Stansted to Guernsey and return. I just tried cheaptickets.com and I am quoted up to US$2,000. What? Closer inspection reveals the following timetable:
Air Berlin 8343 STN to Dusseldorf, wait 1hr 40. Then get on
British Airways 4692 to Birmingham UK. Wait 4 hrs 15. Then get on
Flybe 511 to Guernsey. Total journey time 19hrs 55.
The return journey is even worse, going Guernsey - Southampton, Southampton - Dusseldorf, Dusseldorf - Stansted, journey time now 23 hrs 40. Anybody else found some weird and illogical routings from these web-sites?

[Donkey497]

These weird routings aren't just restricted to the likes of cheaptickets.com. You can get the same on the likes of Expedia & Opodo, but having said that Expedia tends to be the most "stable" of the search engines.

I've just been looking at a triangular trip for work EDI-IAH-GIG-EDI. Unfortunately, I can't get direct flights & searching on a European based major airline's site, I got routings for the return leg from Rio taking me Rio to Porto to Paris to London City to Amsterdam to Edinburgh with a total transit time running around 2 1/2 days. There were similar results on an american based airline's booking engine. I guess that's why even when you select multi-city options on a search engine you now only get to pick three cities / airports rather than the five or six you used to get in the past.

Ho Hum, I guess this proves that the computer programmers still aren't at the stage of producing something up to the task of dealing with your average internet flight booker.........

[BEagle]

I suppose it depends when you want to travel?

But I found a direct flight from STN to GCI and back for around £150 with Aurigny.........

[PAXboy]

Nowadays, when attempting a route I have not used before, I start with the web site of both the departure airport to get the obvious choices and then the arrival point. Sometimes, they show routes to an alternative departure point that is near enough and may be cheaper.

I take the main ticket search sites with a pinch of salt as they often supply a hundred (literally) different fares and routes. most of which are inappropriate or just (as you found) downright silly.

[Bern Oulli]

Thanks BEagle but I've already got it down to £77 - direct of course. These sites must use the same programmers who do some sat-navs. Shortest route from Bournemouth to Brighton is via the Isle of Wight apparently, or was when I last looked.

[bealine]

Be careful with all of these price comparison "Search Engines". Many are not independent!

For insurance, bear in mind that confused.com is owned by Direct Line, which in turn is owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, so its quotes may very well not turn out to be the cheapest!

[SLFJan]

I sometimes use 'Travelocity', reasonably sensible on routings, etc

[MrSoft]

Cheap? Of course not, quite the reverse; they add their (reasonable) booking fee in return for saving you the hassle looking up dozens of carrier websites. Which you are then at liberty to do, of course, having used them as initial free research.

I don't think their positioning is for cheap flights, it's for convenience, which they deliver in spades.

For sure, a database has no common sense whatsoever. If it did, it wouldn't try to route me back to LBA by going via Manchester and Heathrow first. The customer must supply the common sense, and even the extra time this adds to the process is trivial compared to the bad old days. Certainly common sense is essential. (My favourite quirk is those 2+ stop routings which cost 10 times the direct flight).

But I don't see the point in taking umbrage. Ten years ago we'd all have been bored out of our skulls in a travel agents for 90 minutes while they prodded their ancient green screens and still didn't get half the options we can now conjure in 10 seconds.

Glory be to Opodo et al, I just bought a round trip Dublin - Tbilisi - Dubai - UK, bunged in my FF numbers, and reserved a lactose intolerant vegan curry all from the comfort of my armchair. How amazing is that?

[PAXboy]

MrSoft, I do believe that you have summed it up! I am bemused that, ten years ago, taking an indirect routing would ensure that the prices much lower than the direct. The trade off Time/Money was simple. Now, the indirects are often more expensive but the choice is beautiful.

[SLFJan]

Good point, the software might give some odd answers, but I remember borrowing the (OAG?) tomes from the secretary's office to sort out flights from huge paper timetables books. Working out all the possible routes took hours.

On the other hand, if you looked up Stansted, you got Stansted and not an automatic default to LHbloodyR. (sorry. Bee in Bonnet)

[BlueTui]

travelsupermarket is one of the best for flight only deals, it gives you the option to search multiple departure airports if you are flexible, much in the same way the travel agents can.

and they were £400 cheaper than all the other sites already mentioned.

travelsupermarket.com

and try klm.com for accommodation... cheap as chips

(week before xmas 4 star hotel in NYC four nights and direct LHR-JFK - BA = £ 581)

nearest packaged price on competitors was over £1100

[radeng]

These machines sound as if they were programmed by Hillaire Belloc's poem that starts 'The rolling English drunkard made the rolling English road'. There 'We went to Birmingham by way of Beachy Head'.

[Pax Vobiscum]

Tut, tut radeng - G K Chesterton, if you please! :)

[PAXboy]

Rats PV! Beat me to it!! Still, radeng is correct that the poem is appropriate. Consider the last two lines ...

For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen,
Before we go to Paradise by way of Kensal Green.
G.K. Chesterton (1874 ~ 1936)

The reference to Kensal Green is the first large inner London cemetery, opened in January 1833. This was the progress from only overflowing churchyards being available. In their turn, the big cemeteries were replaced by cremation and the West London crematorium is situated at the western end of the Kensal Green property.

[radeng]

Apologies! I always muddle those two up - apparently they were great friends. The 'Mercy of Allah' is a hilarious jibe at economics, economists, bankers and so on.

So what route do the on line fare finders suggest for Paradise?

[bear11]

Try it the other way around - think routes first, try www.amadeus.net - once you've seen what's available then you can either twist the travel agent's head by asking why she hasn't tried X route or carrier, or alternatively book the individual legs yourself. Not perfect, but useful.

And, not trying to be facetious, but I don't think any of the cheap flight websites were designed for Stansted to Guernsey type routes - I've had similar results when trying to book off the beaten track somewhat.

[llanfairpg]

Just a short interlude gentlemen:



Before the Roman came to Rye or out to Severn strode,
The rolling English drunkard made the rolling English road.
A reeling road, a rolling road, that rambles round the shire,
And after him the parson ran, the sexton and the squire;
A merry road, a mazy road, and such as we did tread
The night we went to Birmingham by way of Beachy Head.

I knew no harm of Bonaparte and plenty of the Squire,
And for to fight the Frenchman I did not much desire;
But I did bash their baggonets because they came arrayed
To straighten out the crooked road an English drunkard made,
Where you and I went down the lane with ale-mugs in our hands,
The night we went to Glastonbury by way of Goodwin Sands.

His sins they were forgiven him; or why do flowers run
Behind him; and the hedges all strengthening in the sun?
The wild thing went from left to right and knew not which was which,
But the wild rose was above him when they found him in the ditch.
God pardon us, nor harden us; we did not see so clear
The night we went to Bannockburn by way of Brighton Pier.

My friends, we will not go again or ape an ancient rage,
Or stretch the folly of our youth to be the shame of age,
But walk with clearer eyes and ears this path that wandereth,
And see undrugged in evening light the decent inn of death;
For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen,
Before we go to Paradise by way of Kensal Green.

-- G.K. Chesterton (http://www.cs.rice.edu/%7Essiyer/minstrels/index_poet_C.html#Chesterton)

[Eboy]

In some cases , especially for more complex international travel, I still find the cheapest fare from a travel agent. That is after searching on Expedia, Travelocity, airline sites, etc.