Airline booking websites, need some input

Hypatia

This year I'm going to have to dump a considerable amount of money in to air travel because of various obligations, both within the US and internationally. I've been trying to keep track of ticket prices for a bunch of trips and have started to run into a number of websites offering airfares that I've never heard of in my effort to cut down on costs.

Some of these...well, I can't tell if they're shady or not. Occasionally the prices seem almost too good to be true, so I wanted to know if anyone has any experience with them, and if so, if they'd be willing to share those experiences before I commit to throwing money at any of these companies.

I'm already pretty comfortable with/think these are up-front (correct me if I'm wrong!): Travelocity, Expedia, Hotwire, Orbitz, and Priceline.

These are the ones I'd really like some input on:

* CheapOAir
* Cheap Air
* One Travel
* ATI Flights
* Mobissimo
* Vayama
* Cheap Tickets

Anyone?

TheDragon

I haven't heard of those ones you're asking about. Microsoft's new search engine Bing is available today, and it has a travel section where you can search for flights, and compare the prices with some of those sites you listed like Hotwire, Expedia, and Priceline. Plus, for some flights it can tell you if the prices are expected to go up or down, helping you decide when's the right time to buy.
http://www.bing.com/travel

matt has a problem

I've heard of Cheap Tickets, but honestly I prefer Kayak. It searches all the search sites simultaneously.

Mr Blonde

matthasaproblem wrote: »

I've heard of Cheap Tickets, but honestly I prefer Kayak. It searches all the search sites simultaneously.

Came in here to say this

Cauld

I like Kayak, but for less popular flights its not very helpful. It relies on people who've previously searched/booked flights through kayak.

WildEEP

I really dig www.sidestep.com. Its like a big meta-search for all the other sites. Great way to compare various prices vs times, # of transfers, etc.

VisionOfClarity

I've used Cheap Tickets and Expedia and had no issues either time

Erandus

FareCompare is extremely similar to Kayak, both are good. Honestly, I think I've ended up with 90% of my tickets from Orbitz and Expedia. I'm not personally fussy about number of connections, total travel time, or length of layover, and rarely pickey about the days/times I want to fly. If you are flexible like that, those two sites usually cover it, otherwise Kayak/FareCompare.

ceres

I don't have experience with many of these, but when I was flying around all over the place I used CheapTickets and never had a problem.

Hypatia

More specifically, for one of the international flights the dates I'm looking at almost all of the sites list the fare as $1100-$1800, but ATI Flights, CheapOAir, and OneTravel have tickets listed for $600 each. I found them using one of those sites that searches a bunch of different sites, but once it lists the price it takes you to the company's site.

The fare difference is such that it's making me kind of worried that there's something seriously wrong with those tickets.