The ultimate travel challenge

Source: news.com.au

* Travel agents, websites and airlines tested

* Bid to find out which is cheapest

* Convenience, time also taken into account

IT'S an age-old question which has baffled even the most seasoned traveller before they set off on their trip: When booking a flight, is it best to book a) through a travel agent, a travel website or c) direct through the airline?

While price is still the deciding factor in the majority of people’s thinking, there’s also time spent researching, convenience and peace of mind to take into account. And that’s before you’ve even decided if the three-leg flight with nine-hour stopover in Myanmar is worth the $97 you’ll save.

Our travel challenge is to see which of the three options scored best overall when it comes to booking an international flight.

You can click on the link for the full story. Suffice to say - how do YOU book your travel? If you get a Secretary to book - how does he/she do it? I am asking this to see how you get value for money when you travel overseas.

Peter

I lost interest in this when i saw how intricate it was. i will just say I always use a travel agent give them the dates come back a day later get their results of flights and costs and make a decision on what is available at the time,convience and cost. I have travelled all over the world for 40 years I have never had regrets doing it this way. I should mention I also let the agent know my peferred airlines.

My strategy is to check a few flight comparison sites, and book whatever is the cheapest/has best schedule.  

It is not perfect, but it is probably the best strategy considering the minimal effort.  

My strategy is great from flying out of the US.  It is not that good elsewhere because smaller airlines like Air Asia/Tiger/whatever, do not post fares to fare comparison sites like Travelocity.  

I like savontravelonline.com it specifically focuses on flights from US overseas.