Flying never looked so good,

Every day we are bombarded with promotions for low-cost airfaires.  We wonder how low they can go...

There are certainly some good deals around.  Everyone seems to be offering specials.  But, as always, it is worth checking the facts and any hidden nasty's.  Jetstar, Qantas VirginBlue and some of the overseas airlines like Emirates, Etihad, Air New Zealand and others have some amazing deals for local as well as international trips.

What about email promotions offered by travel agents, you ask? Of course you can subscribe to the email feeds of agents like Flightcentre and they sometimes have specials which are of interest but many times we compared their offers with the actual airlines and we decided that it was cheaper to book direct. Remember travel agents only have access to a block of seats.

When people ask me about booking a flight I tell them not to bother with a travel agency anymore and go direct to the airlines as our experience is that you have the greatest flexibility in choice of flights and often beter prices.

But sometimes it is handy to get a rough guide.  A comparison of offers from different carriers side by side. We have used www.travel.com.au, www.bestflights.com.au and www.cheapflights.com.au on many occassions. Those sites provide the best deals for your intended travel dates easily searchable.

Other fare comparison sites are www.bookingbuddy.com and www.farecompare.com.  Of course there are numerous more and a search on Google will find those for you.  But we recommend that you dont get bogged down in looking at too many.  Just choose a site you are comfortable with as the end pricing often shows minimal differences.

Happy travels...

PS. A word of warning, always make sure, when booking online that you have 'safe surfing' enabled in your browser and that you have verified that you are on the actual arilines website and not on a 'fake' copy.  Only reply to emails from the actual airline (when in doubt ring them) and NEVER reply to emails that request you to verify passwords.