Navy Chief Navy Pride Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 Going to the Yankees / Astros game in Houston with a bunch of buddies from around the country and cant find a damn ticket anywhere near me for under 400. Really only want to spend 200 or so on airfare. I have gone to priceline/cheap tickets and expedia so far. Any other good sites out there to check? The game is on the 14th of June so its not a last minute thing. Thanks Steve
Pete Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 search them all. Southwest is great- try and find a deal. The days of the week that you fly matters- ex- leaving Friday and coming home Sunday is no good. Try an do an off peak travel day. Then check the usual sources- Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia, Hotwire, Priceline, etc. It takes a little work to get the best airfare. Try them all, and play with the parameters
Kelly the Dog Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 By far the best in my experience is sidestep.com. Basically, they take all of the other travel sites plus the airline sites themselves and you get the best of the best. I think Southwest, however, is not part of who they check, as well as some of the very small airlines. But it's easy to use and I have gotten numerous great deals the last couple years. Good for cars, too. Hotels are a more difficult to navigate. Great site though.
Dr. Fong Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 I've had a lot of luck with sidestep.com as well. However, last time I booked a flight I used www.cheapair.com and got a fantastic deal.
The Dean Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 By far the best in my experience is sidestep.com. Basically, they take all of the other travel sites plus the airline sites themselves and you get the best of the best. I think Southwest, however, is not part of who they check, as well as some of the very small airlines. But it's easy to use and I have gotten numerous great deals the last couple years. Good for cars, too. Hotels are a more difficult to navigate. Great site though. I hope you didn't download their software/toolbar.
The Tomcat Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 I hope you didn't download their software/toolbar. I haven't but why do you say that? spam?
Jukester Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 Momondo.com - excellent at showing you all the travel sites' and airlines' fares. Farecast.com - gives you current fares and tries to predict if fares are on their way up or down for your routing Yapta.com - allows you to track the fare of a specific routing before or after purchasing - will also let you know if a purchased fare comes down enough for any kind of refund from the airline - this site doesn't support Southwest or Northwest.
The Dean Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 I haven't but why do you say that? spam? I'm not sure about spam (probably) but it is adware. It will deliver pop-up (and under) ads, track your surfing, etc. Even if you block popups, they are being delivered to you, you just don't see them. I have had to remove it from the computers of people with really screwed up computers. It likely came bundled with other crapware far worse than Sidestep (the users don't recall downloading it and never use it). I have a real problem with software that installs (in many cases) without the users knowledge and consent...I won't install or recommend installation of that kind of software. Sidestep was classified (by some antimalware programs) as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program) and/or Adware. While it still is Adware, apparently it isn't installed in bundles as much as it used to be, so some of the antimalware programs have removed it from their lists. Here's an example of a current listing on Sidestep: The SideStep Toolbar has previously been identified as adware, and may have been deployed in adware bundles or installed without permission. Current versions of SideStep are apparently not a threat, and are optional depending on user preference. Files may appear in Downloaded Program Files which implies they are installed via ActiveX installations. Adware applications, toolbars and browser extensions may serve advertisements even while you are not surfing the Internet. This application may serve various types of advertising, not limited to pop-up ads. When it comes to stuff like this, I take a very cautious approach. Companies that operate on the fringes of "acceptable" or legal, need to be avoided, IMO. Plus, how many toolbars does one really want on their browser? How often are you really looking for travel deals? If the answer is "all the time", then it may make sense to use this. Otherwise, why not go to their site when you are ready to look for travel deals?
Dr. Fong Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 I hear what you're saying about the sidestep toolbar, but to tell you the truth I've used sidesetp dozens of times and have never heard of the toolbar previous to this. I've never been asked to install it never seen it advertised on the site. So take that for what it's worth.
The Dean Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 I hear what you're saying about the sidestep toolbar, but to tell you the truth I've used sidesetp dozens of times and have never heard of the toolbar previous to this. I've never been asked to install it never seen it advertised on the site. So take that for what it's worth. That's great. The toolbar is in the "Downloads" section of their site. That you have never seen it, supports the finding that most who have it on their computer didn't get it on the up-and-up. 9 out of 10 times (a guess) it was installed in a bundle (by and with malware) without the user's knowledge. That's just not a good practice. Fortunately, they seem to have stopped the practice. Still, the toolbar is adware. That's just an FYI. I have nothing against sidestep.com.
Kelly the Dog Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 That's great. The toolbar is in the "Downloads" section of their site. That you have never seen it, supports the finding that most who have it on their computer didn't get it on the up-and-up. 9 out of 10 times (a guess) it was installed in a bundle (by and with malware) without the user's knowledge. That's just not a good practice. Fortunately, they seem to have stopped the practice. Still, the toolbar is adware. That's just an FYI. I have nothing against sidestep.com. Interesting. I didn't know any of that. I never downloaded any of their software as far as I recall, I've used it for a few years, and never saw the toolbar thing.
Dan Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 I'm not sure about spam (probably) but it is adware. It will deliver pop-up (and under) ads, track your surfing, etc. Even if you block popups, they are being delivered to you, you just don't see them. I have had to remove it from the computers of people with really screwed up computers. It likely came bundled with other crapware far worse than Sidestep (the users don't recall downloading it and never use it). I have a real problem with software that installs (in many cases) without the users knowledge and consent...I won't install or recommend installation of that kind of software. Sidestep was classified (by some antimalware programs) as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program) and/or Adware. While it still is Adware, apparently it isn't installed in bundles as much as it used to be, so some of the antimalware programs have removed it from their lists. Here's an example of a current listing on Sidestep: When it comes to stuff like this, I take a very cautious approach. Companies that operate on the fringes of "acceptable" or legal, need to be avoided, IMO. Plus, how many toolbars does one really want on their browser? How often are you really looking for travel deals? If the answer is "all the time", then it may make sense to use this. Otherwise, why not go to their site when you are ready to look for travel deals? I agree and despise all of those things! I've never run across sidestep, but google desktop, google toolbar, yahoo toolbar, mysearch assistant, and that damn weatherbug are the more common ones I've seen and they all blow. Why is this software even legal? All it does is bloat your machine and clog the whole thing down with useless features that no one needs.
The Dean Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 I agree and despise all of those things! I've never run across sidestep, but google desktop, google toolbar, yahoo toolbar, mysearch assistant, and that damn weatherbug are the more common ones I've seen and they all blow. Why is this software even legal? All it does is bloat your machine and clog the whole thing down with useless features that no one needs. I use Google toolbar on my IE browser. But, I choose to install it, and use it everyday. Now Google is starting to jam their toolbar (and desktop) down people's throats by having them bundled with other software (where the Google item is often pre-checked for inclusion). That's just wrong! I find Google Desktop on many computers and the user has no idea what it is...bye bye Desktop. Yahoo is worst than Google, IMO (although Google is getting bad) at this practice, and Mysearch (or one of its variants) is among the worst (along with Ask). I have no problem with the legit toolbars and addons ( and such), it's the way they get to the computer that I am concerned with. It should be obvious that it is being installed, and fully explained, before it is downloaded. "Pay per download" and "affiliate marketing" are two of the uglier sides of the Web.
Dan Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 I use Google toolbar on my IE browser. But, I choose to install it, and use it everyday. Now Google is starting to jam their toolbar (and desktop) down people's throats by having them bundled with other software (where the Google item is often pre-checked for inclusion). That's just wrong! I find Google Desktop on many computers and the user has no idea what it is...bye bye Desktop. Yahoo is worst than Google, IMO (although Google is getting bad) at this practice, and Mysearch (or one of its variants) is among the worst (along with Ask). I have no problem with the legit toolbars and addons ( and such), it's the way they get to the computer that I am concerned with. It should be obvious that it is being installed, and fully explained, before it is downloaded. "Pay per download" and "affiliate marketing" are two of the uglier sides of the Web. I'm not even sure what google desktop does (other than cause machines to the crawl). And of the ones, I've seen, yes, google toolbar is by far the most benign. But, it is getting more invasive. Anotherr one I just thought of is the Southwest "Ding" thing. I've seen it installed on comps that I know they've never bought a plane ticket. Me, personally, I hate anything on my computer that does anything "automatically". All these automatic updates and constantly searching the net for the latest version of their software that has more "features" that no one needs and less stability drives me nuts. I usually leave the Windows auto update turned on, on others people comps. But all the others I turn off and/or disable.
The Dean Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 I'm not even sure what google desktop does (other than cause machines to the crawl). And of the ones, I've seen, yes, google toolbar is by far the most benign. But, it is getting more invasive. Anotherr one I just thought of is the Southwest "Ding" thing. I've seen it installed on comps that I know they've never bought a plane ticket. Me, personally, I hate anything on my computer that does anything "automatically". All these automatic updates and constantly searching the net for the latest version of their software that has more "features" that no one needs and less stability drives me nuts. I usually leave the Windows auto update turned on, on others people comps. But all the others I turn off and/or disable. Agreed all around.
BillsWatch Posted March 23, 2008 Posted March 23, 2008 Add http://www.kayak.com/ to list of sites to use for looking for deals. It checks many sites and includes Southwest. Great interface even if you have to register to save settings.
The Dean Posted March 23, 2008 Posted March 23, 2008 Add http://www.kayak.com/ to list of sites to use for looking for deals.It checks many sites and includes Southwest. Great interface even if you have to register to save settings. Kayak owns SideStep.
Navy Chief Navy Pride Posted March 23, 2008 Author Posted March 23, 2008 Thanks for all of your help!!! This don't look good for the home team as I cannot find a ticket for around 200.00 bucks. This really sucks to cuz I get the wife to buy off on a guys weekend in Houston but I can't get her to buy off on spending about 1000.00 to do it.(which I understand). I dont travel much anymore but I thought that when you booked in advance you get better deals? I looked at every airport within a 2 hour drive of Dothan AL and cant get below 400.00.
Dr. Fong Posted March 23, 2008 Posted March 23, 2008 I managed to find a flight from Pensacola, FL leaving on the 13th and returning on the 15th for $356.60 tax incl. I know it's not as cheap as you wanted, but it's not $400. It was through airtran.com
The Dean Posted March 23, 2008 Posted March 23, 2008 Thanks for all of your help!!! This don't look good for the home team as I cannot find a ticket for around 200.00 bucks. This really sucks to cuz I get the wife to buy off on a guys weekend in Houston but I can't get her to buy off on spending about 1000.00 to do it.(which I understand). I dont travel much anymore but I thought that when you booked in advance you get better deals? I looked at every airport within a 2 hour drive of Dothan AL and cant get below 400.00. Houston is only about a 9-10 hour drive. Not that bad, for a long weekend with the boys.
Recommended Posts