Why Italy
Are discout travel sites a good deal or a scam?
I am booking my honeymoon to Florence, Italy and I want to save some money on airfaire. Are sites like bestfares.com worth it? Has anyone ever used it? They claim to save me ~$600, but will there be an awful catch at the end? These sites require a membership (thus a fee), so members get bulk buying benefits. This is different from sites like expedia, travelocity, or Orbitz.
Public Comments
- i'm not sure about the validity of bestfares.com, but I do know, from personal experience, that hotwire.com and expedia.com are both very reliable. goodluck and i'm very jealous that you are going to Florence!! have funnn
- Yes and no you need to shop around or get a travel agent I go through Orbitz becase its easy to find what I need and they have won alot of awards.
- I would stick with more reputable sites like travelocity, orbitz or expedia. They all pretty much offer the same airfare. bestfares may claim to save you $600, but that's probally from an inflated price to begin with. The best thing to do is check all the sites I mentioned and maybe set up a fare alert on a couple, because the prices on airfare change very frequntly. You can get quotes from all the site without even logging in too.
- I've had lots of good luck with Travelocity.com.
- I don't know about any hidden charges... But I do know that you shouldn't go with them because they say they'll save you X amount. This for all you know could be a completely made up number. Have a quick look yourself for how much it would cost or compare other companies. Just go with them if you think the price is decent, not because they are TELLING you that they're the cheapest. I, and many others have found out through experience (though not with that company) that places are apparently allowed to give you phoney numbers on how much you're supposedly saving. Or what they are quoting is the maximum your holiday can cost. IE: first class plane ticket and luxury 5* hotel when all you were ever going to book was a regular plane ticket and a regular hotel.
- Never used best fares,only other ones on line.I don't think it's a Good idea to pay for them booking you.You'd be better off using a travel agent ,than them.
- I took a look at the site and it looks interesting! They do claim to save you money. I looked at an airlines website and got a price from New Orleans to London and they quoted $674 RT. Your website was quoting $469 for flights to Amsterdam and London combined. They only thing I couldnt find out is what city you have to fly out of. It might not be worth it if you live in a really small town and have to drive hundreds of miles to catch the plane. I dont think you would have catch at the end except maybe having to fly specific dates. Congrats on your wedding! Enjoy your honeymoon!
- Try http://Luxe.worldventures.com They search all the other main sites like Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, hotel and airline sites and offer you the lowest price. You’ll save even more when you book it as a package like air and hotel together. Plus they’re the only online site that offers LIVE chat where you can make your specific requests such as non-smoking, king-size or double beds, etc.
- It's sounds like a scam. Major online agencies have better relationship with the airlines than any membership sites like bestfares.com. They are not even on the map with the major carriers and would not have any leverage in terms of receiving a discounted seats. Your best bet is to find a consolidator, ticket wholesale vendor, and buy it from them directly and bypass both the online sites as well as your local travel agency. You might have to do little bit more homework since each consolidator has their specialty, e.g. Italy flights and packages but once you find them you'll save more than 10% off the lowest online fares. But to reiterate Bestfare.com does not have the lowest fares and you shouldn't pay a dime.
