Best way to book flight

[Merlion@ 0]

Hi!

I wanted to ask if anyone knows what's the best way to book flights to Asia. I want to fly from Miami to London and meet my sister there and from London fly to Singapore and then back to Miami via London. She's younger and travels from back home in Eastern Europe and I want to meet her half way through so she does not travel by herself. How can I make sure we both connect to the same flight going and on the way back and hopefully still get a good deal. Any ideas?

[John & Nan 0]

Hi!

I wanted to ask if anyone knows what's the best way to book flights to Asia. I want to fly from Miami to London and meet my sister there and from London fly to Singapore and then back to Miami via London. She's younger and travels from back home in Eastern Europe and I want to meet her half way through so she does not travel by herself. How can I make sure we both connect to the same flight going and on the way back and hopefully still get a good deal. Any ideas?

well it depend on the dates you want to go and come back, also if you are staying in london. I did some quick checking and it look like you can get a round trip ticket to london and then both of you getting a round trip ticket together to Singapore would work out. Would be about the same cost for you as going from Miami to Singapore.

[thongd4me 69]

Hi!

I wanted to ask if anyone knows what's the best way to book flights to Asia. I want to fly from Miami to London and meet my sister there and from London fly to Singapore and then back to Miami via London. She's younger and travels from back home in Eastern Europe and I want to meet her half way through so she does not travel by herself. How can I make sure we both connect to the same flight going and on the way back and hopefully still get a good deal. Any ideas?

well it depend on the dates you want to go and come back, also if you are staying in london. I did some quick checking and it look like you can get a round trip ticket to london and then both of you getting a round trip ticket together to Singapore would work out. Would be about the same cost for you as going from Miami to Singapore.

I found that flights departing on Tuesday, Wednesday & Saturday are usually the cheapest.

There are many travel filter sites which don't sell tickets but allow you to compare prices.

It'####### or miss. Many times the cheapest price will be a "bait & switch" where when you drill down to where the actual flight is offered,

they will tack on a few hundred $$$ after telling you "no longer available."

I have booked with Travelocity, Orbitz, and Priceline.Com

I flew United at first but my last 2 trips were with Thai Airways.

Enjoyed them much better but I heard that due to the recession, they had cancelled their popular nonstop JFK-BKK flights

Many such sites are going to want you to tack on hotels to your air bookings.

I would strongly discourage this as it is very much a buyers' market given the recessionary times we are in.

Have your fiancee handle the hotel negotiations upon your arrival or in advance.

I would expect good bargains even as we approach the winter high season.

[John & Nan 0]

I never shop Travelocity, Orbitz, and Priceline. some times you can get a good deal at http://www.bt-store.com/

I always shop direct, I head off of allentown Pa. NWA is cheap for me, if I watch their specials and go the days they have them.

My trip for September was $700 with 30K miles. I did a couple of trip out of JFK, but then I have a $250 bill to get up to JFK and a 3 hour drive.

Some airlines have a guarantee that they will be the lowest if you shop direct.

Oh can not wait to see my wife and son, heading to Phuket for a week, My wife dream of always going there and she like to do it before heading to USA next year.

[familyguy 2]

Why on earth would you start at Allentown, it is a regional airport and very small? PHL is an hour away.

Book 2 separate R/t not one with a stop over. if you give me dates I will pull up the database all the airlines and travel agents use for the cheapest fares with availability.

[John & Nan 0]

Why on earth would you start at Allentown, it is a regional airport and very small? PHL is an hour away.

Book 2 separate R/t not one with a stop over. if you give me dates I will pull up the database all the airlines and travel agents use for the cheapest fares with availability.

I did that when I first went to Thailand. But then I look at ABE and it was the same. I always look for PHL, JFK and ABE. PHL and ABE go to Detroit first with NWA. PHL suck also to land there many delays....

I am going 8/29 to 9/6 this trip for $700 and 30k Miles see if you can do better I never pay over $1000. I go every 2 to 3 months.

I am a WorldPerks Platinum Member. I get a free upgrade to first class most of the time for BKK to DTW.

[ScottThuy 140]

I did that when I first went to Thailand. But then I look at ABE and it was the same. I always look for PHL, JFK and ABE. PHL and ABE go to Detroit first with NWA. PHL suck also to land there many delays....

I agree 100% PHL is well known for regular delays and the most LOST LUGGAGE...

[familyguy 2]

I did that when I first went to Thailand. But then I look at ABE and it was the same. I always look for PHL, JFK and ABE. PHL and ABE go to Detroit first with NWA. PHL suck also to land there many delays....

I agree 100% PHL is well known for regular delays and the most LOST LUGGAGE...

If there are delays at PHL there delays all along the NE corridor it is the same air space control and flow delays apply to all, Weather is weather there is nothing an Airport can do about that. In 42 entries I have never had lost luggage. If the OP has NWA as a preferred choice of airline he might want to also consider Hartford CT, they have some pretty good deals on to promote that airport,it depends of course on the starting point but it can be reasonably quick to get to, quicker than JFK from PA if you use the Tapanzee.

Edited July 26, 2009 by familyguy

[Merlion@ 0]

Hi!

I wanted to ask if anyone knows what's the best way to book flights to Asia. I want to fly from Miami to London and meet my sister there and from London fly to Singapore and then back to Miami via London. She's younger and travels from back home in Eastern Europe and I want to meet her half way through so she does not travel by herself. How can I make sure we both connect to the same flight going and on the way back and hopefully still get a good deal. Any ideas?

well it depend on the dates you want to go and come back, also if you are staying in london. I did some quick checking and it look like you can get a round trip ticket to london and then both of you getting a round trip ticket together to Singapore would work out. Would be about the same cost for you as going from Miami to Singapore.

Thanks for that. Well, I tried the same before posting and it is not exactly the same..it's about $400 more via London than flying directly through whatever transit point. I tried priceline and normally I bid for the flights, but I can't do this now since giving my own price means that they can give me any flight not necessarily through London. Now I need to research if there is a way to actually bid on the uk flight, so to get my sister's flight and then get my own at regular price based on her scheduled flight. Then again, I don't know if US card can be used for uk purchases...so that's another thing I need to consider. The trip won't be until next year and London will be just for transit, so I don't need to stay over. Thanks again and any other ideas are welcome.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I did that when I first went to Thailand. But then I look at ABE and it was the same. I always look for PHL, JFK and ABE. PHL and ABE go to Detroit first with NWA. PHL suck also to land there many delays....

I agree 100% PHL is well known for regular delays and the most LOST LUGGAGE...

If there are delays at PHL there delays all along the NE corridor it is the same air space control and flow delays apply to all, Weather is weather there is nothing an Airport can do about that. In 42 entries I have never had lost luggage. If the OP has NWA as a preferred choice of airline he might want to also consider Hartford CT, they have some pretty good deals on to promote that airport,it depends of course on the starting point but it can be reasonably quick to get to, quicker than JFK from PA if you use the Tapanzee.

There's more than just airspace and weather that can cause significant delays at an airport. Some airports handle more departures and arrivals than their infrastructure can support. For example, SFO and OAK are only 10 miles from each other, on opposite sides of the San Francisco Bay, but SFO has a far worse on-time record than OAK. Anyone on the ground can easily see why. You can see the constant stream of aircraft coming in and taking off at SFO.

I've never flown into or out of PHL, but maybe the situation there is similar.

[ScottThuy 140]

I went through PHL 11 times and they lost my luggae 3 of those trips... At the time there were national reports stating they had the worst record when it came to losing luggage.. I am happy they did not lose yours... I quick checking bags if I went through there after the 3 rd time they lost mine...

[John & Nan 0]

Hi!

I wanted to ask if anyone knows what's the best way to book flights to Asia. I want to fly from Miami to London and meet my sister there and from London fly to Singapore and then back to Miami via London. She's younger and travels from back home in Eastern Europe and I want to meet her half way through so she does not travel by herself. How can I make sure we both connect to the same flight going and on the way back and hopefully still get a good deal. Any ideas?

well it depend on the dates you want to go and come back, also if you are staying in london. I did some quick checking and it look like you can get a round trip ticket to london and then both of you getting a round trip ticket together to Singapore would work out. Would be about the same cost for you as going from Miami to Singapore.

Thanks for that. Well, I tried the same before posting and it is not exactly the same..it's about $400 more via London than flying directly through whatever transit point. I tried priceline and normally I bid for the flights, but I can't do this now since giving my own price means that they can give me any flight not necessarily through London. Now I need to research if there is a way to actually bid on the uk flight, so to get my sister's flight and then get my own at regular price based on her scheduled flight. Then again, I don't know if US card can be used for uk purchases...so that's another thing I need to consider. The trip won't be until next year and London will be just for transit, so I don't need to stay over. Thanks again and any other ideas are welcome.

what dates are you using ? I did dates in September and found it to be the same not $400 more. Oh with a ticket that far out it is hard to get the discounted rates.

[John & Nan 0]

I did that when I first went to Thailand. But then I look at ABE and it was the same. I always look for PHL, JFK and ABE. PHL and ABE go to Detroit first with NWA. PHL suck also to land there many delays....

I agree 100% PHL is well known for regular delays and the most LOST LUGGAGE...

If there are delays at PHL there delays all along the NE corridor it is the same air space control and flow delays apply to all, Weather is weather there is nothing an Airport can do about that. In 42 entries I have never had lost luggage. If the OP has NWA as a preferred choice of airline he might want to also consider Hartford CT, they have some pretty good deals on to promote that airport,it depends of course on the starting point but it can be reasonably quick to get to, quicker than JFK from PA if you use the Tapanzee.

There's more than just airspace and weather that can cause significant delays at an airport. Some airports handle more departures and arrivals than their infrastructure can support. For example, SFO and OAK are only 10 miles from each other, on opposite sides of the San Francisco Bay, but SFO has a far worse on-time record than OAK. Anyone on the ground can easily see why. You can see the constant stream of aircraft coming in and taking off at SFO.

I've never flown into or out of PHL, but maybe the situation there is similar.

PHL is a small airport compared to other large hubs. it the number of large runways, I think it has 2 that can land big jets while others have 4 or more.

[John & Nan 0]

If there are delays at PHL there delays all along the NE corridor it is the same air space control and flow delays apply to all, Weather is weather there is nothing an Airport can do about that. In 42 entries I have never had lost luggage. If the OP has NWA as a preferred choice of airline he might want to also consider Hartford CT, they have some pretty good deals on to promote that airport,it depends of course on the starting point but it can be reasonably quick to get to, quicker than JFK from PA if you use the Tapanzee.

Hatford is not a direct to Japan or any Asian city's, so you would have to go to DTW anyways. the cost is about the same from ABE or PHL.

[SuperDuper! 230]

Here is the answer: Book your flight(s) DIRECTLY with the airline online. You really get the best price, not a patch-work quilt of 4 connecting flights with 3 airlines, 7 hr layovers, etc. Plus, if you have to change your flight or cancel, it is so much easier and cheaper. My favorite airline for all reasons is Cathay Pacific, and they are based in Singapore. Good luck and good trip.