OT: Is booking airline flights, hotels, car rentals going through one of those

[Freddie.B.Cocky]

agencies, like CheapOair, Trip Advisor, Onetravel, Travelocity, etc. the cheapest and easiest way to book a package deal? Example, if I could book our flight, motel and car rental at once that is the way I would love to go. But, just wondering if it saves money by doing so?

 

[cockn'fyr]

Hard to say if you would get a bundled deal, I have never done i that way! We usually use three seperate sites and have seemed to come up with a better deal that way. Definitely use one of the Kayak, Trivago sites for comparisons!

 

[CFAFAN23]

agencies, like CheapOair, Trip Advisor, Onetravel, Travelocity, etc. the cheapest and easiest way to book a package deal? Example, if I could book our flight, motel and car rental at once that is the way I would love to go. But, just wondering if it saves money by doing so?

You can usually get a very competitive price through them. However, if you want to get the exact same price, a detailed travel itinerary, and a potential gift for booking, then you can always use a travel agent like my wife found here: http://www.fta-vacations.com/0/?storeid=0000406771

You can ask for Crystal.

 

[Blackland]

I usually stat in Hilton, Marriott or Hyatt when I travel for business. They all say they will give you the best rate it you are a member and book through their sites. I don’t know? I do know that my trips change frequently and booking this way allows me to make changes or cancel up to 6pm the same day with no penalty.

 

[surfincock]

I quit using sites like Travelocity and the like. I deal directly with hotels, car rentals etc. they don’t save that much money and take away flexibility. I travel a lot and quit using those sites three years ago and never regretted it. Travel agents can be very helpful

 

[king ward]

If I have to do something in a hurry - such as an out-of-town funeral, I use one of the sites to bundle the plane and rental car, and then book the lodging separately based on convenience of location, price, etc.

 

[HI Cock]

If you're a travel award member with one of the big chains the rates are 99% of the time cheaper to book directly through them. I've never found that bundling saves me anything and sometimes there are limitations on what you can do (change, upgrade, etc.) if you bundle.

Hotels.com works well if you're looking to avoid the big chains. Not sure if you can book flight through them, though.

Costco almost always has the cheapest rental cars with the smallest hassle - free extra driver, for example.

 

[robertfootball]

They’re basically selling you the worst flight times with the shortest or super long layovers. I’ve found better deals buying straight from the airline themselves, you just have to buy 6 months or more in advance.

 

[Freddie.B.Cocky]

They’re basically selling you the worst flight times with the shortest or super long layovers. I’ve found better deals buying straight from the airline themselves, you just have to buy 6 months or more in advance.

I wish I had got started booking six months in advance but we didn't settle on an exact date until last night. Now I only have about three months before the trip.

 

[robertfootball]

I wish I had got started booking six months in advance but we didn't settle on an exact date until last night. Now I only have about three months before the trip.

You should still be good to be honest.

 

[Cocksur1]

I wish I had got started booking six months in advance but we didn't settle on an exact date until last night. Now I only have about three months before the trip.

You’ll be more than fine, not sure what the other poster is talking about, but most travel websites tell you to book 45-60 days prior to your trip.

 

[cockhornleghorn]

I usually use Hotwire or Kayak.

 

[uscnoklahoma2]

I quit using sites like Travelocity and the like. I deal directly with hotels, car rentals etc. they don’t save that much money and take away flexibility. I travel a lot and quit using those sites three years ago and never regretted it. Travel agents can be very helpful

This. I rarely use them anymore unless the hotel is stubborn and won't match the travel site price.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

I wish I had got started booking six months in advance but we didn't settle on an exact date until last night. Now I only have about three months before the trip.

Freddie, where are you going? International? Cross country?

Three months is ideal time to start looking, make your bookings as deals present themselves. I have had great luck with hotel booking with Hotwire. Usually get at least one star discount (5* for price of 4*, 4* for price of 3*, etc.). Worst catch is sometimes(not often) hotel is remodeling parts of the building but your room is fine. Just remember to go with 75% positive rating or higher and you shouldn't be disappointed.

If flying, you can get crazy cheap flights sometimes, but usually limited cities and dates. Sometimes cheaper to book flight back separately or to return back through a different airport or city. Beware of multi-stop flights eith too short or too long layover. Beware luggage fees. Beware international luggage size and weight limits. Try using Google Flights for initial look around.

 

[Freddie.B.Cocky]

Freddie, where are you going? International? Cross country?

Three months is ideal time to start looking, make your bookings as deals present themselves. I have had great luck with hotel booking with Hotwire. Usually get at least one star discount (5* for price of 4*, 4* for price of 3*, etc.). Worst catch is sometimes(not often) hotel is remodeling parts of the building but your room is fine. Just remember to go with 75% positive rating or higher and you shouldn't be disappointed.

If flying, you can get crazy cheap flights sometimes, but usually limited cities and dates. Sometimes cheaper to book flight back separately or to return back through a different airport or city. Beware of multi-stop flights eith too short or too long layover. Beware luggage fees. Beware international luggage size and weight limits. Try using Google Flights for initial look around.

Thanks very much. We are flying out west. So, if I understand correctly one would book a flight one way and then separately book another flight back home. Paying two different flights? In other words, if I were flying into Bozeman, Mt. I would book a flight one way and then at the same time book a flight back home one way - is that correct?

 

[Blackland]

Also, if you book on some of those travel sites you do not get the hotel points, rewards benefits, early check in, late check out, free room upgrades, free breakfast, club access, etc...

 

[Freddie.B.Cocky]

Also, if you book on some of those travel sites you do not get the hotel points, rewards benefits, early check in, late check out, free room upgrades, free breakfast, club access, etc...

Interesting. I have just learned enough to do some good searching to try and find the best deal.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

Thanks very much. We are flying out west. So, if I understand correctly one would book a flight one way and then separately book another flight back home. Paying two different flights? In other words, if I were flying into Bozeman, Mt. I would book a flight one way and then at the same time book a flight back home one way - is that correct?

That usually works with large cities (New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London, etc.) Sometimes there are one way sales by different airlines. Flying to Montana, it would likely be good to book round-trip. It wouldn't be a likely site for a sale (high volume). However, if you have to make a connecting flight, check with other cities into your destination. Sometimes it is cheaper to fly further, past your destination, and fly back to it, than to take a shorter more direct route. Just a matter of saving money, or saving time, which is more important to you.

 

[mirbird]

well there you go...

 

[Flameout12]

Interesting. I have just learned enough to do some good searching to try and find the best deal.

If you take the time, you can go on Kayak and keep trying all kinds of dates and times to see what's out there. Kayak will send you to the airline of choice to book so I don't know why anyone has an issue with that. It's just easier to look at all the flights in a group rather than going to the specific airline site. For Boseman, you'll likely have 3 flights one way unless you drive to Charlotte or Atlanta. If you're going to sightsee, I recommend staying on east coast time and get out early. I plan on spending part of the summer in MT.

 

[cockhornleghorn]

Thanks very much. We are flying out west. So, if I understand correctly one would book a flight one way and then separately book another flight back home. Paying two different flights? In other words, if I were flying into Bozeman, Mt. I would book a flight one way and then at the same time book a flight back home one way - is that correct?

Look at prices both for round trip and one way, both ways, to see which is cheaper.

 

[FORKCOCK]

I travel a few times per month because of my job and I'm a Diamond member with Hilton.

I book all my flights, cars and hotels myself and book them direct with the airline, hotel and car rental agency.

 

[Freddie.B.Cocky]

Like I said, I am armed with some great information from the posts above to start doing some serious research. We now know the exact dates and so I hope to check out a number of sites both as package deals and then separately to see which ones are the better deals. I am certainly looking to save money but if it's $200 or less I will probably go with the one that fits the time of day we like to leave and then arrive home. Last year, we got back into Charlotte at 5:00 AM, couldn't sleep on the plane, and almost ran off the road on the way home. If there is not much difference in the prices I may just go with the one that is easiest to book.

Thanks to everyone above for all the great suggestions. As previously stated, this gives me a lot of information and a great starting place to search for great deals. I hope to get everything booked this weekend.

 

[NCGamcockFan2167]

I quit using sites like Travelocity and the like. I deal directly with hotels, car rentals etc. they don’t save that much money and take away flexibility. I travel a lot and quit using those sites three years ago and never regretted it. Travel agents can be very helpful

i agree. Travelocity is a scam and i have stayed at some crappy hotels that they claimed were 4 star. go direct or use a GOOD travel agent...not one that uses the same site you can use yourself. stay mostly at same chain that way you can build up frequency point and they will treat you right.. I travel alot and have learned the hard way.

 

[uscg1984]

Thanks very much. We are flying out west. So, if I understand correctly one would book a flight one way and then separately book another flight back home. Paying two different flights? In other words, if I were flying into Bozeman, Mt. I would book a flight one way and then at the same time book a flight back home one way - is that correct?

Freddie, when it comes to Bozeman, I have had good luck doing my preliminary research for flights using Google Flights. It's especially helpful if you aren't locked in to specific travel days. Most of the time, roundtrip flights are going to be your best bet, but occasionally, you can find one-way flights on a random day that are very cheap (although you tend not to see that as often during the summer tourist season). Google Flights will show you the cheapest flights on a particular day and then you can dig a little deeper to see if the flight fits your schedule.

The cheapest flights into Bozeman from the east coast are usually on Frontier. But like most of the discount airlines, the flights are limited and the itinerary from a specific eastern city may involve a crazy long layover in Denver that isn't worth the discounted price. But every now and then, it works out perfectly.

 

[Freddie.B.Cocky]

Freddie, when it comes to Bozeman, I have had good luck doing my preliminary research for flights using Google Flights. It's especially helpful if you aren't locked in to specific travel days. Most of the time, roundtrip flights are going to be your best bet, but occasionally, you can find one-way flights on a random day that are very cheap (although you tend not to see that as often during the summer tourist season). Google Flights will show you the cheapest flights on a particular day and then you can dig a little deeper to see if the flight fits your schedule.

The cheapest flights into Bozeman from the east coast are usually on Frontier. But like most of the discount airlines, the flights are limited and the itinerary from a specific eastern city may involve a crazy long layover in Denver that isn't worth the discounted price. But every now and then, it works out perfectly.

Is Google Flights a Website? I guess I can check and see. Thanks for the tip. I have flown into and out of Denver a couple of times on Frontier. The flight leaves Denver at midnight and arrives in Charlotte around 5:00 AM. A couple of years ago, I slept a little on the flight to Charlotte and when we landed I had no problem driving home. But last year with my wife, I couldn't sleep for some reason on the flight back home. And once we got our car and headed home, which is about an hour and 40 minutes, I almost fell asleep while driving. I won't be doing that again. Even if we were to arrive back in Charlotte early in the morning, and I didn't sleep any on the flight, we are going to get a motel and sleep for a few hours before driving to Marion.

But I will take your suggestions and see what kind of deals we can get. I am looking forward to spending the entire weekend planning the trip for everything from flight reservations, hotels and sightseeing. LOL! By Sunday night, I plan to have everything book or at least I hope I have everything book.

 

[uscg1984]

Is Google Flights a Website? I guess I can check and see. Thanks for the tip. I have flown into and out of Denver a couple of times on Frontier. The flight leaves Denver at midnight and arrives in Charlotte around 5:00 AM. A couple of years ago, I slept a little on the flight to Charlotte and when we landed I had no problem driving home. But last year with my wife, I couldn't sleep for some reason on the flight back home. And once we got our car and headed home, which is about an hour and 40 minutes, I almost fell asleep while driving. I won't be doing that again. Even if we were to arrive back in Charlotte early in the morning, and I didn't sleep any on the flight, we are going to get a motel and sleep for a few hours before driving to Marion.

But I will take your suggestions and see what kind of deals we can get. I am looking forward to spending the entire weekend planning the trip for everything from flight reservations, hotels and sightseeing. LOL! By Sunday night, I plan to have everything book or at least I hope I have everything book.

I hope you have a great trip. I do have a couple of more "low-investment" suggestions for you to see on your trip. By "low-investment," I mean they don't take a lot of time, a lot of driving, or a lot of expense, but deliver a pretty impressive return on that investment.

If you find yourself on I-90 at some point between Bozeman and Butte, the Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park is certainly worth a peek. You don't have to actually take a caverns tour, although you can do that if you like (personally, I've seen a number of caverns and they all kind of look the same to me). What I like about the park is the great views from the upper visitor's center looking out over the Jefferson River. There's a nice little cafe and gift shop and the top and some really great photo spots. The road to the top is winding, but it's a nice paved road that RVers navigate just fine. If you are driving west on I-90, you'll see signs for the caverns at the Three Forks exit, but drive on another 20 miles or so to Cardwell and take that exit. The drive between Cardwell and the park follows the Jefferson River through a pretty impressive canyon. It's only about 15 minutes from the interstate to the top of the caverns (not counting photo stops), but it's a drive that gives a tremendous bang for the buck.

If you plan to stop in Butte anyway, travel up main street through Uptown and take a little detour to the Granite Mountain & Spectacular Mine Disaster Memorial. 168 miners died in the two mines in 1917 in the worst hard-rock mining disaster in US history. Butte sits on the side of a huge hill, so the upper parts of Uptown are several hundred feet higher than "the flats" down by the interstate and the memorial sits even higher on that hill, several hundred feet above most of uptown. There's a pretty good audio interpretive display up there and some good views of the mines and city below. It's usually pretty windy up there and several degrees cooler than the flats down below which adds to the somber, almost surreal environment. If you stop at the Butte visitors center off of the Montana Street exit, they can give you information about, and directions to, the memorial. One interesting little fact about the disaster: it occurred in June of the year, but rescue efforts up on the surface were hampered by a significant winter storm.

 

[Freddie.B.Cocky]

I hope you have a great trip. I do have a couple of more "low-investment" suggestions for you to see on your trip. By "low-investment," I mean they don't take a lot of time, a lot of driving, or a lot of expense, but deliver a pretty impressive return on that investment.

If you find yourself on I-90 at some point between Bozeman and Butte, the Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park is certainly worth a peek. You don't have to actually take a caverns tour, although you can do that if you like (personally, I've seen a number of caverns and they all kind of look the same to me). What I like about the park is the great views from the upper visitor's center looking out over the Jefferson River. There's a nice little cafe and gift shop and the top and some really great photo spots. The road to the top is winding, but it's a nice paved road that RVers navigate just fine. If you are driving west on I-90, you'll see signs for the caverns at the Three Forks exit, but drive on another 20 miles or so to Cardwell and take that exit. The drive between Cardwell and the park follows the Jefferson River through a pretty impressive canyon. It's only about 15 minutes from the interstate to the top of the caverns (not counting photo stops), but it's a drive that gives a tremendous bang for the buck.

If you plan to stop in Butte anyway, travel up main street through Uptown and take a little detour to the Granite Mountain & Spectacular Mine Disaster Memorial. 168 miners died in the two mines in 1917 in the worst hard-rock mining disaster in US history. Butte sits on the side of a huge hill, so the upper parts of Uptown are several hundred feet higher than "the flats" down by the interstate and the memorial sits even higher on that hill, several hundred feet above most of uptown. There's a pretty good audio interpretive display up there and some good views of the mines and city below. It's usually pretty windy up there and several degrees cooler than the flats down below which adds to the somber, almost surreal environment. If you stop at the Butte visitors center off of the Montana Street exit, they can give you information about, and directions to, the memorial. One interesting little fact about the disaster: it occurred in June of the year, but rescue efforts up on the surface were hampered by a significant winter storm.

Will do my friend. I love things like the caverns, we have a very small cavern about 15 miles above my house, Linville Caverns. It's very small but it is pretty cool and interesting if one has never visited a cavern before and I hadn't.

When I was in Montana in 2016 I drove I-90 from Helena ( I believe) to Billings. I'm pretty sure I drove into the city of Butte. I went to visit Montana State University and drove up the hill but once I got there I didn't see any great places to park and ended up not visiting the campus. I latter learned MSU is a beautiful college campus and I highly regret not making the effort to take a scroll around campus. I just remember turning off the interstate and Butte was right directly off the interstate. I stop at a tourist center I believe and a lady told me MSU was right up the hill. But, she did not mention anything about the Granite Mountain & Spectacular Mine Disaster Memorial. I love that kind of stuff. Also seems like their was an art museum in Butte that I missed out on, too. I won't make that mistake this time. Also I would like to visit the city where the U. of Montana is located. I love college campuses and will visit any new ones I've never seen if time allows. And I definitely want to see the Charles Russel Art Museum. I missed that last time too because I took the wrong road once I left Glacier and Kalispell. I was suppose to drive what they call the loop that encompassed driving through some town that had Falls in the name and take in the Charles Russel Museum but again I took the wrong road, dat gum it. But, it won't happen this time.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

Type Google Flights into a Google Search. It pop up flight options, dates and cities.

 

[Flameout12]

Thanks to everyone above for all the great suggestions. As previously stated, this gives me a lot of information and a great starting place to search for great deals. I hope to get everything booked this weekend.

Yellowstone is 2 hrs S of Bozeman.

 

[Freddie.B.Cocky]

Yellowstone is 2 hrs S of Bozeman.

We visited Yellowstone in 2013 and stayed inside the park for almost a week. It was a vacation I will never forget.

 

[Freddie.B.Cocky]

Type Google Flights into a Google Search. It pop up flight options, dates and cities.

Thanks.

 

[bucketdad]

If you want to be insured a paticular type room like ocean front or a certain number of bedrooms and so on, best bet would be to go through the hotel itself. If none of that matters, I'd say go for it.

 

[uscg1984]

Will do my friend. I love things like the caverns, we have a very small cavern about 15 miles above my house, Linville Caverns. It's very small but it is pretty cool and interesting if one has never visited a cavern before and I hadn't.

When I was in Montana in 2016 I drove I-90 from Helena ( I believe) to Billings. I'm pretty sure I drove into the city of Butte. I went to visit Montana State University and drove up the hill but once I got there I didn't see any great places to park and ended up not visiting the campus. I latter learned MSU is a beautiful college campus and I highly regret not making the effort to take a scroll around campus. I just remember turning off the interstate and Butte was right directly off the interstate. I stop at a tourist center I believe and a lady told me MSU was right up the hill. But, she did not mention anything about the Granite Mountain & Spectacular Mine Disaster Memorial. I love that kind of stuff. Also seems like their was an art museum in Butte that I missed out on, too. I won't make that mistake this time. Also I would like to visit the city where the U. of Montana is located. I love college campuses and will visit any new ones I've never seen if time allows. And I definitely want to see the Charles Russel Art Museum. I missed that last time too because I took the wrong road once I left Glacier and Kalispell. I was suppose to drive what they call the loop that encompassed driving through some town that had Falls in the name and take in the Charles Russel Museum but again I took the wrong road, dat gum it. But, it won't happen this time.

Sounds like you were probably in Butte, but that was Montana Tech up on the hill. You drive through the campus up on the hill to get to the World Museum of Mining. The WMM has some interesting underground mine tours, a replica old west mining town, and sits on one of the actual old mines. I-15 runs North-South and I-90 runs East-West and they intersect in Butte. I-15 connects Great Falls, Helena, and Butte. I-90 connects Billings, Bozeman, Butte, and Missoula. MSU is in Bozeman, U of Montana is in Missoula, and the aforementioned Montana Tech is in Butte. I'm not aware of an art museum in Butte, but the Charles Russell museum is in Great Falls and the Montana HIstorical Society in Helena and has a lot of western art, including works by Russell. Bozeman has the Museum of the Rockies by the MSU campus.

 

[mavcock]

Freddie, when it comes to Bozeman, I have had good luck doing my preliminary research for flights using Google Flights. It's especially helpful if you aren't locked in to specific travel days. Most of the time, roundtrip flights are going to be your best bet, but occasionally, you can find one-way flights on a random day that are very cheap (although you tend not to see that as often during the summer tourist season). Google Flights will show you the cheapest flights on a particular day and then you can dig a little deeper to see if the flight fits your schedule.

The cheapest flights into Bozeman from the east coast are usually on Frontier. But like most of the discount airlines, the flights are limited and the itinerary from a specific eastern city may involve a crazy long layover in Denver that isn't worth the discounted price. But every now and then, it works out perfectly.

Email me man.

 

[Freddie.B.Cocky]

Sounds like you were probably in Butte, but that was Montana Tech up on the hill. You drive through the campus up on the hill to get to the World Museum of Mining. The WMM has some interesting underground mine tours, a replica old west mining town, and sits on one of the actual old mines. I-15 runs North-South and I-90 runs East-West and they intersect in Butte. I-15 connects Great Falls, Helena, and Butte. I-90 connects Billings, Bozeman, Butte, and Missoula. MSU is in Bozeman, U of Montana is in Missoula, and the aforementioned Montana Tech is in Butte. I'm not aware of an art museum in Butte, but the Charles Russell museum is in Great Falls and the Montana HIstorical Society in Helena and has a lot of western art, including works by Russell. Bozeman has the Museum of the Rockies by the MSU campus.

Gosh, it makes me feel very sad that I missed the Charles Russell museum by taking the wrong road but it even makes me feel worse that I was in Helena and missed the Western Art Museum. I love Western Art. I guess it was Montana Tech but I swear I thought the sign said Montana State at exit (whatever) as I was driving down the interstate.

But thanks for the information, now I have my "bearing" and won't make the same mistakes.

 

[uscg1984]

Email me man.

Done.

 

[lostcock]

We have a trip to NYC coming up that we were going to drive and make a few stops along the way but I’ve been checking some flights just in case (through Expedia) and 3 of us can fly some pretty varied times nonstop from CHS for <$150pp round trip. I don’t see how that can be beat.

 

[king ward]

I travel a few times per month because of my job and I'm a Diamond member with Hilton.

I book all my flights, cars and hotels myself and book them direct with the airline, hotel and car rental agency.

You would make somebody a great travel agent.

 

[Flameout12]

We have a trip to NYC coming up that we were going to drive and make a few stops along the way but I’ve been checking some flights just in case (through Expedia) and 3 of us can fly some pretty varied times nonstop from CHS for <$150pp round trip. I don’t see how that can be beat.

When you factor in the cost of rooms & gas, flying can be the less expensive option. If you can ride the trains and Uber/Lyft in bigger cities, you can avoid paying for the rental car & also avoid having to drive in their traffic/find parking.