Comments on: How to Find Cheap Flights to Europe http://rickseaney.com/2008/03/13/how-to-find-cheap-flights-to-europe/ Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:47:15 GMT http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: kevin whited http://rickseaney.com/2008/03/13/how-to-find-cheap-flights-to-europe/#comment-8431 kevin whited Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:13:27 +0000 http://rickseaney.com/2008/03/13/how-to-find-cheap-flights-to-europe/#comment-8431 FareCompare has become a less useful tool than it once was for determining international fares. For example, compare this search http://www.farecompare.com/search/flyertalk.html?departure=HOU&fares=International&carrierFilter=CO&filter=ALL&ppm=9999&savings=99999&distance=0&sortby=ppm&p=1 to this search http://www.farecompare.com/search/flyertalk.html?departure=HOU&fares=International&carrierFilter=NW&filter=ALL&ppm=9999&savings=99999&distance=0&sortby=ppm&p=1 Northwest looks much cheaper than Continental on many many routes! But that's only because FareCompare seems not to be capturing some fuel/tax surcharges consistently, making Northwest "look" better on the fare, when in reality, NWA and CO are comparable. This fact is borne out if you actually go to the airline websites and price flights, or even compare flights using the engines that FareCompare links to. It would be great if FareCompare could go back to being the great resource it once was for these sorts of comparisons. This topic has been a frequent one on FlyerTalk. FareCompare has become a less useful tool than it once was for determining international fares.

For example, compare this search

http://www.farecompare.com/search/flyertalk.html?departure=HOU&fares=International&carrierFilter=CO&filter=ALL&ppm=9999&savings=99999&distance=0&sortby=ppm&p=1

to this search

http://www.farecompare.com/search/flyertalk.html?departure=HOU&fares=International&carrierFilter=NW&filter=ALL&ppm=9999&savings=99999&distance=0&sortby=ppm&p=1

Northwest looks much cheaper than Continental on many many routes!

But that’s only because FareCompare seems not to be capturing some fuel/tax surcharges consistently, making Northwest “look” better on the fare, when in reality, NWA and CO are comparable. This fact is borne out if you actually go to the airline websites and price flights, or even compare flights using the engines that FareCompare links to.

It would be great if FareCompare could go back to being the great resource it once was for these sorts of comparisons. This topic has been a frequent one on FlyerTalk.

]]>