Booking airline seats on the internet

Not all internet sites that sell airline tickets (there are nearly 300 of them) deliver the best airfare. Spend an hour or so checking various prices. When you finally do decide on one, you've got to say "I have found a fair price and I will take it" or you could spend a week searching. All you will need is stamina, nerve, and patience.

1. Get a benchmark fare, Travelocity is a good place to start. Travelocity.com

2. The major airlines have formed an online consortium (orbitz.com) for ticket sales.

3. Try Qixo.com, FareChase.com, CheapTickets.com, TheTravelSite.com

4. Do not forget Expedia expedia.com Expedia and travelocity do 40% of the on line bookings.

5. Check for web only deals with the airline themselves.

7. Iceland Air often has great rates to Europe. The flights go from several US cities to Iceland and then on to other European countries. Recently they had r/t tickets to the UK for $224.

6. Try ITA software---this is an innovative airfare search engine. ITAsoftware.com Its advantage is that it has the ability to display fares to and from nearby airports which may offer cheaper prices

7. Price Line and Expedia Flight Price Matcher have catches. You name your price but can not name your airline or routing and are locked in if your bid is accepted. www.priceline.com

8. www.hotwire.com is new. It spits out a fare and you have 30 minutes to decide whether to buy.

9. Remember there are millions of people looking for airfare. The price you saw 10 minutes ago may be gone now. Good luck!

*Some of the information on this page is based on an article appearing in USA Today written by Laura Bly.