Choosing the right plane ticket

We do it all the time, try and find the best possible ticket price every time we travel. I have learned two valuable lessons regarding air travel over the last few years and several domestic and international trips (non work related)

* 1. Most of the times airline ticket prices are comparable discount site prices
* 2. Sometimes it is worth paying more for convenience


Who has better Ticket Prices? Airline sites or Discount Sites?.
I live in Atlanta, home of two major airlines (Delta & Airtran) and one of the busiest airports in the world. There are not shortage of flights leaving Atlanta to various domestic and international locations. I have always been a fan of discount sites such as Orbitz, Kayak, Expedia and Travelocity using them with the expectation that I will get the lowest plane ticket price possible. As my travel became more frequent, I signed up for Delta's loyalty program - Skymiles, and found myself more inclinded to select Delta flights even when using the discount sites so that I can get my mileage credits.

I decided to conduct a little experiment to see if I was better off using a discount site or Delta.com to book my air travel.

I set up the experiment as follows. (I am sure this does not quite adhere to requirements for an experiment )

1. I picked 3 sites - Orbitz.com, Expedia.com and Travelocity.com
2. I picked 1 non stop destination; from Atlanta - New York Laguardia
3. I cleared my web browser cookies between searches
4. I picked the same flight # (same departure time from both locations)

I did #3 since web browser cookies can indicate search behavior and my be used as a criteria in the pricing offered for the plane tickets. (I am sure there is a more technical explanation to this)

I picked a flight greater than 2 weeks into the future at the time of writing this article.
DL1732 | 6:40PM | 03/26/10 Returning on DL1785 | 1:59PM | 3/28/10

The ticket pricing on Travelocity and Orbitz was $310.00. On Delta and Expedia the price was $310.40

Not much of a price difference exists across the various sites for the flight I selected. A quick take away is that one benefit of discount sites is the ability to compare multiple flights across various carriers, which leads me into my next point.

Convenience is worth the extra money spent
For the trips I have made to South America and the Caribbean, I would often price shop and the decision would come down to Delta vs American Airlines with the latter offering connecting service from Miami and Delta flying often direct from Atlanta. With price differences between both options usually in the $150 plus range, I often opt to go the cheaper route with American Airlines especially since I am usually buying multiple plane tickets.

For all the times I have traveled via American Airlines with connecting service in Miami, there has been a delay, missing luggage or some other unpleasant occurrence on the trip. This is nothing against American Airlines, but more of what happens when you introduce variability into the trip (through the connecting flight) The $150 I saved usually ends up getting used up for meal and drink purchases at the connecting airport, cab fare should I arrive late at my destination and miss other forms of transportation, and impulse purchases while perusing shops at the connecting airport.

Not easy to quantify is the cost of time wasted with delays and the ensuing frustration, which I am sure has health implications - additional costs.

I often get to the point where I wish I had spent that extra $150 and flown direct using Delta.

I am sure others may share my thoughts, and some may disagree.