Cheapflights.co.uk is a travel site that deals with everyone who has tickets to sell, from the major airlines and travel sites to small operators whom you have to contact by phone. When you go to their website you are presented with a search box with two options:

Today, I’ll look at the second option, fixed dates, where their search engine will search for the best flight deals from a number of travel sites and airlines. As you read on, you will see that Cheap Flights offers a convenient way to compare the search results from each site. You can click the small screen shots to see a full size snapshot.

Selecting I have fixed travel dates then clicking Find deals now button, we are presented with the following search box:

I’ll select/enter the following:

1. Flights only
2. Ticket Type – Return
3. Class – Economy
4. From – Manchester, United Kingdom
5. To – Orlando, FL, USA – all airports
6. Depart February 12th 2010, Anytime
7. Return February 26th 2010, Anytime
8. I am flexible with my dates – not checked
9. Adults 1
10. Receive our weekly travel newsletter – no

Clicking Search recommended websites we are presented with step 2:

In the step 2 panel, you can see various travel websites from Virgin Atlantic to Air France. Clicking each one in turn will open a new tabbed window for each site and the corresponding search results page – very convenient. To change dates, go back to the original cheapflights.co.uk tab, then click each website again in turn and the corresponding tabbed window will be updated.

Let’s look at each website in turn. I won’t explain the whole purchasing process – only up to the point where you have selected your flights and begun the purchasing process.

Virgin Atlantic

The Virgin Atlantic search results page display’s a date/price matrix with the price for the chosen dates highlighted in yellow. A green LOW graphic icon next to the price indicates the cheapest prices. Below the price matrix table, a summary of the flight itinerary for the searched for dates is displayed. This includes total price, flight times, airports, flight number and total duration of the journey each way. Clicking another price will update the journey itineraries. Click continue button to begin your purchase process.

The Virgin search results page is very compact, efficient and displays all the necessary details. It’s easy for you to see the prices for alternative dates. When you choose another set of dates, it takes about 10 seconds to update the screen with the new itinerary. Initial search to start of purchase processing is a 3-step process. The price for my chosen dates was the not cheapest at £537.20. However, if I was flexible with dates, I could fly for £429.20. Virgin flights from Manchester to Orlando are non-stop and if you take the earlier flight, you will arrive in Orlando mid-afternoon at 14:50.

Netflights

The Net Flights search results page displays a list of the lowest priced fares from its database. Very basic information is displayed – airline and price from. Clicking the select button for a flight will bring you to the next screen; only then will you see the flight itineraries. If you want to select another flight, you need to click the Back to result button.

Select an outbound and inbound journey then click Add to basket to begin your purchase process.

With NetFlights, initial search to start of purchase processing is a 4-step process. Compared to other search engines, it is not as convenient. The lowest price fare was £434 with US Airways; a competitive price, however, the journey requires one stop with a long wait for the connection on the outbound journey. Arrival time in Orlando at 22:45.

British Airways

The British Airways search results page displays a separate table for outbound and inbound journeys with a number of date/price options either side of the chosen dates from the previous search step. There is no total price displayed for return journey so you will have to calculate it yourself. Clicking the Continue button will display a screen where you can choose your outbound and inbound journeys:

Full journey itineraries are displayed with dates, times, airports, flight numbers and total journey times. Select your outbound and inbound journeys then click continue button to begin your purchase process.

For British Airways, initial search to start of purchase processing is a 4-step process. The price for my chosen dates was £631. If I chose to fly out on the 11th and return on the 25th the price was £557; that’s a saving of £74. The journey each way requires 1 stop at either Heathrow or Gatwick. Arrive in Orlando at 16.25 on the outbound journey.

Travel Pack

Travel Pack search results page displays a list of the lowest priced journeys with detailed itinerary. By default the list is sorted by lowest prices first. You can re-order the search results list by journey duration, departure time and arrival time. This is very useful if price is not your sole criteria. Click Select this Flight button for your chosen journey option to begin your purchase option.

With Travel Pack, initial search to start of purchase processing is a 3-step process. Re-sorting by different criteria is useful, but if you are a little flexible with dates, you need to go back to the original search box. The lowest priced fair was American Airlines for £441.90 with 1 stop either way. The outbound flight is a rather long 17 hours 15 minutes and arriving in Orlando at 22:45.

Travel Up

The Travel Up search results page displays a list of the lowest priced journeys with detailed itinerary. At the top of the page there is a quick list of the lowest priced search results with the corresponding airline logo above. Click Select These Flight button for your chosen flight to begin your purchase option.

The Travel Up search engine does provide you with many options. Initial search to start of purchase processing is a 3-step process. As with Travel pack, you need to go back to the original search box to find flights for different dates. The lowest priced fare was American Airlines flight for £443. Outbound flight 12 hours; inbound 10 hours, both with 1 stop. For the outbound flight, you arrive in Orlando at 18.28.

BMI

The BMI search results page displays te following message:

This is not bookable online. Please make another selection or contact us on 0870 240 7047 (within the UK) or + 44 (0)1332 648181 (outside the UK).

Travel Republic

Travel Republic search results page displays a list of the lowest priced fares with most of the important flight details but does not display transit times for non-direct flights. Usefully, you can filter the results by exact date only, departure time (any, morning, afternoon, evening) and sort by price (lowest first), outbound departure time, return arrival time or airline. At the top of the page, you can see a quick summary of prices organised by number of stops. Click Select Flight link for your chosen flight to begin your purchase option.

Travel Republic makes effective use of screen space. The two shortcomings are no connection flight details and having to return to the original search box to change dates. The lowest price was £433 for the same flight offered by Travel Up for £443.

Zugu

The Zugu search results page displays a list of the lowest priced fares with details of airports, date/times, and number of stops. At the top of the page its displays a quick summary of 3 flight choices with price and number of stops. Below this, you can choose to sort your search results by price & airline, depart time, return time or journey duration. If you click View details link for a flight journey, a pop-up window appears, which displays a full itinerary. At the bottom of the window you can see a list of travel sites and their prices. In my example the following sites were displayed:

NetFlights.com £437
Lastminute.com £441
Opodo £442

If you now close the windows and then click the Select button for your chosen flight a window will pop-up and you can choose which seller (i.e. travel website) to make your purchase (i.e. Netflights, Lastminute and Opodo in my example). Once you have selected your seller, you are re-directed to the sellers website to begin your purchase process.

As I right this, Zugu appears to be a glimpse of the future Cheap Flights site where they have consolidated their search results from travel partner sites into one screen. They have made very effective use of screen real estate. It looks they they taken the best features from other sites from which to create their own. When you have chosen a flight, you are presented with the prices from a number of travel sites and then you can choose which site to make your purchase.

Air France

The Air France search results page displays a table of outbound dates with prices around your chosen departure date. If you are flexible with dates you can choose another date and then click Validate your segment button to continue. Note that there is no itinerary detail displayed.

The next page is similar and displays a table for return dates with prices. With your chosen date selected, click Validate your segment button.

The next page displays outbound flight journey options with detailed itineraries. With your chosen date selected, click Validate your segment button.

The next page is similar and displays a table for return dates with prices. With your chosen date selected, click Validate your segment button.

Finally, the next page is displays an itinerary for your return flight. Click the Book button to start your purchase process.

With Air France, initial search to start of purchase processing is a 5-step process. The journey each way requires 2-stops and total journey times vary from 15 to 18 hours. The least impressive offering I must say.

Summary

Cheapflights.co.uk offers an efficient and effective way to compare prices from different travel sites and airlines. With its own Zugu website we are perhaps seeing the future of Cheap Flights where search results data has been consolidated into one screen. For a given flight, it even finds which travel sites are offering the best deals.

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Florida is a popular all-year round holiday destination for people from the UK, which is not blessed with Florida’s favourable warm climate. Orlando, the theme park capital of the world, attracts a huge number of British families with the favourite attraction being Walt Disney World. Many families choose to stay at Florida Vacation Rentals, which provide many advantages over hotels, but I’ll discuss that in a future topic.

For a typical family of four, the costs can easily mount up. We can generally break the costs down to travelling, accommodation, entertainment, dining and shopping.

The airline flights are obviously the biggest contributor towards travelling costs. So, for the budget conscious vacationer, how do we find the cheapest way to fly? Searching online is the obvious money saving option. Before discussing travel sites, which offer the best deal, there are some booking strategies, which you may consider.

Book Early

If you are planning a vacation to Florida well in advance, then some of the best deals can be found as soon as the tickets are made available by the airlines. Tickets are usually released for purchase 11 months before departure date.

Book Late

Last minute deals, well, not quite last minute, is an option for the flexible traveller. If an airline has a significant number of unsold seats near to the departure date then they will offer attractive discounts. You may find that the price will creep up less than 2 weeks before departure.

Chartered Airlines

Orlando International airport is the closest, most convenient airport for the Orlando/Disney World area and is served by the major carriers like, British airways and Virgin. However, if you want to trade convenience for cost savings, you may wish to consider flying to Sanford International airport where many chartered airlines will generally offer cheaper prices. Charter operators include Thomas Cook, Thomson, First Choice and MyTravel.

Searching for Cheap Flights online

There are many Internet Travel sites to choose from in your search for the best deals. Popular sites include ebookers.com, LastMinute.com, Opodo.com and Expedia.co.uk. Their search engines will search for all the best deals from major airlines. Another site to consider is Cheapflights.co.uk. Cheapflights.co.uk is a travel price comparison website. Take your pick from price comparison site, deals publisher, travel search engine or flights aggregator. Cheapflights.co.uk list deals from everyone who has tickets to sell – be that the big airlines like BA, the low-costers like Monarch, traditional travel agents like Thomas Cook, online travel agents like Opodo or even very small specialist, telephone only agents that you won’t find out about anywhere else.

In a future article I will compare the travel sites to see how they fare.

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airport, cheap, flights, orlando, Travel