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We decided to try out a test case, research online -- using a cross selection of airline websites and online consolidators -- to help you see what's in store and maybe help guide you away from the long-drawn out process and into the quick route, bargain-priced ticket buyer we all would like to be.

Two things are for sure: prices will vary according to dates and flexibility of carrier and their routings...... and the stranger sitting next two you will have paid a different price for the same ticket. We hope you're the one who payed less.

Full Listing of Airlines and Airports Websites.

Let's say we want to go out on March 1st, and return April 16th, and fly from London to Sydney.

We started the search at 9:30, on Thursday January 3rd, 2002.

BA and Qantas are the big boys flying direct. So first we try their web sites.

British Airways: (BA)
The world's largest international passenger airline flying the most extensive mainline scheduled route network around the globe. If you can't get there from London, it's probably not on the map.

We entered the departure date and asked to be shown return flights. You can choose just British Airways or All Carriers. We decided to cast the net wide.

The only carriers returned were British Airways and Qantas. They have plenty of flights available between them and you can find out more details for flights a few days either side of your selection by clicking on the plane.

How much though?

There's an exclamation mark and in somewhat smaller font:
Check fares and availability or book a ticket by visiting Flight Booking now.

After a couple more clicks you get to select your flights -- not as many here as was first implied.

Then click again for the prices (for two adults)..... and go back to try other permutations.....

There are savings to be had if you play around with the selections and dates, but a show cheapest fares would really help.

British Airways allow you to add hotels and travel insurance while you're at it and get a 5 pound discount on each ticket, if you select paper ticket on the next page.

Do fares change with other carriers?

Qantas: (QF)
Australia's far-reaching brand operates over 4,200 flights a week to 96 destinations in Australia and around the world. Search up-to-the-minute online schedule information on Qantas and British Airways flights.

First select the departure...... to get a list of corresponding flights, then choose the return date on the next screen.

Great but where's the prices?

We click on Flight Bookings..... and enter our airports and dates again.

There's more flights than BA returned, including flights through Bangkok and Singapore, and it's mind-boggling to know which ones to select. We stay with what's selected.

The price search calls up the Amadeus reservation system -- and returns with the same fares as BA, although the search did bring up fare alternatives without us having to go back and select other flights ourselves.

Changing the dates, as in the BA example, brings up the same cheaper fare.

KLM uk: (UK)
Extensive network of routes within the UK, including regular schedules from London to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle. Also flies direct to Amsterdam, Bergen, Brussels, Channel Islands, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Milan, Paris, Rome, Stavanger and 400 destinations worldwide through Amsterdam; with KLM and Northwest Airlines.

We click book now, and schedule out our intended flights to Australia.

You can select to have returns based on schedule or price. Price is the default...... and that's what interests us.

Unfortunately the special fares for this journey are no longer available. Please try different dates, or an 'ON SCHEDULE' search.

So we try to go "On Schedule."

The search through Worldweb Reservations is slow......

The itinerary you selected cannot be reserved using this online system. It may be that we do not operate the route selected or that there is no availability for the dates entered. Please enter alternative dates or contact KLM reservations at 08705 074074

Ok, we'll go to KLM Royal Dutch airlines, the parent company who deal with international flights.

The search is available by price (default) or schedule.

And it's off to the Worldweb Reservation system..... which already failed us.

11:30 -- We try Alitalia.

Select your country's homepage...... I presume that's Regno Unito.

Flight Availability show that there are plenty of flights available.... but where are the prices?

Alitalia's on-line booking service is reserved for MilleMiglia Club members......
[Added Nov 25, 2002 -- this no longer seems to be the case.]

Onto Alitalia USA...... Flights from London to Sydney are not available but you could put together your own London - Rome/ Rome - Sydney (via Melbourne) package -- Multi-City Search.

You need to have a mind like a travel agent and with all the time spent checking airline websites and filling in registration forms, you could have paid a travel agent to do the job for you.........

Aeroflot:
They often have cheap flights to Asian destinations. There's an interactive flight search, but Aeroflot don't seem to go to Australia.

12:00 -- Thai Airways
Fares. Always a good bet. Thai serves more countries in Asia than any other airline and operate to key cities in 35 countries on 4 continents. They fly London to Sydney, so that's good too.

Into the Amadeus system......

And Thai return a fare for 1,879 pounds sterling. Later dates are more expensive.

12:15 -- Air France sometimes have good prices. We try Air France..... They have plenty of flights to Asia but they don't seem to go to Australia -- or show us partners who do.

Virgin Atlantic:
They've taken a few airline awards away from BA, can they beat their prices?

It takes a few clicks to work our way through to the booking page.

Only Business Class is available on the outward flight so we go back to change the dates..... 2nd March outbound is fine.

Virgin fly to Sydney through Kuala Lumpur and return a fare of GBP 1,761.00 -- which doesn't beat British Airways. It's also the same price to fly back on the 24th.

Malayasia Airlines:
They fly between Sydney and London (through Kuala Lumpur) and provide searchable schedules..... but we didn't find prices or availability for international routes.

12:50 -- We're getting tired of looking at the airline sites, there are more airlines who fly this route, but not all of them have prices.

Silly me, what about Ansett -- Australia's second major airline:
The online booking engine is great for domestic flights but if they operate international flights, it doesn't show.
[Updated Nov 25, 2002: Flights operated by Ansett Australia ceased operation from midnight on Monday 4 March, 2002.]

Swissair:
Swissair suffered financial problems recently and supposedly closed up shop...... but the site still appears open for business.

They also offered us the cheapest ticket so far..... £1336.20.

Selecting the flight.....

Sorry there are no bookable flights available for return journey. Please select another date.
[Updated Nov 25, 2002: Swissair stopped flying on March 31.]

Austrian Airlines:
On the flight planner you can choose Austria Airlines, Star Alliance or All Airlines. No better than British Airways.

Using Airline Websites:

• First you'll need to know who goes where.

• Not all of the sites have sophisticated reservation systems or even quality schedule searches or codeshare returns.

• It can be a long process, juggling with dates to get the best result.

13:15 -- We look at online consolidators:
1Travel:
Their Farebeater is designed to exhaustively search fares offered by airlines, discounted airfare offers, and exclusive White Label™ fares.

As the prices are returned in dollars we used the handy Online Currency Converter...... where 2545 US dollars = 1,760.39 pounds.

The flight is on Malaysian Airlines and was a lot quicker to get the cheapest fare than playing around with dates and schedules on the airline websites.

Putting in 2nd March outbound and 24th April return, we get two tickets on Emirates for 2,345 US dollars = 1,622 pounds.

Try The Farebeater for Your Flights -- Especially good for flights out of the United States and US Domestic flights.

To find the lowest available fare, pick the same airline on all flights where available. You may also want to consider using nearby or regional airports.

13:35
Travel Now:
The search is clean, simple and relatively quick.

Numerous options returned. Best price: 2555.40 USD (on Qantas)

Ten Dollars more than 1Travel's Farebeater, so it's worth keeping an eye out here as well -- although 1Travel's Farebeater also had this flight as their second cheapest option (2548.20 USD).

On the later dates, used in previous examples, Travel Now returns $2,388.80 for two tickets on Qantas -- still cheaper with Farebeater.

Cheap Flights:
This is a UK company, so we think it should be good for UK to Oz. Choose the destination letter. S for Sydney.

Air tickets to Sydney (Australia). Fares should include prepaid taxes and be available to fly in the next 30 days, unless specified.

There's no choosing dates.... a whole page of fares are returned with the name of the airline or agent and a link to their website

You need to scroll down the page to see the whole list as their not sorted by price. Return flights under £600 a ticket.

Dial-a-flight:
Being a UK specialist, this place is well worth a visit for UK departures.

Our Best Buy Price from GATWICK to SYDNEY is £528 (+ £55 tax). Flying with GARUDA INDONESIA. Leaving on 01 March 2002, and returning on 16 April 2002.

Nice and simple, but you have to call London 0870-333-4488 to check availability and reserve your seat.

Travelocity -- (Eaten up Preview Travel)
The flight search is right there on the homepage where you can enter dates or select flexible.

Test dates entered......

Membership log-in screen returned.

Advertisers in the paper.

Don't forget the Sunday papers. There are plenty of agents advertising cut-priced tickets...... but don't be surprised if you never seem to get the quoted price.

End Result:
The Dial-a-flight website won by a neck. In this case study we could have bought London to Sydney for £583.

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