If I find a cheap flight on a site that doesn't sell tickets, can I buy them online somewhere? [duplicate]

If I find a cheap flight on a site that doesn't sell tickets, can I buy them online somewhere? [duplicate] - Crop faceless person demonstrating sign Sale

Recently I have learned about the one truly amazing cheap flight finding service, matrix.itasoftware.com. But it's not a travel agent, it's only a search engine.

So this site gives you the full and precise details of the flight that you must quote to a travel agent and in theory the agent should be able to book you a ticket on that specific flight and get very close to the price the site quoted.

I am assuming there are other ways besides this flight search engine to find specific flight details where you can't necessarily buy the tickets, so my question is:

When I have details of a specific flight I want to book at a quoted price, but I don't have access to a physical travel agency, is there somewhere I can book that flight online? (Especially when I'm in a strange foreign country on the other side of the world?)



Best Answer

ITA's site allows you to search "published" airfares. These are airfares that are available to all travel agencies, including all websites - so in theory you should be able to book them on any on-line travel booking website, including the airlines website if your flights only cover a single airline.

However there's two things that can cause issues.

  • Many airfares are restricted for sale in a particular "market" (aka country). When using ITA Matrix, it will by default use the country you are departing from as the market, although you can change that by setting the "sales city" option at the bottom. If your flights are departing from country X, and you try and book them on a website operating in country Y then you may not be able to get the same price - so look for a website in the country you're departing from.

  • Different flight search engines will pair up flights in different ways, so it you simply enter the start/end airports into (say) Expedia it may not give you the same route options as Matrix does. The best way around this is to enter the details as a "multi-city" trip on the booking website, and enter some/all of the intermediate points that Matrix found for you. On occasional you'll still end up with a situation where you can't get the website to "price" the flights correctly for you - but normally it'll work.




Pictures about "If I find a cheap flight on a site that doesn't sell tickets, can I buy them online somewhere? [duplicate]"

If I find a cheap flight on a site that doesn't sell tickets, can I buy them online somewhere? [duplicate] - Sale Sign In A Miniature Shopping Cart And Paper Bag
If I find a cheap flight on a site that doesn't sell tickets, can I buy them online somewhere? [duplicate] - Top View of Silver Macbook Beside a Shopping Cart and Black Friday Sale Signage
If I find a cheap flight on a site that doesn't sell tickets, can I buy them online somewhere? [duplicate] - Macbook Pro on White Table Beside a Miniature Shopping Cart With Money



How do I get cheap incognito flights?

Always search for flights in incognito or private browsing mode to see the lowest prices. In Google Chrome or Safari, incognito is enabled by hitting Command (or \u201cControl\u201d if using PC), Shift, \u201cN\u201d. For Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer, hit Command (or \u201cControl\u201d if using a PC), Shift, \u201cP\u201d.

What website sells the cheapest plane tickets?

The 12 Best Websites for Booking Flights at the Cheapest Prices [...
  • Book Direct Through the Airline's Website.
  • Momondo.
  • Kayak.
  • Expedia.
  • Priceline.
  • Orbitz.
  • Agoda.
  • Hotwire.


How can I book last-minute flights for cheap?

How to get cheap last-minute flight deals
  • Start with Google Flights to set your expectations. ...
  • Don't ignore budget airlines. ...
  • Search multiple airports at once. ...
  • Redeem airline miles for award flights. ...
  • Use flexible bank points for paid flights without blackout dates. ...
  • Search online for last-minute deals.


  • Do tickets get cheaper closer to the flight?

    Specifically, plane tickets usually don't get cheaper closer to the departure date. Instead, flights tend to be the most inexpensive when you book between four months and three weeks before your departure date. According to the CheapAir.com 2019 Annual Airfare Study, you can expect rates to go up after that period.



    Best Cheap Flights Websites NOBODY is Talking About | How to Find Cheap Flights 2022




    Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

    Images: Sora Shimazaki, Karolina Grabowska, Karolina Grabowska, Karolina Grabowska