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The Travel Tightwad

A winning last-minute fare strategy

By Christopher Elliott

Finding a last-minute airfare may seem simple for Enda (cq) Carey, a computer systems analyst for a brokerage firm in New York. But the actual process is far from it.

"In order to plan trips based on what's available at the last minute, I use a variety of sources," he says.

Such as? Carey starts at Orbitz to find the cheapest published fare for his dates and times. Next, he hits Travelocity, but he tells the site that his travel times are flexible, ensuring a lower fare. Then he surfs over to Cheaptickets.com and uses its power-search option to find the lowest fare. He compares the results.

After that, Carey visits his second-tier sites: Expedia, Hotwire, Bestfares and Qixo, a site that collects fare information from various travel Web sites. Finally, he calls his travel agent (just in case something is available off-line) and runs a search on his third tier: Digital City and SmarterLiving, dot-coms that offer links to Web fares on major airlines.

You get the idea. Carey cuts a wide swath through the jungle of last-minute Internet specials - a necessary strategy if you want to catch the lowest possible fare, as we discovered last week. Which sites should you hit in your quest for the lowest price on a plane ticket?

Here are a few of my favorites:

Bestfares.com ( www.lastminutesecure.bestfares.com ) may not offer the most last-minute air fares - about 7 million itineraries are available on any given day in roughly 180 markets - but its search technology makes the most of it. Tom Parsons, the entrepreneur behind the site, designed software to let travelers look for the lowest published fare while taking into account alternate airport options. I like the fact that you don't have to re-enter data over and over, which can save a bargain-hunter hours. A seven-day advance purchase fare from San Diego to Washington prices at $258, compared with $1,326 through a full-service travel agency. There's a catch, though. In order to book through Bestfares.com, you have to pony up a $59.95 membership fee.

Cheap Tickets ( www.web.cheaptickets.com ) has an inventory of about one million negotiated airfares on 60 major airlines, plus an extensive selection of car rental and hotel inventory. The site is relatively easy to use, but I found that if you want to access most of its deals, you have to create a profile. That may deter some bargain-shoppers who prefer anonymity.

Last Minute Travel ( www.lastminutetravel.com ) is something like the Wal-Mart of what's called "distressed" inventory. Which is to say it sells a variety of travel products, but the selection is variable. The site's highly-customizable e-mail "My Travel Minder" let you specify departure city, preferred price and dates, but its booking features are
inconsistent. You have to leave the site to finish a transaction.

Orbitz ( www.orbitz.com ) claims to offer the most last-minute airfares, the easiest-to-use interface and the lowest fares. At least some of the hype is true. Its Web fare selection is extensive - often overwhelming - offering ticket inventory from over 450 airlines and scanning more than two billion possible fare combinations. In side-by-side comparisons with its competitors for low-fare searches, Orbitz generally scores very
high. And its cleverly-designed site is capable of displaying price search results in a way that's easy to understand. The fare selection can be overwhelming. And watch out for $5 per ticket booking fee.

Priceline ( www.priceline.com ) is a powerhouse of distressed inventory, offering one of the most comprehensive collections of cheap airline seats (30 airlines) hotels (more than 8,000) and car rental agencies (5). There's just one catch: you have to "guess" the price under its name-your-own price scheme, which compels you to bid for the ticket or
room. Guess right and you could save more than 40 percent; guess wrong and you could pay too much. In a departure from its old ways, Priceline.com's new name-your-own price vacation package feature lets you pick the length of your vacation, your hotel (but not the carrier) and your travel dates. That could land you a cheaper airfare, but you
have to do your homework.

Travelocity ( www.travelocity.lmdeals.com ) is another worthwhile stop for last-minute fares. The site offers an impressive range of fare choices, from "opaque" fares that conceal the airline brand to special negotiated "Good Buy" tickets. . The site's useful "dream map" lets you specify a desired destination and price and then suggests an itinerary that meets your criteria. Best of all, it allows you to access all of Travelocity's
airline seat inventory from the map - even the "last minute" variety. (Sample fares: Dallas to San Francisco, $243 on National Airlines; Dallas to Boston, $198 on American Airlines, which includes a One-Day Admirals Club Pass for Travelocity Preferred Elite Members).

Christopher Elliott is a travel writer based in Key Largo, Fla. E-mal him at chris@elliott.org.

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