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Travel websites, especially the small no name ones, can be risky. The only trusted avenue is directly with the airline. You can usually find better fares and routes and avoid booking fee's. Travel sites are a dime a dozen and there are millions of them out there. No matter what site you choose, make sure you always READ THE FARE RULES and before you agree to a purchase, pay attention to the additional fee's they tack on. Some charge $15 booking fee's and some as much as $100 and more on top of the fuel surcharge, taxes and security fee's that come with every fare.

Some websites are bulk consilidators like Priceline, Hotwire, Cheap Tickets etc and they buy tickets in bulk and re-sell them advertised as "discount" fares, when really its the same thing as the airlines fares, just more restricted. If there is a problem, the airlines can not and will not touch these tickets. If you miss your flight, you're out the money and you have no recourse. Any website can use the word "discount" and "cheap" its all a gimmick to draw in business.

I played with the website and they charge a booking fee of $50 booking fee over the airlines prices for their "junk fee's", then if you go read the Terms and Conditions, it can take up to 72 hrs for ticketing. This means the reservation IS NOT confirmed when you accept the terms and conditions, it goes into a queue and then they ticket it. Airlines only hold reservations for 24 hrs after the initial reservation is made, so if it takes the website up to 72 hrs to ticket, then you've missed out on the fare and they will charge you the available fare at the time of ticketing. That is what you agree to when you accept the T&C. They draw you in with a low base fare, that may be lower than on the airlines website, but not necessarily, but after the taxes and fee's you really arent getting a deal.

On top of all of that, you can not select your seats, so you are subject to what is left at check in. The fare I played with was the same one I booked for myself in a few weeks. There was an $8.50 difference IF they ticket at that price and it was cheaper by that much on Smartfares...but is $8.50 really worth the hassel of not being able to select your seats or the possibility of not having a ticket at all OR paying a higher fare by the time it is ticketed???

If you'd like help finding fares and avoid being ripped off, please IM me or shoot me an e-mail to [email protected] with your cities and travel dates. I worked for an airline and saw so many people get burned with these sites. I also went to 1 day of orientation with a similar travel site and saw first hand how they operate, and trust me...it is a scam.

Smartfares

Love that travelzoo.com I am amazed at the deals they come up with. I just used their "last minute" deal for my honeymoon. less than $400 r/t from lax to england.

STAY AWAY AT ALL COSTS! You pay more for the tickets, they send you a confirmation that doesn't mean a thing, and they make the reservation but don't pay for it!

wondering smartfares