Expedia considered frustrating

[cellio]

I'm trying to optimize flights for a trip to Los Angeles (for the next session of the Sh'liach K'hilah program, in February). My goals are to not miss any of the program, miss as little time from work as possible, and keep the price down. So off to Expedia I went.

After choosing a departing flight, I got to the page for return flights. None of the options brought me joy, but then I wondered if I was seeing a subset of the option space that was limited by my departing flight. (That is, the departing flight had a price associated with it, so it makes sense that only certain return flights would be good for that price.) So, I said, I should be able to find out everything that's out there (and work backwards if need be) by instead querying one-way trips, right?

Bzzt. That got me a different set of options, but some of the ones I had previously seen were gone.

How do I find the list of all flights between two cities on a particular day? I just want information; I'll sort out the money and the purchase later. I just want to know if it's even possible for me to leave when I want to leave.

Do I really need to engage the services of a travel agent, in the internet age?

Comments

[ironangel]

hmm. try orbitz? I am not sure that it will give you what you want, but it might.

or, if you have a preferred carrier, trhy their site.

[cellio]

Thanks; I'll try Orbitz.

As for carriers, I really don't care. I fly so infrequently that there's no hope of ever accumulating enough frequent-flyer miles to be useful -- which is why I also don't have the good instincts for booking flights in the first place.

[eub.livejournal.com]

Or itasoftware (http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/). They are the machinery that Orbitz rebrands, and they seem to have a more complete display of the results.

This guy (http://home.netcom.com/~rcowen/web_sites.htm) suggests SideStep, which I'd never heard of.

(Yep, sometimes you do need a travel agent. But I'd hope not for a simple domestic flight.)

[cellio]

*ding ding ding*

Itasoftware has the most complete listings I've seen so far! Alas, what they tell me is that on that particular Sunday, nothing leaves LA between about 2:00pm and 9:30pm. I may have to rethink this. (With a 3-hour time difference and a 5-hour flight, something leaving mid-afternoon, like around 4, and arriving midnight or so would have been physically possible -- but is not offered. The midnight arrivals leave earlier and have layovers.)

[msmemory.livejournal.com]

Or Travelocity. I like the various ways you can expand and refine your search with them.

[nickjong.livejournal.com]

I also like Travelocity, primarily for the ability to search for tickets regardless of precise dates. Even if the cheapest fares are incompatible with my schedule, they give me a price to which I can compare.