Travel News

New Flight Search Engines: Convenience Vs. Cost?

Locations in this article:  San Diego, CA

Trip Mama

Trip Mama’s front page is just a small window where you fill out flight info, but the rest of the page is filled with ads and a list of articles on Mongolia, Oahu, Richard Simmons and other irrelevant topics. It returns your search request, not with a results page, but by asking you to first pick at least three sites, which it uses to make the search. You never see Trip Mama’s home screen again, just separate windows from the sites you selected. Each site varies in its presentation; one even requests you to initiate the search again. Trip Mama offers little value over checking the individual sites. Best fares found were $339 on United and $348 on American Air.

Rating: Poor

 

Google Flight Search

Google Flight Search is quick and simple to use. Enter your information into a simple box below a map of the United States. As soon as you finish, a list appears of all of the flights shown by departure time and the best combination of price and duration. Unlike Bing, it doesn’t penalize a flight’s position that might be several dollars more but otherwise a good choice. As a result the best flights show up on the first couple of pages. Google (google.com/flights) also lists Southwest when it flies the route, although it doesn’t have access to Southwest’s fares. The best fare I found was $334 on United. If you choose to book a flight, a small window appears clearly noting that it’s an ad and takes you to a site to buy, typically the airline’s homepage. While it currently doesn’t cover all cities, this was my favorite.

Rating: Very good.

What I learned in this roundup was that the best fares on all of the sites were generally within $10 to $20 of one another, so there’s no need to waste your time checking prices on every site. I’d avoid the sites that offer little but a conduit to the other search engines such as Trip Mama. Pick a site that’s easy to search and that delivers results in a form that’s easy for comparing your options. My favorites were Hipmunk and Google. I recommend that, once you find your flight, go to that airline’s site and book it directly, since it’s often easier to reach a live person later on, should you encounter a problem. You also may want to check out Southwest and JetBlue sites directly. Or, alternatively, stick with Expedia or Travelocity, which do offer telephone support.

By Phil Baker for PeterGreenberg.com. Phil Baker has more than three decades of experience in consumer and computer technology product development and program management. Check out his blog at https://techspertsinc.com.

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