Airfare shopping

[Bluey2King]

Hello; The wife and I are planning a trip to Belize in April or May. I am doing some research pricing etc. Right now we are leaning toward a Live-Aboard. Thats pretty easy they even post their fares on their web page.
Now for the Hard part... Airline schedualing yikes.... We don't fly very much so I am not dialed in to how to scarch the web for the best price and least amount of stops. This is supost to Fun right!
Any tips or suggestions would be a Great help
We are looking at traveling April or May, thats not set yet.
We live outside of Denver and I am looking at Bleize City right now. But any advice would help if we decide on another location.

Thanks in advance..!!

 

[Cacia]

Well, the obvious options are Travelocity, Oritz, etc.

One thing that is helpful is to work Backwards. Call an operator in Belize (or ask Hank!) and see what they know. Often the destination locals are aware of the best situations, connections, etc.

Another thing I have recently found out (Indonesia trips) is that sometimes wholesale brokers really have the best deals. (we heard for awhile that the online reservations would put travel agents out of business) It seems that the ones that "made it" really do bring something to the table. You could google "Belize Wholesale airfares" or along those lines...

Now, try and get a handle on what goes wrong if the flight changes or the plane cancels. Degree of accountabilty varies with how you purchased your ticket. (It could even be worth it to get travel insurance, such as what comes with some high end cards)

If you need rooms before the liveboard, make sure and ask for times, check out that suits your schedule...ask as you are booking, you'll get a yes, wait and you'll be charged for 1/2 day nonsense, etc.

Anyway, I am by no means the best, but that would be my strategy. It can be fun, if you think of it as a game. (I hate it too)

 

[Don Wray]

travelzoo.com and cheapair.com are also good. I check all of them.

 

[Darnold9999]

I use the web aggregators like Travelocity etc. to find the airline with the cheapest flight - then go to the airline directly and check on their site. Have not gone the wholesale route but my options to get to Belize are very limited.

Contenental so far has been the best from the PNW to Belize both in terms of price and more importantly, from here, schedule.

 

[Cacia]

travelzoo.com

Love them!

 

[Teamcasa]

I call a local travel agent. If I can't find a better price, I get the tickets from them. 80% time, the agent has the best price.

Dave