Anyone use Kayak?

[MarzNC]

Do you use Kayak when planning flights?

I just discovered that Southwest is a "New Partner." I've seen ads for Kayak but never bothered to check it out before. I normally stick with Southwest since there really aren't non-stop flights from RDU to airports useful for ski trips.

 

[Peter]

Kayak is part of Booking Holdings which owns Priceline and a bunch of other travel websites. Good for comparing prices but once you decide what you are doing you might as well book direct.

 

[MarzNC]

Kayak is part of Booking Holdings which owns Priceline and a bunch of other travel websites. Good for comparing prices but once you decide what you are doing you might as well book direct.

Thanks. That's useful to know.

I always book direct for motels/hotels or flights. Stick with Costco Travel for car rentals most of the time.

Experimented with Priceline, Expedia, and Travelocity enough when they were relatively new to know I wasn't interested in messing with a third-party.

 

[riverc0il]

It looks like Southwest is also now showing prices on Google Flights (before, they might be listed but just a link to the SW site without a price). It always shocked me that SW would not allow their flights to show up on the biggest sites.

I do not fly a lot and I am not loyal to Southwest, but I welcome the change in direction for the company. My partner hates the idea of not sitting next to each other, so we haven't used Southwest on any flights we have taken together, as there is always that risk.

Hopefully, they can figure out how to turn things around AND also get prices in line. When I have checked their prices, I almost always find that other airlines have more competitive pricing (even accounting for the free bag).

Breeze is roasting Southwest in my neck of the woods. I just pulled up MHT to MCO R/T (during the next month or two) and best comparative prices are $138 (no bags) vs $362 (w/bags). Even adding bags, that is a pretty big delta!

Any ways, I don't use Kayak. I have used it in the past, but it doesn't seem as good at filtering as it used to be. Or maybe I just found better options.

I find Google Flights to be one of the better tools for checking flights and comparing options. But you need to know how to use it.

 

[MarzNC]

I find Google Flights to be one of the better tools for checking flights and comparing options. But you need to know how to use it.

Good to know. Since I've mostly just been using the Southwest website when planning flights, never heard of Google Flights.

Hopefully, they can figure out how to turn things around AND also get prices in line. When I have checked their prices, I almost always find that other airlines have more competitive pricing (even accounting for the free bag).

Not the situation for RDU, which is essentially a hub for SW. I check a small suitcase and a ski bag for ski trips, so two free checked pieces make a difference. Being able to change or cancel flights for free was also a big reason to stick with SW pre-pandemic. My ski trips are planned by early summer these days.

Plus at the moment Terminal 1 at RDU is pretty much just SW so no worries about a long line for TSA. Terminal 2 has all the major airlines plus a few others. While the terminal building was completely renovated and expanded, the roadway access dates from when it was built by American Airlines a few decades ago. It's such a zoo that there are signs suggesting that people do pick ups on the upper level that is for Departures. My daughter has been flying to NYC, Boston, and Chicago from RDU the last couple years to visit friends and family for long weekends and the non-stop flights are all other airlines besides SW.

My family is okay with not ending up sitting together since all the flights end up being relatively short. There are relatively few non-stop flights out of RDU to the places we fly to. Plus having to split up rarely happened. When it mattered, adding Early Bird was worthwhile. With a SW credit card, I get a few Early Bird fees re-imbursed per year. I liked the flexibility of deciding the day of a flight whether to sit towards the front or back of the plane. Being petite, doesn't matter that much if I'm in a middle seat.

 

[Benny Profane]

Ah, thanks for the heads up. I used to use Kayak, but drifted away because it didn't include Southwest.

 

[MarzNC]

As an aside, there is a cheap flight on Frontier from RDU to San Diego that my husband and I were looking at the other day. He may have a professional conference to attend in 2025. Would take 12 hours just from departure time to arrival time because the routing is RDU to JFK, and then a long layover before the flight to California. Not happening.