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Hi Marcos and JJJane, I looked in the Sunday Times - London and guess what? February 4 2001 - TRAVEL Your complete guide to getting the cheapest seats available THERE ARE plenty of strategies to find the cheapest way from A to B. Our advice is to try them all. First on your list should be the consolidators, who buy blocks of seats from the airlines at net prices and sell them to the public at a discount. Many, such as Thomas Cook (0870 750 0316) and Trailfinders (020 7938 3366), are household names with high-street shops. Others, such as the Airline Network (0870 241 0011) and Flightbookers (020 7757 2468), operate from call centres. Some also operate on the internet: try DialAFlight.com (http://www.dialaflight.com), Telme.com (http://www.telme.com), or 1stnetflights.com (http:// www.1stnetflights.com). By way of a short cut, try Expedia (http://www.expedia.co.uk), which lists fares other people have found on various airlines. Kelkoo.com (http://www.kelkoo.com) is a "comparison shopper" that will trawl through a limited list of travel firms for the cheapest deals. The main rules when looking for a bargain are: try to stay over a Saturday night; travel on slow days (usually Tuesdays and Wednesdays, sometimes Thursdays); if you live near two or more airports, check ticket prices from both; and remember, a direct flight is not the same as a non-stop flight - several connections may be cheaper than the nonstop option. Several online travel agents, such as Cheapflights.com ( http://www.cheapflights.co.uk), dispatch regular updates or will alert you by e-mail if a fare falls below a stipulated price. Try the no-frills airlines, which often have stunning, time-limited offers: EasyJet (http://www.easyjet.com), Ryanair (http://www.ryanair.com), Go (http://www.go-fly.com), and Buzz (http://www.buzzaway.com). Look for smaller tour operators that specialise in your destination. Try the classified advertisements in this paper or visit Cheapflights.com. Don't forget to check directly with the airlines. British Midland (http://www.britishmidland.co.uk) advertises special deals on its website, and British Airways (http://www.britishairways.co.uk) has its World Offers. Consider a charter flight. Tour operators sell spare seats on their charters, usually for a lot less than a scheduled fare. You can approach the holiday companies direct - Airtours (0870 400 1200), JMC (0870 758 0203), Thomson (0870 550 2554) or its airline, Britannia (0800 000747). Or try one of the companies that constantly monitor the tour operators' systems, such as Bargainholidays.com (http://www.bargainholidays.com), Beachtowel ( http://www.beachtowel.co.uk) and Travelcare (http://www.travelcareonline.com). The International Association of Air Travel Couriers (0800 074 6481; http://www.aircourier.co.uk) claims you can save up to 70% on published fares, but it costs £32 to join. Finally, there are the online auction sites such as QXL.com (http://www.qxl.com), FiredUp.com (http://www.firedup.com) and Late Escapes (http://www.lateescapes.com), which frequently sell discount flight tickets to the highest bidder. http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/ http://www.sunday- times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/02/04/stitrltrl01036.html Resources: www.aircourier.co.uk URL=http://www.aircourier.co.uk/ www.airtours.co.uk URL=http://www.airtours.co.uk/ www.bargainholidays.com URL=http://www.bargainholidays.com/ www.beachtowel.co.uk URL=http://www.beachtowel.co.uk/ www.britanniaairways.com URL=http://www.britanniaairways.com/ www.britishairways.co.uk URL=http://www.britishairways.co.uk/ www.britishmidland.co.uk URL=http://www.britishmidland.co.uk/ www.buzzaway.com URL=http://www.buzzaway.com/ www.cheapflights.com URL=http://www.cheapflights.com/ www.dialaflight.com URL=http://www.dialaflight.com/ www.easyjet.com URL=http://www.easyjet.com/ www.ebookers.com URL=http://www.ebookers.com/ www.expedia.co.uk URL=http://www.expedia.co.uk/ www.firedup.com URL=http://www.firedup.com/ www.go-fly.com URL=http://www.go-fly.com/ www.jmc-holidays.co.uk URL=http://www.jmc-holidays.co.uk/ www.lateescapes.com URL=http://www.lateescapes.com/ www.laterooms.com URL=http://www.laterooms.com/ www.priceline.co.uk URL=http://www.priceline.co.uk/ www.qxl.com URL=http://www.qxl.com/ www.ryanair.com URL=http://www.ryanair.com/ www.telme.com URL=http://www.telme.com/ www.thomson-holidays.com URL=http://www.thomson- holidays.com/ www.tourism.nsw.gov.au URL=http://www.tourism.nsw.gov.au/ www.trailfinders.com URL=http://www.trailfinders.com/ www.travelcareonline.com URL=http://www.travelcareonline.com/ [log in to unmask]