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Four ways to get the best airfare deals

Posted at 4:12 PM, Nov 23, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-23 21:17:49-05
Flying home for the holidays? Or maybe you're already planning a Spring trip.
 
Experts say to get the best deals, shop around and shop often.
 
ConsumerReports.comsays in their test, Travelocity offered the lowest prices and they saw differences as much as $138 for the same route, checking at the same time.
 
Also, remember that some discount airlines come with more baggage.
 
We compared Frontier Airlines with Southwest, American and United.
 
I chose a Phoenix-Chicago round-trip flight, December 24th to December 31st, and compared flights at similar times.
 
With no luggage, Frontier had the lowest price at $217.
 
Add a carry-on and one checked bag, which you would need for a week in Chicago, and that price rises to $347. So, American's $327 was better, even with their $25 one checked bag fee.
 
Another way to save may be booking one-way trips on different airlines.
 
Taking our example to Chicago, American had the best deal at $99 with the one bag fee.
 
Back to Phoenix, it's Frontier at $177, including carry on and one bag fee. That's $276 and $51 less than the best round trip we could find.
 
And here's a way to save that surprised me... use different browsers to search online.
 
Thriftynomads.com says "flight prices do increase when a particular route is repeatedly searched."
 
They say it's an attempt to scare you into booking now before prices go higher.
 
By using different browsers to search, Consumer Reports says all of the sites they tested gave different prices at the same time.
 
You can get rid of these trackers called "cookies" by clicking on "in private browsing" under Tools on Internet Explorer.
 
You can do the same thing with Google Chrome by clicking Control-Shift-N and go "incognito" in your searches.
 
Happy hunting and let me know how you get the best deal.
 
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The Assistance League of Phoenix volunteers are solving consumer problems and saving you money everyday.
 
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