One pitfall of buying from consolidators is that these tickets usually cannot be changed or canceled (terms that have also become fairly common among online bargain fare sites).
"There is no prohibition against deceitful practices" at Internet air fare sites, said Paul Stephen Dempsey, a University of Denver professor of transportation law and vice chairman of Frontier Airlines.
The article quotes Paul Stephen Dempsey, vice chairman of Frontier Airlines, as saying "there is no prohibition against deceitful practices" at Internet air fare sites, and "no obligation that these sites provide the lowest fares or best routings".
A letter from Travelocity received on Dec. 20 points out that the magazine said that while testing of the fare sites did not yield conclusive findings, it did reveal some evidence that they might not be totally objective at all times.
Although the site still has much to prove, it appears to be equal to, or even slightly better than, its chief competitors when it comes to low fares, site design and customer service.
Airlines After diligently searching discount online air-fare sites, I found the best price on a round-trip ticket from Miami to Panama City ($422) on American Airlines' own Web site, www.aa.com.
When you click on a fare, the site provides information about valid travel days, fare codes and a link to the Web site where you can book the trip.
But Terry Trippler, of cheapseats.com, an air fare Web Site, said last week that economy class was entirely sold out on the Sept. 1 flight, and business class had only three seats left, though flights later in the week looked fairly open.
Start with ITA Software, which provides the technological backbone for many air fare shopping sites.
Another important search tip is not to overlook the low-fare carriers, which often don't show up when you search for flights on fare comparison sites.
