Best way to find best price for flights to USA, and other Qs.

[peanutbutterkid]

1. I hate using Travel Agents. They never seem to actually find the best deals, by a big margin. But looking for flights myself is a slight nightmare. I wanted a quality carrier (like BA), but BA's website quoted over £8000 . Virgin has a nice interface, and quoted well under £3k, but with Virgin I need another internal US flight to pay for.

Anyway, how do I find a good priced flight?

1. How late do you think I can leave it to get a good fare (we are going for Christmas or Easter).

1. ALSO, it used to be that under 2.5yo you only paid an infant fare, do they now (generally) have to be under 2yrs old to get the infant fare?

www.kayak.co.uk/

under 2 for infant fare is normal in my experience

I have been to North America twice in the last two years, and found the cheapest flights where direct from the airlines (Virgin and BA).

There are lots of flight broker website, and you could also do the tried and tested travel agent.

I think tickets get cheaper as you approach the date of travel, but others may not agree.

Infant fares are under 2.0 years old.

peanut,

I would book asap if you want to go at either Christmas or Easter (those flights tend to fill fast particularly for more "popular" destinations). Fares on airlines like Virgin and BA tend to increase the nearer the date of travel.

BTW where do you want to fly to?. Kayak may assist as mentioned and Trailfinders may come up with something for you. BTW internal US flights can also come to serious money as well cost wise. I would not recommend a same day internal transfer unless there was around about 3 hours (minimum) between the flight arriving from the UK and the next flight.

Under 2s now pay infant fare; over that age the child fare is paid.

opodo are a good site for comparing flight prices, once you have found the cheapest carrier go to thier own website as sometimes its cheaper.

I'm kind of stuck with same-day transfer, It's a month-long trip to see family in San Diego, I don't want to hang about anywhere else en route. I know from previous trips that it will be grueling and the jet lag horrendous.

Thanks for the tips.

I would try either

travelmood

or

travelbag

Ring 'em, get quotes