 "Buying Airline Tickets"
I started looking at fares from Atlanta to MVD about two months ago. I looked at a variety of travel search engines, travel agents and airlines. I have not found any airline that flies non stop from Atlanta to MVD....the closest i found was American Airlines from Miami.Some of my observations regarding the purchase of tickets are as follows- Air fares can and do vary considerably. a)The closer you get to your anticipated departure date the higher they can get. b)Fares may vary depending on the day of the week, the departure time of each leg and the length of the layover(where one may have to make connecting flights) c)Last week i decided on my itinerary which included flying Atlanta-Miami-MVD on my outward leg and Atlanta-Miami-Buenos Aires-MVD for the return with American Airlines. I found that as days passed, the price of the main leg (MIA-MVD or MIA-EZE) changed almost daily.....one day a price would be up sometimes by as much as US$150.00 and then come down maybe by US$100.00. d)Some airlines charge extra for booking by phone. e)About 95% of the searches i did online directly with an airline were cheaper than a search engine or travel agent. Those that were cheaper with places like Travelocity invariably entailed traveling at very odd hours or with very long layovers. f)Direct flights are generally more expensive than those that entail a change. Just two days ago an agent confirmed that these days the travel agents are not paid any commissions....he added between $50 to$100 for each straight forward ticket he wrote. On the other hand consolidators buy blocks of seats on various flights directly from an airline (probably at a discount) but they take the risk of holding unsold seats. I think the bottom line is that if you have the time to do the leg work, are flexible with travel days and times, layovers etc. you can get a good deal. The travel agent is still very useful for multi stop journeys where there can be all sorts of airline/IATA rules and regulations. Don't forget to check the seat width and seat spacing on various airlines.....some like to pack you in like sardines for the sake of a few more dollars!!!! | 
