Favorite sites for flights?

[pastrygirl]

I need to book a flight and don't know which site to use! I'd love one that allows me to see nonstop flights, or flights that have at most 1 stop where we don't need to change planes (is that called direct?).

Also, would you leave a 4-year-old at home for a weekend (with grandparents) to save a single airfare, when the total trip price is already going to be well over 1K for the rest of us? I feel like his airfare will be a drop in the bucket and would rather have him with us, but OTOH, I've never flown with kids before. Maybe it's a disaster...?

[truly scrumptious]

Try Kayak.com. It will give you prices from many different sites, and then take you to the site to book. I have found it to consistently be the best source for low fares. Once you run a search you can narrow it using the toobar on the left to filter by number of stops, airline, time of day, etc. Very helpful.

Bing.com also has a Fare Predictor which advises you on whether to buy or wait, so that is worth checking out, too.

ETA - No BTDT with a 4yo, but I also prefer to keep DS with us. In fact, we usually bring a grandparent with us to help with caring for him. That way we get to relax a little but we're not worrying about him being so far from us. But he is only 18 mos, so a 4yo may be totally different.

[pastrygirl]

We're going to a family wedding, so lots of help once we get there. It's just the airport/airplane/car seats part that might be a pain with both kids (but my husband and I are both going).

[wencit]

If DH is going, then it's definitely doable. My kids are almost exactly the same ages as yours, and while flying with them is no picnic, it's not the worst thing in the world, either.

ETA: Where are you going? If you're flying out of Logan, I highly recommend Jetblue, if they serve your destination airport. Also, if your older DS fits, I would bring along a Ride Safer Travel Vest for him, and a Scenera for DS2. We just did that this past weekend when we flew from SFO --> BOS, and it was so much easier than lugging even a single Britax car seat through the airport!

[pastrygirl]

Hmm. I hadn't thought about a RSTV, because I was planning to take my Radian for him. A friend of mine has a CARES harness that we could use on the plane, so maybe the RSTV would be a good option. We were thinking about getting a Coccoro for the baby, since it's so small and light. I have a Scenera, but we'd need to take pool noodles along since it doesn't tend to install well without them.

[wencit]

I don't know how big your DS1 is, but mine (38 lbs, ~40") was fine on the plane without a harness, even on our 6-hour flight. I believe the height limit for the CARES is 40" as well. As for the Scenera, if you have access to some old towels at your destination, that worked well for us without having to lug around pool noodles. I don't know about the Radian or the Coccoro, though, as I have no experience with either.

[pastrygirl]

I think we're going to go ahead with the Ride Safer Travel Vest for my older son, and take the Scenera for the baby. If we do that, my husband is OK with taking him rather than leaving him home with grandparents. :)

That Bing predictor is cool! Unfortunately, fares are only going up for us! I like the Kayak site, too. Thanks!

[elektra]

I just used Kayak.com today. I liked how it not only gave you listings for the expedias and such, but also what the airlines were listing directly from their proprietary sites, including fees.

[teedeedee]

I really like Hotwire, but have also had luck with priceline from time to time.