There are lots of perks, of course, to booking online. First, you get to see the options from which to choose. Second, you usually earn more reward miles. Third, often the best fares an airline carries are only listed on the internet. From our experience, no one avenue always has the lowest fare, so you are probably best checking several of the sources below.

We think its worth checking out the major discount booking sites first, to provide an overview of what seems to be out there.

Expedia http://www.expedia.com
Orbitz http://www.orbitz.com
Travelocity http:// www.travelocity.com

Then, check on the airline websites for those major carriers which seem to offer the lowest fare. Airlines often have their best webfares listed only on their own websites.

American Airlines http://www.aa.com/ 1-800-433-7300
Continental Airlines http://www.continental.com/ 1-800-231-0856
Delta Airlines http://www.delta.com/home/index.jsp 1-800-241-4141
Northwest Airlines http://www.nwa.com/ 1-800-447-4747
United Airlines http://www.united.com/ 1-800-538-2929

Sometimes consolidators, who book directly with airlines in negotiating their own fares, have the best rates:

http://www.exitotravel.com/
http://airtravelcenter.com/atcbroker.htm
http://www.airlineticketsinfo.com/info/consolidators.htm

And sometimes even travel agents have access to special fares, or are more knowledgeable about routing a fare to where you can get a better deal. If you're already working with one, it's best to start there. Otherwise, you might try asking who your employer uses, or your friends. One we've used and been happy with is Jane Becker: beckerj@netins.net

Incidentally, websites like www.sidestep.com claim to search several sites at once to find the best deal, but we have found that it frequently does not yield the best deal.

If you do not care about knowing which carrier you go on, it may be worth trying to bid on airfare (Ebay style) at: http://www.skyauction.com .

Sometimes consolidators have the very best fares of all. One we've found that seems to have great fares to Asia is:

Amy Zhao
Kitty's Travel Inc.
38W. 32nd St, Suite 1209 New York, NY. 10001
Tel: 1-800-801-8448 1-212-594-1416
Fax :1 -212-643-0656
Email: kittystravelinc@hotmail.com

If you miss your flight and are delayed more than an hour or two, the group will head on to the program site. You will then need to get in contact with the person you designated as your emergency contact, whom we will have contacted to give you instructions to get to the program site.