Finding best travel fare

[First]

Is the best way to shop for travel cost to visit a travel agency?

Can some expert travelers provide me tips on comparing fare for air travel from Pakistan? I hear from a lot people that "someone they know" got a great deal when traveling, but they never actually say how they got it. Are there special secret websites for Pakistani travelers which don't require credit cards?

 

[Blastwave]

Is the best way to shop for travel cost to visit a travel agency?

Can some expert travelers provide me tips on comparing fare for air travel from Pakistan? I hear from a lot people that "someone they know" got a great deal when traveling, but they never actually say how they got it. Are there special secret websites for Pakistani travelers which don't require credit cards?

TRAVEL AGENTS

They will get you cheaper flights than you actually buying ticket directly from Air lines.

I would recommend Bukhari.

Ive had good dealing with them.

They got me off like 7,000 on the ticket last time.

 

[murtaza12]

Bukhari, I use him for Non-Emirates flights. He's good.
Dad recently flew on Turkish Air and Bukhari was giving the best rate.

 

[oahmed]

Haha no special or secret websites or anything. Just your standard travel portals (cheapoair is a good one I have used before) but note they all require credit cards. The best way to get good deals, simply put, is to get a promotional fare offered by the airline. Subscribe to the mailing lists for Emirates, Qatar, Etihad, Turkish etc. and you'll get an email every time they're having a sale or promotion. You'll need to be flexible with your travel plans of course as generally promotional fares come with a long list of conditions including in particular, the period within which you must travel to avail of the fare. Booking directly from the airline's website will always get you the cheapest ticket but you will (a) require a credit card and (b) likely get the most restricted ticket (no refunds ,changes, cancellations etc.). This is where using a travel agent comes in and most people, including myself, usually find the little extra you pay for using their services well worth it (provided you have a good agent of course!).

 

[Blastwave]

You'll need to be flexible with your travel plans of course as generally promotional fares come with a long list of conditions including in particular, the period within which you must travel to avail of the fare. .

Plan trips around the ticket :lol:

Brilliantly stupid.

 

[oahmed]

^ Maybe, if you're not the spontaneous type! Live a little bhai

 

[Blastwave]

^ Maybe, if you're not the spontaneous type! Live a little bhai

You're contradicting yourself here.

"Spontaneous" here is completely "dependent" on the ticket sale/promotion.

Either way, I've been to six countries and so far Bukhari has the best to offer.

 

[oahmed]

You're contradicting yourself here.

"Spontaneous" here is completely "dependent" on the ticket sale/promotion.

Either way, I've been to six countries and so far Bukhari has the best to offer.

How is it a contradiction? You get an email today, it is a 50% off promotional fare on Qatar to Nairobi provided you travel in the third week of October. You haven't been to Kenya and you think why the heck not. You buy 2 tickets and go home and tell your wife. Your boss doesn't mind you taking the time off because you're a heck of a good worker. Fast forward 3 weeks and you're on safari in the Masai Maara. Upon your return you log onto PG and notice someone has started a thread asking for tips on getting good fares. You share you recent spontaneous travel experience and someone calls it stupid. Yes, that is exactly how I feel in hindsight. Stupid.

 

[Blastwave]

How is it a contradiction? You get an email today, it is a 50% off promotional fare on Qatar to Nairobi provided you travel in the third week of October. You haven't been to Kenya and you think why the heck not. You buy 2 tickets and go home and tell your wife. Your boss doesn't mind you taking the time off because you're a heck of a good worker. Fast forward 3 weeks and you're on safari in the Masai Maara. Upon your return you log onto PG and notice someone has started a thread asking for tips on getting good fares. You share you recent spontaneous travel experience and someone calls it stupid. Yes, that is exactly how I feel in hindsight. Stupid.

spontaneous
spɒnˈteɪnɪəs/
adjective
adjective: spontaneous

performed or occurring as a result of a sudden impulse or inclination and without premeditation or external stimulus.



The 'waiting for the ticket' part here is external stimulus.

Dependency.

Restriction to go only where the ticket takes you i.e. removing the "choice" henceforth binding you to preset destination.

.

So not only you wait for the so called ticket offer, which is voluntary, you could be "spontaneous" but no you wait for the ticket.

And then you go wherever the ticket takes you "spontaneously".
.

What you described is simply obeying and doing exactly what the Airline wanted. To buy their ticket and go on their journey. Doing what someone else has planned for you.


Have fun with your "spontaneous" trips :lol:

 

[oahmed]

Your very in depth research notwithstanding, what I described above is by every definition of the word spontaneous. Have fun with tripping people up on semantics. I'm sure you're a riot in social gatherings.

 

[Blastwave]

I'll spontaneously go and have some waffles because I was emailed spontaneously by a local waffle joint to avail their spontaneous discount :lol:

 

[oahmed]

You don't think you're splitting hairs here? Because it's either that or you don't have a very good grasp of linguistics!

I am inclined to think it's the latter because otherwise you wouldn't be calling the receipt of an email or becoming aware of a discount a spontaneous event!

 

[oahmed]

Spontaneous, depending on the context in which it is used, can simply mean UNPLANNED. Go look that up. If you're not planning on traveling somewhere tomorrow but suddenly decide to because you discovered a good deal, it is called being spontaneous! Put it to a poll yar if you don't believe me.

 

[Blastwave]

Spontaneous waffles are the best waffles.

 

[First]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Is Bukhari a person? I did a search on the Internet: is this what you mean?

I have checked Emirates prices a few times, they are insane, even 6 months prior to travel they are expensive. I was checking for someone else though, but soon it will my money at stake. I checked direct with their call centre.

I have used PIA call centre as well - any idea which airlines it is worth to go through the airline and where you should use a travel agent for sure?

I like the idea of traveling around the promotion but I think a lot of times, the promotions get sold out. And when a person is open to travel anywhere, on any date, that person is unsure of what to do.

I think a lot of people use Turkish these days and Malaysian may be discounted. But frankly I am afraid of using Malaysian. They have had a shocking year, I mean no survivors in both cases! I feel so sorry for those families. As scary is PIA. Many people have got sick after eating on the flights - I know this from relatives and friends - so be careful on PIA.

I am not an experienced traveler and basically, I would like to make a few trips. I don't have a lot of money but I don't want to sit on the money and waste my years not going anywhere. I intend to travel to Dubai, some place in East Asia - don't know where yet, and maybe Europe. The visa for Europe may be a problem so this is a big maybe, plus it will be expensive. So maybe I should substitute for Europe. Dubai and Middle East is not different enough from Pakistan, they are also racist like us. I really want to visit some place where people are not as materialistic and, simultaneously, such firm believers in magic.

Hey thanks again, I hope this thread can serve as a resource for inexperienced and relatively poor travelers like me. If I move forward with my planning, I will update.

 

[Blastwave]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Is Bukhari a person? I did a search on the Internet: is this what you mean?

I have checked Emirates prices a few times, they are insane, even 6 months prior to travel they are expensive. I was checking for someone else though, but soon it will my money at stake. I checked direct with their call centre.

I have used PIA call centre as well - any idea which airlines it is worth to go through the airline and where you should use a travel agent for sure?

I like the idea of traveling around the promotion but I think a lot of times, the promotions get sold out. And when a person is open to travel anywhere, on any date, that person is unsure of what to do.

I think a lot of people use Turkish these days and Malaysian may be discounted. But frankly I am afraid of using Malaysian. They have had a shocking year, I mean no survivors in both cases! I feel so sorry for those families. As scary is PIA. Many people have got sick after eating on the flights - I know this from relatives and friends - so be careful on PIA.

I am not an experienced traveler and basically, I would like to make a few trips. I don't have a lot of money but I don't want to sit on the money and waste my years not going anywhere. I intend to travel to Dubai, some place in East Asia - don't know where yet, and maybe Europe. The visa for Europe may be a problem so this is a big maybe, plus it will be expensive. So maybe I should substitute for Europe. Dubai and Middle East is not different enough from Pakistan, they are also racist like us. I really want to visit some place where people are not as materialistic and, simultaneously, such firm believers in magic.

Hey thanks again, I hope this thread can serve as a resource for inexperienced and relatively poor travelers like me. If I move forward with my planning, I will update.

Bukhari Travels.

Its a company.

Malaysian Airline is losing everything but they're making up for it by providing exceptional services on flight these days. Poor Malaysian. Way too much in such a short time.

Khair.

See the thing is, Big travel agencies like Bukhari book entire seasons of the flight schedule so not only they're getting a huge discount which is forwarded to you, the customer but also its completely hassle free.

You just go in, talk to them, pay up and they do everything for you. No hassle there.

Plus, if you're planning on going somwhere for holidays, they have in-house experts [with years and years of khuari experience] who can help you file your visa requirements and have someone help you with the entire process.

Ive been using their services for quite a few years.

Most recent example, my trip to Thailand

I told people at bukhari I needed a ticket and visa requirements blah blah.

They were like "dude, just book a hotel online through agoda.com whenever you want to be there and leave the rest to us"

I gave them 2 photographs, passport copies and one day I got a call from them to show up at Thai embassy next morning.

Bukhari's dude was there who told me the entire process, he had all the paper work ready with him.

I just took the paper work, went inside the embassy submitted the papers and i was out in 10 minutes.

3 days later I got the visa.

Now how much did it cost me?

The ticket alone cost me 7000 less than what Cathy Pacific was offering. Consultation fee for Bukhari was 3000.

They filled out all the forms, did the ticket, took care of all the needless running about for visa and even had a person standing right outside the embassy to help me with anything.

 

[shahzadfootball]

I'd suggest checking online on the website of the airline for price of the ticket,u'll see that prices go up like hell in mid july till oct

 

[First]

[MENTION=39471]Blastwave[/MENTION] It sounds like they deliver some good service for the fee, which I have no problem with. There are many gaps in my knowledge and if the travel agency can advise me on the destination I should choose based on budget, timeline and travel experience, that itself is worthwhile. Should I say someone (you) referred me or makes no difference?

 

[Blastwave]

[MENTION=39471]Blastwave[/MENTION] It sounds like they deliver some good service for the fee, which I have no problem with. There are many gaps in my knowledge and if the travel agency can advise me on the destination I should choose based on budget, timeline and travel experience, that itself is worthwhile. Should I say someone (you) referred me or makes no difference?

Use Travel agents ONLY FOR VISA help & Ticketing.

DO NOT EVER book a tour or complete package with them.

Agoda.com: Smarter Hotel Booking <--- the ONLY website you'll ever need booking hotels. Always book hotels online, cheaper and much better.

As for the local tourism is concerned for just about any country. Google everything, every show, thing, place blah blah and go book that locally when you're there.

Don't book any tourist crap online. only book hotel online.


Let me give you a very basic geographic lesson

ASIA / AFRICA = Cheap, Affordable

Within a budget of 120k-200k per person you can go to

Thailand
SriLanka
Malaysia
Vietnam
Laos
Philipines
Indonesia
Hongkong


Morocco
Turkey
Egypt


With a budget of 200k-500k you can go to;

China
Japan



USA / EUROPE = Will burn a hole in your pocket. Might have to sell kidney

For somewhere between 300k - 600k

Spain
Germany
France
Italy
USA


All the above mentioned budget only includes

Visa
Ticket
Hoteling
2 Meals per day
Daily Transport

And that's that. If you want to add shopping, funnies, tourist attractions blah blah. add up more bling bling $$$