Check other Expedia(s) - sometimes they're cheaper

[futaris]

Here's a quick tip for others...

Sometimes expedia.com.au isn't always the cheapest, due to POS restrictions on airfares.

As an example, a recent CGK-SYD-BNE oneway airfare (L class) I booked couldn't be booked from qantas.co.id, due to POS restrictions. The next cheapest airfare that was available worldwide, was H class.

(doing the currency conversion, as of this post time / date)

On expedia.com.au: 820 AUD
On expedia.com.sg: 981 SGD = 775 AUD
On expedia.com (USA): 788 USD = 759.30 AUD
On expedia.co.uk: 459 GBP = 728.90 AUD
On expedia.ie: 567 EUR = 708.25 AUD

And of course, you can do this easily, by just modifying the address in the URL field to switch between the sites...

If you're using ITAsoftware, change the POS field to somewhere else, e.g. LHR, DUB, LAX, to see similar results...

 

[RyanD]

Great tip, I wish I knew that earlier

 

[cove]

Thanks for the Expedia tip. I have only ever used the Australian and US sites so I will start looking in extra places.

 

[StevePER]

Booking some Perth-Penang flights not long ago for my in-laws, I found it was heaps cheaper to book in Ireland than in Australia for a QF/JQ/MI itinerary.

 

[futaris]

There are others expedia sites out there, but generally .ie is the cheapest (at the moment)

www.expedia.com.my - Malaysia
www.expedia.com.hk - Hong Kong

 

[Must...Fly!]

Yes, the other versions of the site investigate fares on sale in that particular jurisdiction, hence the lower prices.

However there is a downside in that if you wish to change the flight, the change fees are SOMETIMES a little bit steeper, and you do have to ring the agent that booked them to change the flights, and expedia require you to call the number associated with the site you booked it on (i.e. book on .ie, must call Ireland). They don't charge any fees themselves for changing flights, just carrier fee + any fare difference, but you do have to call Ireland.

Cheapest way I found when I had to change a flight booked through expedia.ie was to purchase $1.25 of Skype credit to call Ireland only. Worked a treat

 

[Joshua]

To give you an example on the POS cost difference, a last minute ADL-PER r/t flight domestically was going to cost around the $1000 mark for me a month ago. On expedia.ie ADL-PER-SIN r/t was AU$1150, the same routing from an AU site was more like $1600+ which is a huge difference. So with a TRS claim ended up being under $100 extra to fly to SIN. Upgrades on the night flight helped.


Also more obscure carriers' fares are only available on certain regional sites varies i.e. like KQ a week ago ended up on HK sites only. Food for thought, hunting down ITA finds.

 

[whatmeworry]

Cheapest way I found when I had to change a flight booked through expedia.ie was to purchase $1.25 of Skype credit to call Ireland only. Worked a treat

If you call Europe a lot, I find getting a Skype European subscription for $9.99 or a 14,99 world subscription is worthwhile. Even if it only just for a month eg I just the other day took a month long subscription for europe which will cover Christmas and all calls to Europe for Christmas.

 

[ashleyn]

If you call Europe a lot, I find getting a Skype European subscription for $9.99 or a 14,99 world subscription is worthwhile. Even if it only just for a month eg I just the other day took a month long subscription for europe which will cover Christmas and all calls to Europe for Christmas.

Sorry whatmeworry but WTF has your post got to do with the OP ?

 

[medhead]

Sorry whatmeworry but WTF has your post got to do with the OP ?

Nothing to do with the OP but a good tip in reply to the post quoted.

 

[Robbietenor]

I know this thread has been dead a while, and sorry if this info is available elsewhere, but are the fare conditions when booking a Qantas flight on expedia the same as they are on qantas.com.au? at the moment looking for FRA-MEL-ADL-FRA and on expedia its $300aud cheaper than through the qantas website. Am I still able to pay the ca200aud fee if I need to change a departure date etc? or is it totally frozen in place like other cheap booking sites?

 

[JohnK]

Have you looked at the fare conditions on the Expedia website for the flight you want to purchase?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

RE: the OP...this applies to many, many sites and not just Expedia

For a lot of European tours and bookings you will book cheaper by using local sites, rather than .au sites.