# Airline Ticket Purchasing

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticket-purchasing/212996>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 13, 2003, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticket-purchasing/212996 "2003-11-13T07:49:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticket-purchasing/212996/1 "2003-11-13T07:49:30Z")

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I’m trying to figure out how to find the cheapest tickets available online.

I live in China and every site I see is for US only.

Anyway, does anyone know of a good site that can do this for me? I want multiple stops, too.

Tianjin or Beijing China to:

Los Angeles for one week, then to:

Detroit for a couple weeks.

Round-trip, leaving any time right after Jan. 15 and returning around February 8.

Any help please?

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**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\
**Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticket-purchasing/212996/2 "2003-11-13T11:38:04Z")

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You might have the best luck by picking a particular airline (or 3) and going to each website for price comparisons. Or go to China based travel agent websites.

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**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\
**Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticket-purchasing/212996/3 "2003-11-13T15:10:20Z")

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Travelocity appears to work for International flights. I put in PEK to LAX and it gave a bunch of hits:

[www.travelocity.com](http://www.travelocity.com)

Try a travel agent too, they can usually find good deals for you.

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**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\
**Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticket-purchasing/212996/4 "2003-11-13T15:19:52Z")

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Oh yeah, one other thing. For the flight from Los Angeles to Detroit, southwest airlines offers great cheap fares, probably cheapest for US domestic flights (I saw a $99 internet special). I fly SWA all the time. They won’t come up on travelocity, so you’ll have to check their website separately. Though you may want to spend the extra money to get a direct flight with another carrier.

> **[Southwest Airlines | Book Flights, Make Reservations & Plan a Trip](https://www.southwest.com/)**
>
> Find low fares to top destinations on the official Southwest Airlines website. Book flight reservations, rental cars, and hotels on southwest.com.

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**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\
**Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticket-purchasing/212996/5 "2003-11-13T17:14:30Z")

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Nothwest airlines does a lot of Asian travel, and their “hub” (or center of operations) is in Detroit, so you might try them… [www.nwa.com](http://www.nwa.com)

hey look! Fall Sale to Asia  
[http://www.nwa.com/features/tpacfallsale.html](http://www.nwa.com/features/tpacfallsale.html)