[LetsFlyNow]

Tom, i’d highly recommend you use ITA-Matrix. You need to install the Powertools add-on on your browser so you can book directly with an airline. After the pandemic chaos i stopped using online travel agents. Amex travel ain’t bad but i find their prices are way higher than anywhere else and they couldn’t even book me a multi city ticket with stops in NBO and MBA.
With Ita Matrix you can then call a travel agent or the airline and have them book you.
I tried your itinerary but it showed different airlines.

Yesterday i returned from a trip with the following itinerary all with stopovers of varying lengths from 1 to 3 days: AMS-VIE-YYZ-SCL-IAH-FRA-MUC-AMS. ITA-Matrix directed me directly to Lufthansa where i booked the trip. It wasn’t bookable on any airline directly.

There’s a website called traveldealz that recently did an article on how to use Ita-Matrix if one is not used to it.

[JayLibove]

Hi LetsFlyNow,
I searched for this ITA Matrix tool, it appears to be a Google webpage, right? (Makes sense, now that the dusty reaches of my memory recalls that Google bought ITA Software many years ago).

The “how to” article linked above mentions how to specify a fare class; it turns out that it is also possible to search by cabin:
+CABIN premium-coach <- for premium economy cabin

The list of cabin specifications is available within the tool by clicking on the ? to the right of the Extension Codes field and then clicking in the help window on the Faring column.
(That’s much easier than having to know that LH PE codes are N,E,G, while AA PE codes are …, and etc).

The only thing left is that I don’t see a way to ask for, or to know from the results, the baggage allowances. Those don’t seem to be specified in the fare rules.
We can guess that a (not deeply restricted) premium economy or business class ticket includes two checked bags, but even that would still be an assumption.
Are you aware of any way to either specify “fare class includes two checked bags” or to check from the resulting itinerary and detailed fare codes the amount of included baggage per fare code?
Or is that still going to be an external step after constructing what looks like the right itinerary to make sure that an airline doesn’t restrict baggage because you got a particularly good deal on a leg? (The airlines don’t make it easy to find included bags from a fare code).

Still, this is by far the most flexible, capable search tool I’ve ever seen. I’m ashamed that I didn’t remember it’s existence, being that I worked for Delta Air Lines when Google purchased ITA Software… (We worried that it was going to cause a significant drop in revenue due to cheaper, easier fare searches becoming available, without relying on and paying for airline-affiliated CRS systems which had been a cash cow way back then).

Thanks so much for the reference!

[Swissdiver]

I tend to do my initial search with kayak.com. Then I select the airline that would probably issue the ticket and try on their website. On BA.com (in OneWorld), it is relatively quite straight forward although finding the right price requires a bit of scouting around. Swiss/Lufti (if *A) is not very good in this. I haven’t lately done it on AF (SkyTeam) so cannot comment. So for me, kayak.com works well.

[JayLibove]

[postquote quote=1228972]

I tried searching my specific itinerary with kayak.com, and it came up with over twice the price of what I actually paid (thanks to AmEx travel agency) or what ITA Matrix could find.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Swissdiver

[LetsFlyNow]

Hi JayLibove,

yes it’s just a website and the only difference is that it’s not a travel agent meaning they don’t sell tickets directly.

There’s so much one can do with routings, you can also specify which airports you want to pass through, what airlines you prefer or avoid, how many stops are allowed etc.
Luckily even the new interface has the powertools.

Unfortunately it doesn’t show you baggage allowance. But if you have the powertools installed and land on a specific airline’s website or a OTA (Kayak, Google flights, skyscanner, momondo, jetcost,tripadvisor etc) you’ll see baggage allowance. Latest by the time you book you’ll be shown baggage allowance or check with the airline you want to fly.
At times though the price you see on ITA-Matrix changes when you land on the airline or OTA page.

[JayLibove]

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The power tools – they seem to be published by “Where To Credit”. I’d not heard of them before.
I’m very hesitant to install browser extensions unless I know I can trust the author. Searching, because the name is just a common phrase, it’s difficult to find a review of that actual site.
I don’t doubt everyone’s advice that the tool is useful; I just wonder if we know much about the author/publisher of the power tools?
(In my professional life I’m an information security engineer and a data protection consultant, so I’m literally paid by other people to be paranoid about this stuff on their behalf…)

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