Booking ITA matrix fares

[Ainge Sakthivel]

Hi

I am new to this forum, but have been following it for a while. I have a question that may have already been asked before, but nevertheless!

I am planning a holiday to New Zealand with my wife in December and found a cheap airfare on the ITA matrix site with Emirates for $290 oneway Sydney to Auckland on the 24th of December. As you know with the ITA matrix site you can't actually book flights on it, but you can ring the airline/travel agent and quote the fare code etc (this is my understanding)

Anyway I rang Emirates and quoted the fare codes and they told me that the airfare doesn't exist and the cheapest ticket they have is for $360 one way.

Can anyone suggest another way to book the ITA airfrare that I found. Because I found a similar cheap deal returning back to Sydney, but again ran into the same problems.

Thanks!

 

[Bofter]

You could also try non-airline booking sites like webjet and jetabroad, not using the fare codes from ITA Matrix but just trying for lowest fare rates. This is my normal approach after using ITA Matrix and usually I get pretty close but with no consistent pattern as to which of the booking sites is cheapest and with some price and option variation between them.

 

[JohnK]

I haven't tried with Australian travel agents but I did find on ITA a nice airfare from Thailand once and emailed the itinerary to a Thai travel agent who matched the airfare.

I suspect that going direct to an airline they will not match an airfare quoted on ITA or any travel agents for that matter.

 

[trooper]

Expedia.com.au has EK at $299 each all in on that date. Also has VA at $244 and NZ at $264 (some of which are on the same operating aircraft) although baggage charges may apply to those fares.... and the aircraft used wouldn't be as interesting....

 

[Ainge Sakthivel]

Thanks for the replies!

I just had a look on expedia.com.au and the cheapest I can find is with Qantas for $296, which I have gone with in the end. Perhaps the EK ones are sold out.

I think its fairly obvious I need to find a good travel agent in the future!

 

[shearsense]

In general, I have always had travel agents being able to match the ITA fare within a few dollars if the travel agent is one that does not charge a booking fee on top of the base fare. I don't know why some do and some don't - and those that do, want a fee when you hand them the booking codes on a plate to type in. Maybe you could get the better fare on the airlines website? If they are still on the ITA website and you checked the "seat availability" option, they should still be available. Having said that, I have sometimes found cheaper airfares than ITA shows (generally only very brief short term specials, though)

 

[Fyfie]

As you know with the ITA matrix site you can't actually book flights on it, but you can ring the airline/travel agent and quote the fare code etc (this is my understanding)

The main thing to remember with ITA fare matrix is that you need to have the box 'Only show flights and prices with available seats' ticked.

From my understanding, the key code is the fare basis (e.g. LX QICSWIAU), which denotes the ticketing carrier (in this case 'LX'). If the TA can ticket the airline (in this case it is LX), they should be able to quote the fare to you. Some smaller TA's don't have the availability to issue all tickets, so you might have to go to one of the larger TA's.

Hope this helps.