Lowestfare.com: Good Prices, Weak Search Options
Written: Jul 19 '01 (Updated May 16 '05)
The Bottom Line
This service does offer low prices, but some of the search functions need to be improved.
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When it comes to finding travel information, the surge in popularity of the world wide web has helped to make travel research much more convenient and fun. There are all sorts of web sites out there that cater to the frequent traveler. There are flight reservation sites, lodging sites, multi- purpose sites, and bargain sites.
Lowestfare.com is one of the multi- purpose sites, offering a quick way to search and reserve flights, hotels, car rentals, and cruises. This service has support offices at five locations in the United States.
What Does This Service Have to Offer?:
When people visit this service for the first time, it’s usually to look for flight reservations. The name, "Lowestfare.com", immediately makes you think of cheap air fares. The search engine works in much the same way as other travel services. You enter your departure and arrival cities, along with the dates, then you click to check for possible flights. On the next screen, you can select the approximate time that you would prefer for your flights; whether or not you prefer a non- stop flight; number of passengers; etc. You also have three display options: 10 best fares, 10 best time- matched fares, or 5 best fares and 5 best time matched fares. You can display only 10 total flight options at a time and there is no option to select specific airlines.
If you decide to purchase one of the flight options, you will then have the option of adding a hotel or car rental. If you don’t want either one of these, then you can continue and book your flight.
The hotel search function is not one of the best I’ve ever used. You start by entering a city and state, along with a price range and the number of hotels that you would like to see per page (1, 5, 10, 15, or 20). You have the option of entering a specific hotel name, if you want. You can also enter an airport code in place of the city name, but every time I've tried it, this method has failed to work. I tried several different airport codes, and they all returned zero selections. But, if I typed in the name of a city, in place of the airport code, it worked like normal.
The hotels that display are listed in alphabetical order, and they include any hotel that fits the price range that was indicated. You can then click on a hotel to get more information, like the address and phone number of the hotel, the amenities, the reservation and cancellation policies, etc. Once you select the hotel that you want, you will then be asked to enter the check- in and check- out dates, to search for availability.
To rent a car, you are asked to enter your time of pick up and drop off; a city name or airport code; and the type of car you want. With this function, I was able to get the airport code option to work. The actual care rental options display next, showing the rental company and the daily rate. After you select the rental option that you prefer, you can then book the purchase.
Booking involves entering your credit card and other basic data. But before you can make the purchase final, you must first establish an account with Lowestfare.com. They do not allow a reservation without setting up an account.
Cruise reservations work differently. From the cruise selection screen, you will see several cruise itineraries to choose from, like Caribbean, Alaskan, Panama Canal, etc. You can select one of the options from the drop- down menu, but on the next menu, you will be instructed to call the service center to book the vacation. You cannot make the reservation for cruises from the web site.
Other Services:
Lowestfare.com allows a user to switch the language from English to Spanish. It also has a currency converter; world weather information; a calendar of world events; vacation packages; and daily specials on air fare that are accessible from the home page.
Customer Service:
Lowestfare.com has two large call centers to handle your questions and help you with reservations, 24 hours per day, seven days per week. If you don’t like the idea of booking on- line, you can do it by phone, if you wish, by calling 1-800-Lowestfare.
Final Thoughts:
This is a very average web service. The best thing about it would probably be the speed of searches, and the prices. The airfares and the hotel prices are very good and very competitive with other travel services.
Some of the options do not work, and others do not provide enough detail. The airport code search, for hotels, doesn’t work. The hotel search results are ok, but they don’t offer pictures of the hotel. I also don’t like the way the results are arranged in alphabetical order. It would be better if they were arranged by price like the flight options.
The flight search function is adequate, but I think there should be an option to select an airline, and there should be a way to see more than just 10 flight options. With the hotels, you can view as many as 20 at a time and you can go forward to more pages. But the flight options only display 10 at a time, and there is no option to look at more pages. Your only choice is to go back and change something in the criteria, like the desired time of departure, if you want to see different flight options.
My bottom line recommendation is to give this site a try, and compare the flight prices to other discount web services. The hotel reservation function should be avoided, unless you’re just looking for a simple hotel room to stay in, for a business trip. If you’re looking for a nice resort you should use a different service because there are no pictures in Lowestfare.com.
The prices are pretty good here, on flights, hotels, and car rentals. For that reason, I’m going to give this service a marginal thumbs- up.
Be Sure to Click the Links Below to Read More Reviews of Other Popular Travel Web Sites:
American Express Travel
Cheapairlines.com
Travelnow.com
Cheaptravel.com
Hotel Discount.com
Bestfares.com
Hotwire.com
America’s Vacation Center
Expedia.com Flights
Expedia.com Hotels
Expedia.com Cruises
Travelocity.com Flights
Travelocity.com Hotels
Priceline.com Flights
Priceline.com Hotels
Vacations To Go
Flycheap.com
Vacationspot.com
Mytravelco.com
Placestostay.com
Orbitz.com
Cheaptickets.com
Recommended:
Yes
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