Josephine Rossi 'Fare scrapers' make searching for the cheapest seat quick and easy. While countless dot-coms have crashed and burned, online travel sites continue to soar as Web users flock to them in greater and greater numbers. But that doesn't mean that all these visitors are buying online, says Sean Kaldor, Netratings' vice president of e-commerce for NetRatings, a Web audience tracking firm. Many people use the Internet to price comparison shop, and prefer purchasing their tickets by speaking directly with a travel agent.
Comparison shopping is by far the Web's biggest advantage, and biggest headache.
With fare scrapers you enter your departure and destination information only once. We sought an afternoon departure on Friday, April 6, returning the morning of Monday, April 9. We screened out trips that included more than one layover. Our itineraries and the least expensive prices we found appear in the table below. Overall, the fare scrapers delivered.