The next stop is the Sunday travel section of the nearest large metropolitan newspaper, and the local “alternative” newspaper, if any. Some resources in the US include New York’s Village Voice, the LA Weekly, and the San Francisco Bay Guardian; in London, check out the Evening Standard, Time Out, and TNT magazine; and in Australia, try TNT. If you’re near a major university, you might want to check out a copy of the school paper. In all of these, you should see many small ads for unbelievably priced tickets. Since they are so unbelievable, you should not believe them. What they are good for, however, is a lower limit; you probably won’t be able to beat the fares advertised unless you are very fortunate. So there You have it - your fare should lie between the two extremes. The challenge now, of course, is to get as close to the bottom as possible. Your next stop should probably be a travel agent, consolidator, or the Web.

Some companies, consolidators, and agencies, because of their relationships with certain airlines or ticket brokers, can offer better deals than others. Your job, of course, is to find the company, consolidator, or agency with the best deal to get you where you want to go, and when you want to get there.