July 2009 Archive

International Travel Tip #3: Cheapoair.com

Editor's Note: I suck, guys. I wrote this on the flight to Rwanda and forgot to post it. But good news! You get another tip tomorrow when I head to London!

Here I am in seat 20A embarking on another long day of international travel. This time I’m headed to Rwanda. It’s my second trip this year, and I cannot wait to get back. Only about 28 hours to go! Mr. Lacy is joining me for the second week of my trip. This cute guy pictured here is one of the famous Rwandan silverbacks. I snapped this on my last trip. We’ll see if Mr. Famous-Photographer-Geoffrey-Ellis can do better…

But let’s get down to business. Another flight means another travel tip for you. This one is a site called Cheapoair.com. Ever heard of it? I hadn’t before a few months ago. I found it because it was one of the only sites online that would sell me a plane ticket to Rwanda. In fact, when I booked my first ticket to Rwanda on it, I worried whether it was actually legit.

Cheapoair doesn’t have the best interface or functionality, but unlike most online travel sites that basically show you the same fares, Cheapoair has a way broader selection of international flights, including ones operated by niche foreign carriers. (I’m on a Brussels Air flight now, for instance.) Downside: A lot of times there are steep  foreign taxes, so make sure you look at the taxes (in parenthesis on the main listing page) before you get excited.

And although the fares are frighteningly expensive, both my flights to Rwanda were far cheaper on Cheapoair than ones I saw elsewhere. The one I got in February was thousands of dollars less than the competition. (Not quite so lucky this time around…)