Where to go for cheap plane tickets

I finally opened up my New York Times Sunday paper from May 18 last night and found a story with new online resources for discount airline tickets.

Airfarewatchdog.com monitors deals from various airlines and posts promo codes. You can sign up for deal alerts on certain routes and check their list of top 50 flight prices.

Farecompare.com shows you low prices by month and how prices have fluctuated over the past 9 months.

The story also suggests checking prices directly with the airlines, many of which are trying to avoid third party fees by offering lower prices than Travelocity, Expedia, and Kayak. Delta, American, United and Continental "are offering compensations like a $50 or $100 voucher for a future flight if passengers find an online fare lower than the one they are offering on their own sites for that flight," the story says.

Most travel sites let you set up a deal alert if the price for a route you fly slips. Sign up now and save later.