Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Sites such as Travelocity, Hotwire and Orbitz show the different airlines that are offering your trip side-by-side so that you can compare the different rates. Oftentimes you can get a better deal through these sites as they negotiate deals directly with the airlines. Keep in mind, that if your trip dates change, you may be required to pay a higher change fee than you would if you booked directly with the airline.
Airfares can change weekly and even daily. The price that you were quoted yesterday may not be what you pay when you actually book your airline ticket. To track these changes consider visiting a fare tracking website such as Bing or Airfare Watch Dog. These sites will show you the current price for your trip as well as predict if airfares will drop or increase over the next seven days.
If you have special circumstances such as you are active duty military or are looking to book a bereavement fare, you will want to call the airline directly. They will be able to offer you rates that you wouldn't be able to get elsewhere.
If you are willing to drive a couple of hours to a different airport than the one in your city, you may be able to save a significant amount of money and get the exact flight times that you want. Airlines offer different rates depending on where you are departing. If you are flying from their hub airport, for example, you are going to get a better rate than if you are flying out of a regional airport.