Web site enables smarter flight searches

(MoneyWatch) I don't know which I dislike more --actually flying, or searching for and booking the flight.

Now there's a new weapon in my flight search arsenal, and this one is surprisingly powerful. SeatGuru, a longtime favorite of travelers for its ability to tell you virtually everything you could want to know about your flight in advance, now includes a flight search engine from Tripadvisor.

SeatGuru's flight search engine is a cut above most of the rest because of the depth of detail it provides. You won't just find the ticket price and number of connections, for example; SeatGuru gives you insight into both the experience of the flight and the total "all-in" cost of boarding the plane.

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I love the fact that you can specify how many bags you plan to check. SeatGuru also builds your baggage fees into the price of the seat, so you can truly compare apples to apples when scanning the list of flights in the search results.That's an element that's missing from search results on most other web sites.

And if amenities like Wi-Fi or in-flight television are important to you, no worries -- SeatGuru can include that as well. You can even filter search results to only show flights that include Wi-Fi, TV or power connections. That makes SeatGuru a good choice for when you care at least as much about enjoying your trip as getting a good price on it.

Dave Johnson

View all articles by Dave Johnson on CBS MoneyWatch »
Dave Johnson is editor of eHow Tech and author of three dozen books, including the best-selling How to Do Everything with Your Digital Camera. Dave has previously worked at Microsoft and has written about technology for a long list of magazines that include PC World and Wired.

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