FareCompare.com: A Great Tool For Airfare Shopping

site that offers a great deal of flexibility in its search function.  

You can search by place name or airport code, and can either select the dates you wish to travel, or have a look at the fare prices for a number of months and select the cheapest dates yourself.

Prices are listed both 'base' and including tax, although on some test searches that I performed I found that the tax was not always included.  I do not think this is the fault of FareCompare.com, as they search a number of airlines and the airlines in question may be sending incorrect data to the Fare Compare site.  In most cases, prices listed on FareCompare were accurate – but it is reading the airline web site carefully before you book to make sure you are getting exactly what you expect.

Fare Compare also offer maps which give you an 'at a glance' view of how much it will cost to fly various parts of the world from your chosen starting destination.  If you're after a relatively inexpensive holiday and are flexible about where you want to go, then this is a great way to get some inspiration.

Fare Compare offer price comparison for cruises, cars, and hotels as well as flights, although their comparison options for these are more limited, as they only look at the most common companies such as Expedia and Priceline.  Still, it is convenient to have all the sites available in one search.

They also offer a number of email alerts for flights within the US and Canada, international flights, and first class flights.  If you subscribe to these alerts then you will get an email when flights you are looking for are discounted below their current lowest flight – saving you valuable time checking flight prices while waiting for them to drop to a more affordable level.

There are lots of flight comparison sites out there, and I would never recommend sticking to one exclusively, as by checking several you increase your chances of finding a great deal.  I would, however, say that the ability to check prices for a specific route over the course of several months is something that is lacking from many other price comparison sites, and that this function makes it worth adding Fare Compare to your list of sites to check.