I want to go somewhere and I don't care where.

September 14, 2007 11:21 AM

Do any of the airfare search websites allow extremely broad searches?

My travel times are very flexible. The airfare search sites I'm familiar with only allow flexibility to the extent of a few days +/- a set date. I want to do a search that is flexible to the extent of +/- a few months. I also want to choose only the departure city and then be able to see a huge list of destinations around the world.

In other words, I want to see a list of all possible international flights leaving from a specific airport on any day in the next 6 months and returning any day within X number of days after arrival. And I only want to see the flights under $Y. Of course this could result in thousands of possible results, which is just fine with me.

I understand why this probably does not already exist but might it be possible to create such a search using yahoo pipes?

posted by J-Garr to travel & transportation (6 comments total)

The 'buzz' section on kayak might work... you can see the best deals anytime over the next year departing from wherever to the top 25 [world/us/european/etc] cities, and can set up email alerts and such.
posted by logic vs love at 11:26 AM on September 14, 2007

Farecompare allows you to specify departure/arrival cities and then quickly see months' worth of prices (with corresponding airlines, and ticket availability).

Their Getaway Maps feature allows you to specify the departure city, and then view some region of the world (US/Europe/Asia/etc) marked up with the cheapest destinations. You don't have to specify a departure time- clicking on a given fare and picking "flexible dates" will then bring you to the layout I mentioned above, where you can see the cheapest months/days.
posted by rxrfrx at 11:38 AM on September 14, 2007 [1 favorite]

The Farecompare Getaway Maps and Kayak Buzz are spot on!
posted by J-Garr at 11:55 AM on September 14, 2007

The best place you're going to find is the ITA matrix, which everyone uses or licenses.
posted by iamabot at 1:51 PM on September 14, 2007 [1 favorite]

Skyscanner does everything you asked for. Maybe not so useful if you are outside Europe though.
posted by jon4009 at 5:33 PM on September 14, 2007

Airfare Watchdog shows discounted tickets from a US airport.
posted by quiet at 3:58 AM on December 25, 2007