Ticket hunting

In my search for the best deal on flights to Bangkok, I approached 3 separate travel agents working for 3 separate businesses.  They came up with offers ranging from the mid $900's for a one way flight, up to the $1,200's for a return trip.  So I did what I had been expecting to do the entire time; I went online and hunted down a much better deal by myself.  I realize travel agencies provide a very valuable and legitimate service for certain demographics such as busy working types, but, for anybody with a bit of web-savvy, the number of deal aggregation websites out there like Expedia or Kayak provide the tools to easily find the deals yourself.

If you do choose to use an agency, I urge you to keep them honest and do your homework and check the prices yourself.  Odds are good you can beat the agency 9 times out of 10.

After hitting the confirm purchase button on Expedia, it dawned on me, I'm flying to Bangkok on October 17th!

And to think, my ticket was paid for with cherries and big sticks of rock...

Cherries, cherries, cherries.  Picked with care, Winfield, BC, Aug 2011

Stack of core-samples from my diamond drilling job.  Vanderhoof, BC, Feb. 2011