WEB Airline Travel Sites vs Airlines vs Time --COST

I have been looking for good fares from LAX to London for departure in early
June.
I frequently search the following web sites for the best fares and got the
following:

Searched 5pm on 2/12/04 PST Searched 11PM on 2/12/04 PST
for LAX - LHR - United
Expedia - $536 $660
Orbitz - $534 $651
Qixo - $534 $534
Fare Chaser - $504 NA
ITA - NA $997
United - $941 $941

Does anyone know how these sites work?
Do they buy seats and resell them at a lower price than the airline web fares?
I know fares change, but why do some change and others don't.
Searching Travelocity, they did not have any fares less than $940.
Are airlines fares such a complex topic that an answer cannot be obtained and
should I just keep searching and hope for a good fare to show up?

Any advice on how to get the best fare would be appreciated.
The fare wars have not started yet since only United has reasonably low fares.
Air New Zeland had the same fare at all times at $651.
Thanks, Rick

(Stromer2) wrote in message ...
I have been looking for good fares from LAX to London for departure in early
June.
I frequently search the following web sites for the best fares and got the
following:

Searched 5pm on 2/12/04 PST Searched 11PM on 2/12/04 PST
for LAX - LHR - United
Expedia - $536 $660
Orbitz - $534 $651
Qixo - $534 $534
Fare Chaser - $504 NA
ITA - NA $997
United - $941 $941

Does anyone know how these sites work?
Do they buy seats and resell them at a lower price than the airline web fares?
I know fares change, but why do some change and others don't.
Searching Travelocity, they did not have any fares less than $940.
Are airlines fares such a complex topic that an answer cannot be obtained and
should I just keep searching and hope for a good fare to show up?

Any advice on how to get the best fare would be appreciated.
The fare wars have not started yet since only United has reasonably low fares.
Air New Zeland had the same fare at all times at $651.
Thanks, Rick

I wish i was able to tell you how these things work, but the truth is
that i don't know myself. My experience has been that Wednesday
night, around midnight is generally the best time to look (i'm not
sure why, but it just is)...i think maybe that's when the site's
updated.

I wouldn't lose hope, i bought i flight on orbitz a few weeks ago from
IAD to BCN (barcelona). I actived the deal detector which lets you
know when the fare drops below a certain price... in two weeks it went
from $460 to almost $500 to $415 and i finally nabbed one for $380 (do
you believe that)... i would suggest going that route... might save
you some time.

Good luck!