Cheapest Plane Tickets Scraper

Scrapes Trip.com to find the cheapest flight options, comparing both direct routes and creative multi-city combinations.

Overview

This actor searches for flight deals by checking standard round-trips and alternative routings that may include intermediate cities. It's designed for price discovery—not for booking. You should always verify flight details and connections on Trip.com before purchasing.

Key Features

• Compares routing types: Direct flights vs. multi-city alternatives.
• Identifies potential savings: May find cheaper options by adding connection points (e.g., TPE→HKG→PRG instead of TPE→PRG).
• Provides structured data: Returns a sorted list (cheapest first) with full itinerary details.
• Configurable search: You can specify the number of intermediate cities to explore.

How to Use

1. Configure your search in the actor input (see Input/Output section).
2. Run the actor. Runtime scales with complexity:
3. Direct routes only: ~1-2 minutes
4. With 2 intermediate cities: ~3-5 minutes
5. Multiple dates: proportionally longer
6. Review the dataset output, sorted by total price.
7. For direct routes: Use the details to book directly on Trip.com.
8. For alternative/multi-city routes:
9. Note the potential savings.
10. Manually check each flight leg on Trip.com for actual availability and realistic transfer times.
11. Book legs separately if the itinerary is feasible.

Important: Alternative routes are price discoveries only. They may have timing conflicts, insufficient transfer time, or flights that don't actually connect. Always verify on Trip.com.

Input/Output

Input (example configuration):

{
  "departureCity": "TPE",
  "arrivalCity": "PRG",
  "departureDate": "2024-12-01",
  "returnDate": "2024-12-15",
  "maxIntermediateCities": 2
}

Output:
The actor returns a dataset where each item represents a flight option, containing:
- routeType: "direct" or "alternative"
- totalPrice: Total cost in the local currency
- cities: Array of all cities in the itinerary
- departureDate / returnDate: Travel dates
- totalTravelTime: Total duration
- legs: Array of detailed flight segments (airline, flight number, times, etc.)

Use Cases:
- Budget travel planning between regions (e.g., Asia to Europe).
- Comparing savings via different hubs (Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore).
- Understanding the price difference between direct and multi-stop flights.