If you travel often like I do, or if you simply want to plan an affordable vacation for your family, knowing how to find the best prices on airfare is essential.

This is not an easy task, as airfare prices are a lot like the weather: totally unpredictable. If you were to ask three people on the same flight who are all sitting in the same section of the plane how much they paid for their tickets, there’s a good chance you’ll get three drastically different answers.

This is where technology can really make a difference. Unless you have a lot of extra free time, you probably don’t want to take the time to sort through all of the travel Web sites out there, looking for the best fare.

Well there are now very comprehensive search engines out there that will do the legwork for you.

Unlike the first generation travel sites like Travelocity and Expedia, these startups don‘t actually sell you tickets. They search airline and travel sites for the best deal, then send you over to that site to make your purchase.

Wired reviewed four of them and found that Yahoo Fare Chase came up with the best prices all around. The others they tested, which you may also want to check out, are:

• Farecast
• SideStep
• Kayak

Farecast, by the way, is also an excellent site for finding great deals on hotels. Folks, getting away from work from time to time is one of the best ways to renew your mind, body and spirit. And with sites like these, you can easily plan some time away at a fraction of the cost.