Last Minute Airline Tickets...
TV ClubHouse: archives: Last Minute Airline Tickets...
Hamsterlady | Monday, October 06, 2003 - 07:29 pm     <Juju, I deserve NO credit on this one. It was all due to Bastable's link.> But you must check out that link.....so fun seeing where you could go for how cheap! Makes a mental note - need to travel more. Spy, I hope you let us know what you've got planned now. |
Spygirl | Monday, October 06, 2003 - 08:30 pm     Got bad news...that wonderful rate of $84 still requires a 7 day advance purchase The best rate priceline would take was $433 - a whopping $30 discount. That's crap, too. Plus, I just talked to my brother and some things have taken a dramatic turn in regards to his job today - very unexpectedly - so I'm not willing to let him pay $450 for a plane ticket, though he was still offering. It doesn't look like I'll make it for the performance.  |
Bastable | Monday, October 06, 2003 - 08:35 pm     Booooooooo! |
Tabbyking | Monday, October 06, 2003 - 08:40 pm     wa-a-a-ah, poor spy's brother. keeping my fingers crossed that things turn around the right way! |
Schoolmarm | Tuesday, October 07, 2003 - 02:49 am     Spy, go to biddingfortravel.com and see what they say about the airfares for priceline. If you got a counteroffer, it is OFTEN NOT the lowest price that they will take. Also take Ocean's advice about the e-savers on the airlines websites. Today is Tuesday and they should be up either today or tomorrow. These are the last minute seats that are available each week for travel on Friday through Monday. If they have something available, you can save a bundle! They OBVIOUSLY do not require the 7 day advance purchase. Don't give up yet! |
Grooch | Tuesday, October 07, 2003 - 07:23 am     Sorry, about that Spy. By the way, I checked Bastable's site for a trip from LI to Fort Lauderdale for a trip in Nov. The cheapest flight was $362. I noticed that they didn't list any choices by Southwest Airlines. I went to their website and for the same day, my friend can fly for $129. So it does pay to check individual airline's websites. |
Bastable | Tuesday, October 07, 2003 - 07:57 am     Southwest usually withholds its fares from everyone. It's not on Orbitz, either. Ocean's e-fares idea is good...that's always a good tactic, provided the airlines are offering what you need to buy (they never seem to be when I check, but that's my luck). I also like http://www.smarterliving.com/air/search/ and sometimes http://www.site59.com/ |
Spygirl | Tuesday, October 07, 2003 - 08:48 am     Hotwire has $410, Expedia and all the related sites are still at $467, and none of the major airlines have any specials out of Wichita. Another priceline bid shows $333....if I leave on Saturday and return on Tuesday <sigh> Expedia says that their web fares are released on Wednesday for the upcoming weekend, so I guess I'll sit tight until tomorrow morning. Thank you everyone for the feedback and tips. These are some really good websites. |
Bastable | Tuesday, October 07, 2003 - 11:18 am     Wichita's a tough one, Spygirl, because it's a relatively small market. There are not likely to be many empty seats (and therefore not many discounts) in a market that doesn't have lots of volume... Good luck, though! I hope you can make it.  |
Tabbyking | Tuesday, October 07, 2003 - 11:24 am     gosh, every time i read 'wichita', i can hear glenn campbell singing, "i am a lineman for the county....." and i feel as if i am 14 again! |
Tabbyking | Tuesday, October 07, 2003 - 11:27 am     right now, i drew a blank on whether it's one "N" or two at the end of his name....so i went to google and damned if they could help! they have it both ways. i didn't even get the "did you mean Glen Campbell?" when i used 2 "N's" and i didn't get the "did you mean Glenn Campbell?" when i used one "N"... |
Zachsmom | Tuesday, October 07, 2003 - 11:55 am     be unique and put three  |
Spygirl | Wednesday, October 08, 2003 - 10:25 pm     I'm going!!!! I'm going!!!!! I totally gave up this afternoon and realized that I would not be able to go. In a passing conversation with a friend, I mentioned my situation and boom - they offered me enough frequent flyer miles to make the trip! Just like that! They didn't need them, weren't gonna use them before they expired at the end of the year, so I'm going to see my brother sing!! How in the world am I going to be able to sleep?? |
Egbok | Wednesday, October 08, 2003 - 10:38 pm     I'm very happy for you Spy! Enjoy your time with your brother. |
Lucy | Wednesday, October 08, 2003 - 11:06 pm     Yay, Spy!! Have a great time this weekend!!!! |
Tess | Wednesday, October 08, 2003 - 11:27 pm     Yay Spy!!! |
Wargod | Wednesday, October 08, 2003 - 11:39 pm     Woo hoo, Spy!!!!!! |
Sage | Thursday, October 09, 2003 - 04:48 am     Great news Spy! Have an awesome time!
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Aus10 | Thursday, October 09, 2003 - 05:29 am     While we're on the topic of airlines....Why is it you can't get from here to there without going to timbuktu? Got sons flight home for Thanksgiving...To get from Miami to Ohio.. he has to go to Dallas?? |
Halfunit | Thursday, October 09, 2003 - 06:00 am     My favorite is Cleveland to Cincinnati, via Detroit. |
Kaili | Thursday, October 09, 2003 - 06:19 am     Aus10- Dallas is probably a hub for that airline- if they don't have enough people flying directly between those two cities, they'll send you to a hub so they can collect people coming from all over for that flight. I usually fly on Northwest because that's the main airline at my local, very small airport. I stop in Minneapolis, then get on another flight to go to- well I usually am only going to Duluth, MN or Phoenix. My airport is too small to have direct flights there. Duluth, I believe, only had Northwest now so in that instance there really is no choice about it. Minneapolis is a hub for Northwest, as is Detroit and Memphis and I'm not sure where else. There have been flights where I've had to use those other cities as connections (like going from Wisconsin to Detroit to Phoenix) but usually they can be avoided. It's just cheaper for the airline so they can fill a flight. They send a smaller plane to a hub, then from there people get on from all over the place. Figure that your son gets to Dallas and has a layover- in the time he's there 30 other planes land from all over with people on them wanting to go to Ohio- they'll put all those people on the same plane to fill it rather than having a direct, empty flight. The person he's sitting next to when leaving Florida may be headed to San Diego and will connect to that flight from Dallas. Dallas is pretty out of the way, but that's the airline you picked and the flight combination that was maybe cheapest or still having open seats when you booked the trip. They just can't fill a plane to and from every city. I could go into more detail with fuel costs and economics- but to do that I would have to pull out my notes from a transportation geography class I took 3 years ago. I had one trip from Jacksonville to Phoenix...it was supposed to be Jacksonville to Pensacola to pick up people, to Houston, then on to Phoenix. That was a horrible day, especially since there was a fog delay in Pensacola, we took off about 2 hours late from Jacksonville then they decided to just skip the Pensacola stop and go on to Houston- by then I had missed by next flight. |
Kaili | Thursday, October 09, 2003 - 06:29 am     I just checked Orbitz to see about flights from Appleton (WI) to Phoenix for Thanksgiving- they gave me Delta as the cheapest with a layover in Cincinnati. United would take me to Chicago and Northwest to Minneapolis. Those are our only airlines except Midwest Express, which goes through Milwaukee, and which was not listed as an option for that day/destination. |
Grooch | Thursday, October 09, 2003 - 07:56 am     Aus, can they fly out of Fort Lauderdale? If so, go to the Southwest Airlines web page and try that. I did a quick check and they have layovers in Maryland. I don't know what airport in Ohio they are flying in, or what day, so you might even luck out and find a direct flight. |
Juju2bigdog | Thursday, October 09, 2003 - 08:49 am     Yay, Spygirl!!! Isn't life just strange sometimes? |
Aus10 | Thursday, October 09, 2003 - 10:13 am     Thanks for the info all! I'm not sure about Lauderdale or not....I was looking at MIA.... |
Tabbyking | Thursday, October 09, 2003 - 11:08 am     my favorite was seeing what it cost to send my daughter to redding from fresno--about 350 miles. they had her go via san jose. i looked at the $1,812 price tag and then saw they had her going through san jose, costa rica, LOL, even though i had put SJO, which is the san jose, california, international airports code! |
Grooch | Thursday, October 09, 2003 - 11:16 am     Aus, see if he can fly out of FLL. It's only an hour north of Miami and it's right off of I-95. Very easy to find and get in and out of. Plus, fares are usually cheaper out of there. Also, it doesn't take that long at all to get through security. Very easy. |
Grannyg | Thursday, October 09, 2003 - 02:06 pm     I just flew to Denver from Memphis. I left Memphis and flew to Atlanta, got off the plane, 30 minute layover, got back on the same plane and flew to Denver. It was the only way to get to there from here and not pay $1300. That flight cost $550. And it was buy the ticket one day and fly the next so I didn't get to have the luxury of even the 7 day advance purchase. But you still have to fly to Atlanta to go just about anywhere because Northwest is just to high price to fly direct. Or we can drive to Nashville or Little Rock, both 3 hour drives, and fly Southwest. Not very many options considering we have an International Airport. I never find those great bargains to fly out of Memphis. |
Bastable | Thursday, October 09, 2003 - 02:32 pm     It's all about competition. Memphis and Appleton and Wichita get few bargains because there are few airlines there competing. If you want to get the deals that Americans are enjoying by the million, you have to be within driving distance of a bigger airport. The situation is getting better. Buffalo used to suffer terribly, but now has some excellent deals. Denver, too, used to have it bad, but things are easing up there and if United creates its new airline, things will be even better. Same with Pittsburgh. The more the big airlines (Northwest, Delta, etc) are defeated by the upstarts (AirTran, JetBlue, etc), the better prices get. Question is: Will prices go right back up once the big carriers go away and the upstarts rules the stage? |
Kaili | Thursday, October 09, 2003 - 09:34 pm     Actually there have been many times when flying out of Appleton has been cheaper than driving an hour and flying out of Milwaukee. Our regional airports, for whatever reason, are pretty reasonable. I know in AZ to get a short flight from PHX to Flagstaff or Prescott adds hundreds to the ticket but I usually spend no more than $350 out of Appleton- and Green Bay/Madison airports are good/cheap too. I like the small ones- I can leave my car at home and get a ride, check in 25 minutes before departure and board 15 minutes before. If it was like flying out of Flagstaff- no way. That airport costs lots. |
Bastable | Saturday, October 11, 2003 - 12:23 pm     It's all about capacity. Any time there is an air sale, it means the seats aren't selling. So if Appleton's getting sales, it means the flights are not filling up very well. Be warned that the airline may be thinking about cutting down on the size of the aircraft later, or even about eliminating Appleton flights altogether. The airline industry is always trying to keep capacity equal with demand, so when there are sales, it's a signal that there is less demand than available seats, and unless there's a reason for it (such as, a big aircraft that must pass through Appleton in order to serve a larger city later in the day), the airline may try to correct it. |
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