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Thread: Flying cheaply

  1. #1
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    Default Flying cheaply

    Does anyone have methods to fly cheaply?
    Are you part of any club or miles program? and advantages or disadvantages?
    Do you know any websites that give last minute crazy deals?
    know any fourms or blogs that can help you get some cheap flights?

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    Default Re: Flying cheaply

    maybe this should be in the dollar den =/ oh well

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    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Flying cheaply

    ^^^ actually, with today's high prices for jet fuel, and with airlines already having cut back flights offered on 'marginally profitable' routes, the good ol' days of finding $99 online last minute booking airfares to allow airlines to fill empty seats really don't exist anymore. In an effort to control their costs, airlines have tweaked the number of flights offered as well as the size of the planes used on particular routes in order to make sure that most of the seats on every flight will now be filled without having to resort to discounted fares.

    You can find a few 'somewhat affordable' flights that involve particular airline 'hub' cities like Atlanta, New York and Los Angeles, and you can find a few 'somewhat affordable' flights that involve promotional distination cities like Orlando or Vegas, but you generally won't get these without an advance booking. You can also typically find ( comparatively speaking ) low airfares involving flying into a not-so-busy different airport that is an hour or more away from the city you actually want to travel to ... but in general the extra ground transportation costs and extra time spent cancel out the savings on airfare.

    The only promotional airline miles program that was ever of any real value to me was the 'no blackout' mileage rewards through my 'business' American Express credit card ... which I used to pay for air fares, hotel accomodations, and restaurant meals while I was still dancing live a lot. I had a number of 'frequent flyer' memberships through individual airlines, but in general the date and destination restrictions plus additional costs involved never actually worked out versus my club work schedules. The latter are even worse today than they were a couple of years ago.

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    Last edited by Melonie; 04-03-2011 at 06:52 AM.

  4. #4
    Member Dixie Skye's Avatar
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    Default Re: Flying cheaply

    Yes I fly ALL THE TIME!! Orbitz has always been the cheapest for me whether it's been a last minute flight or a two month planned in advance flight I also go to travelzoo.com and after you type in your flight info on the left are a list of all fight websites orbitz included I suggest clicking on each site a different window will open for each and compare all the prices you get just make sure to check if taxes are included in the flights as this is what steers me to orbitz everytime. I hope this helps good luck!

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    Default Re: Flying cheaply

    Use the orbitz/expedia etc. websites but don't forget to check indivdual airlines too. Use the FLEXIBLE DATE OPTION, doing those two will often get you way better deals than what is mentioned on the travel sites.

    SouthWest! They often have some really good deals and don't get scanned by the travel sites. They have a few drawbacks, but they are a lot better than they used to be and keep adding mroe airports.

    Start looking in advance and look often. I've seen huge price swings in only a matter of days.

    Be mindful of which day of the week you want to travel on. Usually more expensive to fly on Friday and Monday, than Tues-Thurs.

    There's a billion websites out there that talk about cheap flights and list hot deals. Typically you can get the same information yourself, and these places all just say the same things.

    As to flight programs... I use a couple, but unless you really fly a lot you don't really rack up enough to matter. Even if you do they can often be really hard to redeem in any useful manner.

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    Default Re: Flying cheaply

    kayak.com

    US Airways dividend miles credit card

    Hotwire.com
    "You can close your eyes to reality but not to memories -Stainslaw J. Lec

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    Default Re: Flying cheaply

    Southwest Airlines has a very small, free program called "Ding!" which you download from their website. You set your home airport and any others you would like to be alerted to when special fares are available. It retrieves them for you, alerts you with a ding tone (hence the name), and delivers them to your desktop.

    It is very handy and saves me a lot of money on fares.
    They have specials from my city at least once a week.
    When life gives you lemons, make lemonade... then find someone whose life gave them vodka, and have a party.

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    Default Re: Flying cheaply

    www.cheaptickets.com when I went home last month it was 300 round trip from philly to albuquerque
    "Fake tits are like Kevlar. They don't guarantee your chances of survival but they sure as hell improve it."
    Tempest

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    Veteran Member Lacy Luck's Avatar
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    Default Re: Flying cheaply

    Second SW Ding!

    Especially if you are willing and able to travel last minute, it can save you a bundle.

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    Default Re: Flying cheaply

    "Fake tits are like Kevlar. They don't guarantee your chances of survival but they sure as hell improve it."
    Tempest

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    Default Re: Flying cheaply

    A lot of good advice on here. The only thing I will add is that your best friend is advance purchase. It can be hard to find last minute deals, but if you have at least 2 weeks notice then Southwest and Airtran (depending upon where you are) will generally still offer some good prices if you are a little flexible on the flight time.

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    Default Re: Flying cheaply

    + another 1 for ding.

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    Default Re: Flying cheaply

    Southwest bought airtran. I usually priceline flight and hotel and the flight is next to nothing but I travel with someone so its a package. Last time I went to n.o. I paid 700 for flight and hotel for 12 days in the quarter during a convention. Best thing to do is know when you are going and check alot. I've gotten my package 3 days before leaving and the price was the same as 10 days prior.

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