Airfare - what a racket

[HundredK]

I always start our search for flights at flights.google.com. It sometimes gives me good ideas for different flight combinations I can book to get ridiculously cheap flights. It doesn't check ultra low cost airlines like Southwest, so I always compare that as well if I'm flying domestic.

I think the best kept secret for flying international is to book a non-US airline. Then it's SUPER easy to get through customs (because most of the people on your flight are locals on the way there and foreigners on your way home, meaning you aren't sharing customs lines). But foreign airlines often offer better rates too. Air New Zealand, for example, has amazing EPlus and Business class, and you can book them much cheaper than any legacy US airline. There are even some ultra low cost airlines now doing flights between here and Europe (WOW, Scandinavian, etc), although I tend to try and find cheap business class tickets for any flight over 9 or 10 hours. Google flights has helped me locate ridiculously cheap business class tickets so many times (not much more than eplus tickets).

My last suggestion for reasonably priced airfare is to not get hooked into the trap of worrying about loyalty status with any one airline. We used to do that, we'd strive to get our elite status each year so we'd get the free upgrades. But truthfully, if you just look for the best fares on each flight segment regardless of airline in the class you actually want to fly, it all works out about the same or better, and you might even end up getting loyalty status with more than one airline by doing that depending on how much you fly.

[MooseBucks]

Check out skyscanner.net and the hopper app for future flights. Hopper tells you the best days to book and the best days to fly.

[Drake3287]

That sounds really interesting. Does this occur after a major weather event with lots of cancellations? Or, is it less predictable?

Could be for many reasons. Much of the time an aircraft is taken out of service for prescheduled mechanical/maintenance reasons and another aircraft is flown in. Lot's of people think the airlines have extra planes sitting around at every airport but they don't. Mostly just at hubs.

[cypher1]

For smartphones I've been using Hopper more than Kayak for tracking multiple prices/flights at a time. I like how they'll send you notifications of prices dropping, or compare monthly peak dates, etc.

As others said, Google Flights is great as well. Which can find better deals at times. For example, yesterday I booked two round trip tickets to LAX in early May. Hopper was listing them starting at 249 each, but Google at 179. So it's still about timing, and pricing multiple areas.

Or a lot of times you find a deal on one of those sources, but going to the direct airline site you may find the same if not better deals, and take out the middleman (IE priceline, momondo).

If you don't travel much, I could understand the frustration. But if you're willing to plan further out, there are some amazing deals out there. Also check out Thrifty Traveler if you have Facebook. I'm starting to use that more for international deals.

[bjsint]

The easiest way to avoid the airlines tracking you is to use 'incognito mode'. On safari its called a 'private window'

File > New Private Window.

[ShawnaC123]

I also recently came across a site called skiplagged.com. This website searches for tickets to unpopular destinations that have a layover in your desired destination. The logic is that instead of going on to the final destination, you would arrive at your layover destination and throw away the ticket. For example, if you wanted to go to New York City, skiplagged would find a flight to Milwaukee with a layover in NYC. Using this website, I’ve been able to save a substantial amount of money when booking flights to high traffic destinations.

I've read online that some airlines have started cracking down on this. Like if you book a round trip flight, they'll cancel your flight back or they'll charge your card the price of the flight to your "layover". I'd guess it's buried in the terms and conditions somewhere that they can do that.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Anyone have a reservation for Allegiant or considering booking a flight with them? You might want to watch this 60 Minutes episode on 4/15/18.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/60-minutes-allegiant-air-flying-under-the-radar/

[Smallsteps]

I get so frustrated at the apps the sites the "tricks" like buy on Tuesdays. The hoops we are expected to jump through to try to get the best deal never end and have so many slight differences you cannot head to head compare.
Who has this kind of time to put into this?
They all claim the lowest deal but as we MANY people find out it is the lowest bid for a REASON. It does increase the entertainment value of People watching.
I cannot put a price on watching total meltdowns of those who somehow expect first class treatment and concern by discount airlines that I lovingly refer to " the greyhound in the sky".
My favorite entertainment is called ....the gate game" where they way overbooked now they through out coupons and perks for someone to take a later flight. The range between those running the numbers considering it to the panic as the gate agent gets most insistent that someone step up to take the deal or she will choose for you..... always good for a laugh.

[TexasHusker]

There have been a lot of "rule changes" in the airline industry. A buddy of mine is a pilot for SWA and he's told me about a lot of it, but one thing that is a complete "180" is the idea that you can get the best deal by booking way ahead.

The airlines have long-since figured out folks are really particular about their travel planning and love the security of making reservations far in advance. In many cases, airlines are taking advantage of this and actually charging MORE for all customers willing to pay, and as the travel date approaches, the price might well DROP if the plane isn't filling up. This apparently happens a lot!

[rennigade]

In my world a round trip plane ticket for 1 costs no more than $15 due to credit card churning. Havent checked the price of a ticket in the last 8 years.

Worst part is anyone can do this yet people wont. Hardest part is filling out a credit card application...its tough.

[Thrif-t]

Rennigade, I churned back in the day. BUT our insurance rates went up and it was all because they use your credit score or some variation (can't exactly remember how it's all calculated) so it wasn't worth it to me to churn and pay the higher insurance premiums. Have you experienced that?

Now I've got my credit frozen because I'm sick of worrying about all the hacks. And I'm at a point in my life where if I can't afford to pay for something I just don't do it. I'm just not up for jumping thru all those hoops for things anymore.

[QuarterMillionMan]

In the 60 minutes episode the scary thing is that the FAA has little authority to enforce Allegiant to comply with maintenance issues. The FAA official seemed like he was not too concerned about the problems.

[rennigade]

Rennigade, I churned back in the day. BUT our insurance rates went up and it was all because they use your credit score or some variation (can't exactly remember how it's all calculated) so it wasn't worth it to me to churn and pay the higher insurance premiums. Have you experienced that?
.

I never experienced an increase in insurance rates. That doesnt even make sense to me...but from their point of view they'll try anything they can to increase rates.

Ive havent been able to churn as much lately since chase initiated the 5/24 rule...if you open any 5 credit cards in a 24 month span you cant open anymore chase. Kind of a bummer since we're on a spending spree with home renovations.

[Thrif-t]

Read this https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...ates/index.htm

[disneysteve]

one thing that is a complete "180" is the idea that you can get the best deal by booking way ahead.

The airlines have long-since figured out folks are really particular about their travel planning and love the security of making reservations far in advance. In many cases, airlines are taking advantage of this and actually charging MORE for all customers willing to pay, and as the travel date approaches, the price might well DROP if the plane isn't filling up.

This certainly makes sense. They don't want to fly half-empty planes as their fixed costs per flight are high. The same goes for hotel rooms in general. That's why last minute travel deals are abundant.

The difficult thing with plane tickets is you can't play the game the way you can with hotels. I've posted numerous times about cancelling and rebooking a hotel reservation as the price has come down, sometimes 2-3 times before our stay. The airlines don't let you do that unfortunately.

The only places this generally operates the other way with prices getting higher as the date approaches is with cruises and resort hotels that are high demand, places that routinely fill up. They yield their prices so that the best deal is typically going to be as soon as the dates become available and the closer you get, the more you'll pay.