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davidjay

February 6 2008, 01:45 PM

Ok so I reached DEEP into my bag of travel tips this weekend.

It's often cheaper to fly THROUGH your destination than it is to fly TO your destination.

It makes no sense so let me explain. If you are flying to a hub the price of your ticket might be $400 but if you're flying to another remote city with a layover at the hub the price of the complete ticket (2 segments) can often be $250! CRAZY I KNOW! So yesterday I wanted to fly from New Hampshire to Washington DC and the flight was almost $500 and so I booked a flight all the way to Orlando for $289 that changed planes in DC and then I just got off the plane and went to my hotel. :)

The 2nd tip is that you can often get a better flight slot by showing up and asking BUT you can only get on it if you didn't check your bags. Unless I have a lot of connections I always try and "Gate Check" my bags and that way I don't have to deal with them taking up my legroom and I get them instantly as I get off the plane instead having to wait, sometimes for an hour, at baggage claim. Flights are often priced by the time of day and the ideal time for me to fly to Orlando today was at 5:30 but apparently the airline knew that so that ticket was close to $300 so I booked the next flight out at 7:30 for $189 and then came to the airport for the 5:30 flight and they put me on that flight for free.

...and the best part of this is that I am telling you all these tricks from United's Red Carpet Club which is their premier lounge. I love these places because they are a quiet little sanctuary outside of the intercoms and chaos of the terminal. They have free drinks and healthy snacks and so if you travel much get access to the clubs. Chris Humphreys just shared on his blog about an AMEX card that can get you in a bunch of the clubs so go check that out too!

I was reading in the USA today that 25% of US flights last year were late! Wow! It was the 2nd poorest annual performance ever. Also, nearly a million seats were sold by US airlines that didn't exist! Resulting in "Oversold" situations. Can you believe we let airlines get away with this rubbish. In what other industry can people sell things that don't exist? Delta and Continental (sorry Mrs. Beckstead) were the worst...and the article said it's just going to get worse.

Ok...later everyone...I've got a flight to catch. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opensourcep...ravel-tips.html

Shawn Kloster

February 6 2008, 03:37 PM

Wow! Great tips!! I'm going to definitely try this on my next trip.

Thanks DJ!

Jessica Kate

February 6 2008, 08:13 PM

Thanks for the tips...although I like the terminal! It's like a sociological study.

MelissaV

February 6 2008, 08:24 PM

Thanks for the awesome tips D.J! Hope you had a great flight!

Pam

February 7 2008, 07:38 AM

Great tips DJ! By the way, another industry that gets by with over booking is hotels. They regularly book 25% over assuming cancellations. That's why sometimes they have to send you to a different hotel. Curious though, because that is what Jim Bakker did with his resort and he went to jail! Heehee. See ya.

Elena

February 7 2008, 08:45 AM

Great tips. Especially #1. Never thought of doing that... that is until now

Now, the tip about booking a later flight and showing up early is really priceless.

David Beckstead

February 7 2008, 11:45 AM

As DJ eluded too, Kassandra works for Continental and we hate the whole oversold thing. Yet you will not believe this: many many times we have flown standby and they announce an oversold situation. So people come up and put their name down for free tickets and a different connection. Yet often there are tons of no-shows. So at the last minute, the oversold problem goes away and we still get on as standbys.

I did not know about the connection concept for cheaper tickets. I am all over that!

Cookie Monster

February 7 2008, 12:38 PM

QUOTE(davidjay @ February 6 2008, 01:45 PM)

Ok so I reached DEEP into my bag of travel tips this weekend.

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_6XQzYUM-rxg/R6oqEDgz2AI/AAAAAAAABDg/4hlOFcDk-8U/s1600-h/United_Airlines_IAD.jpg">

</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">It's often cheaper to fly THROUGH your destination than it is to fly TO your destination.</span>

It makes no sense so let me explain. If you are flying to a hub the price of your ticket might be $400 but if you're flying to another remote city with a layover at the hub the price of the complete ticket (2 segments) can often be $250! CRAZY I KNOW! So yesterday I wanted to fly from New Hampshire to Washington DC and the flight was almost $500 and so I booked a flight all the way to Orlando for $289 that changed planes in DC and then I just got off the plane and went to my hotel.

The 2nd tip is that you can often get a better flight slot by showing up and asking <span style="font-weight: bold;">BUT you can only get on it if you didn't check your bags. </span>Unless I have a lot of connections I always try and "Gate Check" my bags and that way I don't have to deal with them taking up my legroom and I get them instantly as I get off the plane instead having to wait, sometimes for an hour, at baggage claim. Flights are often priced by the time of day and the ideal time for me to fly to Orlando today was at 5:30 but apparently the airline knew that so that ticket was close to $300 so I booked the next flight out at 7:30 for $189 and then came to the airport for the 5:30 flight and they put me on that flight for free.

...and the best part of this is that I am telling you all these tricks from United's Red Carpet Club which is their premier lounge. I love these places because they are a quiet little sanctuary outside of the intercoms and chaos of the terminal. They have free drinks and healthy snacks and so if you travel much get access to the clubs. Chris Humphreys just shared on his blog about an AMEX card that can get you in a bunch of the clubs so go check that out too!

I was reading in the USA today that 25% of US flights last year were late! Wow! It was the 2nd poorest annual performance ever. Also, nearly a million seats were sold by US airlines that didn't exist! Resulting in "Oversold" situations. Can you believe we let airlines get away with this rubbish. In what other industry can people sell things that don't exist? Delta and Continental (sorry Mrs. Beckstead) were the worst...and the article said it's just going to get worse.

Ok...later everyone...I've got a flight to catch.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opensourcep...ravel-tips.html

Another one to keep in mind if you're traveling to the same location a lot. They charge less if your rountrip ticket includes a Saturday night stay...so if you are living in one place and working in another M-F, if you book your first ticket one-way and then book your roundtrip tickets back home, you get cheaper flights because your roundtrip tickets include a Saturday night stay....Also, that way you can use e-fare weekend getaway deals to get round trips to come home on...saved me thousands when I was a consultant.

I like the earlier flight trick, I used to use that one all the time. Book the last flight out and then get to the airport earlier...That allows you to spend extra time with your client if need be, save money and worst case, you have an extra hour or two at the airport.

Another one...if there is a problem with your flight (delay or cancellation) don't bother going to the desk, just call the airline to find another flight. Effectively you jump in front of all the angry people waiting to yell a the gate agent.

~rc

littler chicken

February 7 2008, 05:57 PM

Based on the personal experience of one of my college roommates back when the new Denver airport opened (I know, it's not new anymore), I would be wary of booking a flight through your destination. She lived in Pueblo, CO, at the time, which is close to Colorado Springs. Her flights for Christmas break connected through Denver (same plane, just a quick stop). When she went to check in to head back to school after the break was over, they almost refused entirely to honor her ticket because there was no record that she had completed the first part of her flight (they thought she had gotten off in Denver).

The reasoning was that apparently a lot of people were so frustrated with the higher cost of flying into the Denver airport that they would book flights to Springs and just get off in Denver instead, so the airlines were really cracking down on it. It may not be an issue anymore, I don't know (like I said this was back when that airport first opened so it's not a recent story). Just thought I would share her experience...

davidjay

February 8 2008, 10:55 AM

That's right that they will cancel your ticket once you skip a leg so don't do this on the front end of a roundtrip ticket.

Lori Evelyn

February 8 2008, 11:37 AM

You also save money is you fly out on a Tues, Weds or Thurs. They are the slowest flight days, and the tickets are almost always cheaper.

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