# Are there any ways to still fly for cheap

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-ways-to-still-fly-for-cheap/720068>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [May 14, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-ways-to-still-fly-for-cheap/720068 "2015-05-14T21:51:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-ways-to-still-fly-for-cheap/720068/41 "2015-05-17T14:11:30Z")

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IMO, long haul international is the one place where folks will look at factors besides price. Especially after they’ve done a long haul flight the cheapest possible way once and learned a lesson. One of my sayings about life in general and commerce in particular is “You don’t always get what you pay for, but you never get what you don’t pay for.”  
For US-based travelers, long haul international is typically barely 1% of the market. Domestic US decision-making is almost universally price, price, price, price, and maybe loyalty points if they’re a frequent flyer.

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**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-ways-to-still-fly-for-cheap/720068/42 "2015-05-17T15:14:11Z")

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> [@Cicero](#):
>
> When I first went to Europe in 1996 it cost me $2600 return per person. In 1999, I was shopping a lot smarter and got a return fare for $1300.
> 
> That has long gone of course, but still, I reckon on $2000 for the return fare. Cheaper than 1996. To have the joys of a 30 hour misery of constipation, boredom, airline food and endless security checks. Apart from that it is all good.

I remember flying round trip Newark to Brussels on the old People Express Airline. Can’t remember the fare, but it was dirt cheap. I’d bought my ticket ahead of time, but I swear I saw the stewardesses selling some passengers their tickets after takeoff! I remember wondering what they would do if someone had lost their credit card or just refused to pay.

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**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-ways-to-still-fly-for-cheap/720068/43 "2015-05-17T16:28:07Z")

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> [@suranyi](#):
>
> There was a time when my life was flexible enough to take advantage of deals like that. I once flew to Paris from San Francisco for $400 round trip. In February.
> 
> Alas, those days are gone. Now, because of my family situation, all travel has to be booked well ahead, and it’s almost always in high season.

Of course. I’m in the same boat. The problem is that the airlines are totally on to us, and have figured out that there is a pretty strong relationship between “ability to be flexible” and “ability to, when push comes to shove, pay higher prices.”

The dirt-cheap fares are out there. They’ve just found a good way to make sure they go to the people who are actually unable to pay more, rather than people just looking for a deal.

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