I have time on my hands this August, and I would like to take a trip. I understand that airlines routinely fill empty seats at the last minute, so, can I actually snag a ticket at 50%-70% off face value? If so, how do you do this-do you have to hand around an airport and wait? Are there websites that find these deals for you?
Or is this a myth-no discounts, even on the day of travel?
You haunt the airline websites. There are a number of search tools that offer to do the work for you but I’ve yet to find one that works, and they’re more focused on you providing a route and them finding the cheapest seat on it.
Also last minute is rarely the time to get deals now. Airlines now regularly overbook flights to be sure that they will not have open seats.
Also, you’re much less likely to find a cheap ticket in August, as that’s when more people are traveling on vacation.
Yapta.com does a neat thing where you register your flight with them and they monitor the price changes. Once the price drops, they send you an email telling you how to get a refund from the airline.
There are stand by tickets, you have to hang out at an airport and hope a flight with not enough seats is going to take off to your destination. However I don’t know if civilians can buy those, I think only the family members of pilots can purchase those. I had members of extended family who flew cheap that way, but again they had an immediate family member who was a pilot. I got the impression from them civilians couldn’t buy them.
I have heard about being an air courier to fly internationally (you pay $200-300, and you agree to carry luggage for someone. I guess it is cheaper to check the luggage on a commercial flight than to send it overnight via a postal service) on the cheap. But I don’t know how legit that is.
I have a daily email alert on kayak.com for top twenty five cities under $200, Europe under $500, and a couple more. Last trip was MSP to LGA for $148 RT non stop in June. You have to be flexible in your dates, and you have to be ready to book at a moments notice, but the trips are typically a couple weeks to a couple months out.
Some flights will never be on sale, some wi.ll be on sale all the time.
Sign up for the airlines that fly out of your airport emails as well. They’re typically not as useful as kayak, but it can prompt you to search.
Yeah, this year, flew rt to Tampa, $196. HNL last minute, with layovers $1100 (grr), Denver 78 rt, LGA $148, ORD is coming up, don’t want to pay more than $80.
Sorry for typos, stupid phone + holiday.
Travel off season, don’t try to go to Disneyland during spring break, you’ll get hosed.
Also, groupon getaways. $700 rt to the Azores, including a weeks hotel? Ireland with rt, weeks lodging and car for $1100? I need to make more money.
Get a job at an airline
Or
Marry an airline employee.
Even that won’t help in August. They only get the choice of empty seats.
There are also sites which try to predict the movement in fares. But the only real hope is to travel on a less traveled route with empty seats. Most of the planes I’ve been on the last few years have been packed.
I track at http://airfarewatchdog.com/. I get regular alerts with fares from Atlanta to anywhere, so I can see what’s coming up and fairly inexpensive.
Sometimes the destination cities are things like…Lafayette, LA, where I’m not going to go anytime soon. Other times, Philadelphia or Baltimore, which I’d consider.
Don’t knock Lafayette, LA. That is the capital of Cajun country and there is a ton of stuff to do around there if you are interested in Cajun culture at all or just like to have a good time.
I like Kayak alerts as well but my big trick is getting free tickets through credit card promotions. I have 5 right now that are ready to use any time with three more I am about to get and I have been travelling that way for two years by using them. I have used them to go everywhere from Hawaii to Las Vegas with no end in sight. I buy just enough stuff with each card to qualify for the tickets, pay it off, take the tickets, and the cancel the card. Repeat as desired. That won’t work for a trip this August because it takes longer to qualify than that but it will work for trips later in the fall or next year if you start now.
Southwest airlines has one of the best cards/Frequent Flyer programs. The points can be redeemed for any flight unlike many of the other carrier’s programs. Southwest also has Wanna Get Away fares that are amazingly cheap sometimes. Jet Blue runs some amazing specials out of Boston Logan as well but you have to track those things closely and be ready to buy on the spot. As noted, daily e-mail alerts are the best way to do that.
My greatest airline deals have been arriving and departing from different cities. Kayak is quite a useful tool, but you have a set of cities and dates and just starting plugging them into kayak or orbitz as multi-city combinations until you happen to find some itinerary that appears out of the blue.
Some examples, last august/september, I did a Seattle to Seoul to Sydney to Auckland to Seattle for $900 with at least 3 days each in Seoul, Sydney, and Auckland, but most itineraries were $2500+ until I found a Seoul to Auckland that was $1800 and then the addition of a layover in Sydney dropped it to $900. And similarly, I did a flight into Rome and out of London in February for $650.
I have a visa that gives me 1% back on all purchases, and I run a lot of COGS of the company through it. That paid for my trip to HNL, and typically parts for the annual company trip, but I was still pissed to have to pay that much in airfare.
1% gives me the option to spend however I like, instead of having to go with a certain airline. But I’ve thought od the credit card offers more than once.
I know. I’ve been there before, but I’m not interested in going back, even for $120 RT
But it might be just the kind of trip the OP is looking for, so you’re right, there are good things about Lafayette, LA.
Are you still able to find discount last-minute tickets? Because I remember that a few decades ago airlines heavily discounted standby tickets. Lately, though, they seem to have realized that those who really need to fly at the last minute can and will pay for the privilege. Plus their yield management systems mean that planes fly very full so there are few if any seats available at the last minute.
If it’s an option for you, check alternate airports that are within driving distance for you and watch for special fares on introductory routes. We found RT from Chicago to Rome for $298 (inclusive), but it was promoting a new route that went through Detroit (and Amsterdam). Like others said, be prepared to jump on the fares when they pop up.
I’ve found the only reliable rule is booking early on a route that doesn’t actually exist yet, but will once you fly (obviously). You have to know what new routes are coming up then book as soon as you can.
I managed to get a flight in Europe for €10 (including all taxes and fees etc) that should’ve been €70 with the extended leg room. As the extended leg room on a new route wasn’t popular no one else chose it, so I had the whole row to myself and the flight attendants spent the first half hour turning people away from my row
Recently I got a flight from Shanghai to London for $300, no mean feat on that route. No idea how I got such a low price - the taxes and fees were, IIRC, $260 - but I think the carrier, Malaysia Airlines, was new in the market. You have to be flexible and search several comparison sites, then double check with the airlines’ own sites. I actually flew to Shanghai from Guangzhou and stayed there for a few days so I could take that ticket, but I got to see Shanghai so overall it was worth it.
I totally agree, but you and JohnGalt both make a good point. You have to buy the ticket the moment you see it. Most of the time when I try to go back and re-bring up a crazy good price, the ticket is gone. I think many sites have cookie trackers that bump the ticket if you are searching around.
I completely agree with this.
I know that Tuesday afternoon thru Wed. morning seems to bring me the best rates.
If true, search in porn-mode or switch browsers.