Here’s the deal. My daughter is due to deliver our first grandchild some time in mid-February. As is typical of such things, we have no idea of the exact date little Riley will arrive. We live near Austin and my daughter and son-in-law live in Colorado Springs. Southwest, Frontier, and others offer flights between AUS and DEN. Frontiers goes all the way,to COS, too.
My wife wants to be there for the birth (our daughter wants this, too), but she cannot arrive too early, but doesn’t want to be too late, either.
A flight on WN on Feb 14 from AUS to DEN can be had for $39. A similar flight tomorrow is $242. What is the best way to balance affordability and flexibility. Anyone out there had a similar problem?
Personally I would handle that by booking a cheap flight for a date that is comfortably early. How early is entirely up to you, maybe a week before the due date? Then if things happen even earlier you’re just going to have to spring for an expensive last minute ticket. The earlier your original flight is, the less likely you’ll have to spring for another ticket but the more likely you’ll have to hang around waiting. I would also look into what kind of last minute changes travel insurance will cover.
Can’t you buy a ticket that allows changes or cancellations? In my experience (with European flights) it’s common to get “flexible” tickets which allow cancellations for a fixed fee, or changes for a fixed fee plus any difference in fare. Perhaps things are different on the American domestic market, though.
Unlike many airlines, Southwest has no fee for changing the date for any ticket (though the price of the new ticket may have gone up by then, and you’d have to pay the difference).
Frontier charges $50 for changes on their Economy tickets, but it’s free for their higher-priced ones.
I’d think a good strategy would be to buy a ticket with no change fee now, but it depends on the actual ticket prices.
Just say " to heck with it" and buy First Class to COS. I mean, think about it, this is your grandchild! Do you want to see the birth or do you want to save a few buck?
Going with a changable ticket seems like the best option I can think of, but be sure to ask whether the airline would charge a “change ticket” fee AND the difference in the cost of the flight.
For example, I just did a search and found American Airlines has an Economy Super Saver fare from Austin to Colorado Springs for $49, and an Economy Saver fare for $412. The Economy Saver features no change fees (among other things), but if you bought that fare class of ticket, you’d also be on the hook for any fare differentials, even if there were no change fees. Not exactly an attractive offer for 9 times the price.
I’m really not sure of Southwest’s change policies, I don’t fly them.
I think that Southwest will be the most flexible for this. And based on my very positive experience with them, I’d recommend calling them, speaking with an agent and asking for advice. My guess is that they will come up with something workable.
Do you know anyone with frequent flyer miles, through whom you could buy the ticket? Such tickets are generally farily easy to change.
Drive. You can make it in about 13 hours.
The OP says that the baby is due in mid-February, which is still winter in Colorado. His wife may not want to be on the road then.
Yeah, we’ve driven it before. Not a fun drive. For those who don’t know, West Texas is quite desolate. From our house, it actually takes about sixteen hours. They are the longest sixteen hours ever. You know you’re on a miserable trip when your longing for the bright lights of Amarillo! 
Anyway, it looks like AUS>DFW>COS is only around $50 on American with a seven-day advance purchase. That may be doable, at least as long as the price holds. I haven’t explored how bad American’s bag fees are, but that still may come out ahead. Southwest is a bit cheaper, but they’ll only go as far as DEN. Given that my daughter may be in or nearly in labor by that point, my son-in-law may not be in a position to drive the four hour round-trip from their place to DEN and back. So, making it to DEN might as well still be in Austin. Even if we bought tickets for a couple of different dates, intending to only use one, $50 per ticket may still be cheaper than buying a truly flexible-fare ticket.
Thanks for the suggestions.
(And yeah, I know it’s the grandkid, so splurge. Thing is, I’d like to have a little money left to actually spend on the kid. There’s a big jump from the $50ish super-economy fare to the $450 flexible economy fare. Also, fifty bucks is less than it would cost to drive our most fuel-efficient vehicle that far.)
I also recommend Southwest. Southwest has the simplest fare structure there is. Go to their website, and you will find that there are three fare classes, with the most expensive one having no restrictions. As said, there is no change fee. The prices is also not all that bad. Since this is the most expensive price, you won’t have to worry about paying more, since it is likely that at the last minute the cheaper fares will be gone, though you can risk it.
I have done a lot of flying with Southwest, and they are the only airline that does not enrage me. Their philosophy is to not rip off their passengers. They also do not charge for your bags, unless you have more than 2 I think.
All the Frontier flights go to Denver first, though they all seem nonstop after that. But the last one leaves COS at 1:40 pm, so there is a long stretch where you can’t get one after that.
That is the GD part. There are a few other things you should consider. First, most of their flights are heavily booked, and it is not guaranteed that you will be able to get on a new one. Second, I just looked up Denver to Austin, and while there are two non-stops of about 2 hours, most are more like 4 hours. Unless the baby is going to be induced, there is a good chance your wife is not going to make it in time. Our first started on the way around midnight. (And was 2 weeks late.) Given the time to get to Denver, security time, flight time, time to rent a car to get to the hospital, there is a good chance she won’t make it.
You can never tell with first kids.
I live here in Austin too and have done that drive a few times.
As noted above, you have the two to four hour flight time, the requirement to get to the airport early, the possibilities of delays, and the fact that you can’t really choose the flight departure time. If you drive it, you can leave at the first signs of labor. You can always turn around if it is a false alarm.