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Airfare Hacks Even You Didn’t Know About

Tuesday, May 31st, 2016

airport collage

There’s so much advice today on how to find rock-bottom airfares that it can be difficult to filter out the noise. Here are three flight-booking tips, though, that I can almost guarantee you weren’t aware of. They’re outlier tips — meaning they’ll require a bit of time and energy (and, in one case, flexibility) to employ — but when used properly, they’ll almost definitely save you a big chunk of money.

1. Get (almost) free travel when using your miles.

United Airlines has the most generous and flexible policy on round-trip, international award tickets (flights booked with miles), allowing for a stopover and two open jaws (flying into one airport and out of another). This allows for many possibilities if you’re looking to visit more places than a regular round-trip ticket would entail — including a way to essentially travel free one-way, anywhere in the United States.

Let’s say you’re flying from New York to Berlin this fall: A round-trip ticket on United will cost 60,000 miles plus taxes and fees. But what if you’d like to spend a little time in London, too? You can book a round-trip flight to Berlin with a three-day stopover in London built into the ticket. That will still cost 60,000 miles, even with the stopover.

Now let’s say you make that same trip from New York to Berlin, but instead of returning on the same route, you book an open jaw so you can return from Prague to New York. The cost to you is the same: 60,000 miles. In this scenario, you’re responsible for getting from Berlin to Prague on your own.

An even better way to take advantage is to use both of the permitted open jaws. Instead of flying from New York to Berlin and open-jawing from Prague back home, you can also open-jaw at your destination. If you’ve been meaning to visit your mother in Chicago (hi, Mom!), you can fly to Berlin, then from Prague to Chicago on the return for the same 60,000 miles. You pay to get back to New York.

You can get even more creative by combining the stopover and open jaws. Remember that initial sojourn in London? The above itinerary with two open jaws — New York to Berlin, and Prague to Chicago — can have a stopover in London built into it for, that’s right, the exact same number of miles.

Here’s where things get fun: You can manipulate these rules to essentially wrangle a free one-way ticket anywhere in the United States. Let’s take our original itinerary, New York to Berlin. You can still use one of your open jaws and return to New York from Prague. (We’ll have to forgo the stop in London — we’re using our stopover stateside.) Now, use New York as your stopover, and resume your trip anywhere in the country (using the second open jaw) at any point in the coming year. You read that right: Even if you’ve lived in New York City your entire life, you can treat it as your stopover, and resume that trip anytime, anywhere in the United States, for up to a year later.

Let’s say you know you want to go to Alaska next spring: Fly New York to Berlin, Prague back to New York, and then New York to Anchorage in, let’s say, April 2017. The cost will be — you guessed it — 60,000 miles. You can spend a few more miles and go somewhere like Honolulu or Cancún. That will run you slightly more — 65,000 miles — but it’s still a great bargain to fly to Hawaii or Mexico for only 5,000 extra miles.

2. Use the local currency.

You may not speak a foreign language, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use the local version of an airline’s website to get a discount. Savings can be substantial if you purchase a ticket in local currency, as opposed to U.S. dollars. Looking on the American portal for Norwegian Air Shuttle, the low-cost European carrier (norwegian.com/us), I found a round-trip ticket from Kennedy Airport in New York to Oslo for $688.30 — a decent price.

I then looked on the website for Norway-based passengers (norwegian.no) and searched for the same flight. It takes some work — there are lots of o’s with slashes through them, and you’ll need to know that “hvor vil du dra” means roughly “destination,” but I found it simple enough to negotiate. (Tip: Keep two browser tabs open, the Norwegian and English versions. Then you can compare if you get stuck. Google translate, for whatever reason, works on the initial landing page then stops working once you’re actually booking.

I found the exact flight for 4,394 Norwegian kroner, about $538. That’s a substantial difference — $160, or 23 percent. You’ll need to create an account, which I recommend you do on the United States site first. Also, use a credit card that doesn’t have a foreign transaction fee — you don’t want that eating into your savings.

3. Book at the last minute.

The conventional wisdom is to book tickets well in advance — preferably at least two weeks, otherwise you’ll pay many times what you ordinarily would. This is no longer the case: Priceline.com now gives steep discounts on next-day — and even same-day — flights within the United States. (This is available for some international routes, too, but I’ve found the savings aren’t as consistent.)

This, of course, requires flexibility. You’re always rolling the dice with Priceline: You won’t know exactly when you leave, or the airline you’re flying, until you commit to buy. But you do get some information: You’re guaranteed a nonstop or one layover and you typically get a window for arrival and departure times. You’ll also receive a warning (a little moon-and-stars icon) if your flight could be a redeye.

As I’m writing this, the lowest published next-day, round-trip ticket from Boston to Los Angeles costs a little over $500. By booking a Priceline deal, you can buy that trip for less than $360. Next-day from Seattle to Dallas is currently $428, round-trip. On Priceline it’s $285, and you’re guaranteed a departure between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., maximum one layover.

Booking same-day can yield even greater savings and, ironically, greater control over when you leave. The current lowest published price for a same-day New York to Los Angeles trip is nearly $900. On Priceline it’s $428, saving you over 50 percent. Best of all, depending on what time of day you book, you can more closely deduce your flight times. If you book your same-day ticket in the early afternoon, you will get only flights that depart after you book. Be ready to get going to the airport immediately, however. (Good luck with the T.S.A.!)

I’ve booked Los Angeles to New York tickets on two occasions, same-day, and paid around $350, saving hundreds of dollars. In both instances, I’ve gotten nonstop flights on Delta. Booking at the last second isn’t optimal, and this is by no means a recommendation of the practice — I’m simply pointing out that, if something last-minute comes up, you’re not doomed to pay exorbitant prices. In fact, you may actually end up paying less than if you had booked ahead.

By Lucas Peterson, edited from nytimes.com

 

Traveler’s Beware; Stop Complaining!

Thursday, March 7th, 2013

Ben Franklin once said, “Constant complaint is the poorest sort of pay for all the comforts we enjoy”.  As a travel professional, and avid traveler myself the susceptibility to hear or have to manage any myriad of complaints can be mind boggling. One of Amazing Journeys’ mantras is “don’t sweat the small stuff” – a statement reminded to folks more often than need be. In the world of travel it’s true that 10% of the people cause 90% of the problems but to those 10% I proclaim; really?…..is it THAT bad?? I don’t think so. Actually, I know so!

If you are a good seasoned and appreciative traveler, you know that the differences in the people you meet, the delayed flights, uncontrollable factors like weather and lost luggage, perhaps that cow that just laid down on the road delaying your route, or the last minute tax that the local government has imposed…..are all part & parcel in the world of travel. And honestly, didn’t you go on vacation to experience something “different” than what you have at home day after day? If you wanted the same comforts as home, the same food, the same weather, the same greetings….the same mundane routine that embodies familiarity…..then stay home and get that. But if you want to have a vacation (in other words, to “vacate” from the routine)…don’t just hope for it, expect it and embrace ALL the wonderful, amazing, unplanned differences that will come your way.

Here is a little perspective on just how unjustified our griping can be, and just how good we really have it. Think about these; and then ask yourself if you really want your travels to be different from how they are (….be careful what you wish for; things could be a lot worse):

Travel fees – Add-on fees for travel have proliferated into a dizzying array of charges, surcharges, add-ons and premiums that boost air-travel costs. Here’s why: Average airfares are roughly half what they were when the government controlled prices and a plane ticket included all the amenities for which airlines now charge. Airlines don’t do that because they are greedy. They add on fees in order to stay in business. The average profit margin for an airline worldwide was 0.6 percent in 2012. Compare that with much-admired industries, such as consumer electronics, where profit margins are 40 percent.

Airport security protocol – See that long line through security?  The grunts and groans in this wing of any airport can be heard in multitude almost every hour.  It’s the airport’s fault though, that you didn’t plan ahead better.  Did you read the information provided to you about the recommended arrival time?  Have you not been to an airport before?   You were gambling, though, weren’t you?  Admit it – you knew the line could be long, but you took a chance and lost.  But, its not your fault; it’s the airport’s fault for having a system of security and safety that leads itself to you being late.   Yeah…blame it on the airport.  And then, just remember a little healthy perspective: according to the TSA 99% of air travelers actually spend less than 20 minutes going through security.  Now….plan your next trip accordingly.

Mean TSA officers – In December 2011 the TSA received a total of 320 customer complaints about agent courtesy — only 0.0005 percent of all air-travel passengers that month.

Kids on planes – What can be worse than being stuck in the back of a plane with an unhappy 3-year-old bawling?  Yes, every once in a while a child disrupts the alleged serenity of a plane, but the overwhelming majority of parents do a great job keeping their babies and toddlers peaceable for most of the flight. What are parents supposed to do- leave the kids home alone?  More often than not, it’s adults who cause the most disruption.

Long flights – This one is my favorite!  “Oh, that long, long haul from New York to Shanghai – it’s brutal!” Just terrible: 12 hours sitting in a temperature-controlled, cushioned seat while you watch movies, nap, people wait on you, and you pass across the planet far above storms and other earthly obstacles. A century ago, that same journey took at a month, cramped on a motion-sickness inducing bitterly cold or oppressively hot, dirty vessel.  Instead, you can now get from New York to LA in four hours, or from one continent to the next in less time that it would take you to drive from Miami to Dallas. Our modern ability to wing around the world in comfort is nothing short of a miracle. Stop Complaining!!!

Sick people traveling – Epidemiologists will tell you that you’re just as likely to catch a cold from a trip to the grocery store, the movies, a bus ride, a restaurant, work or school as on a plane. Would it be nice if travelers who’ve come down with a cold do their best to curb their emissions — take medicines for symptomatic relief, cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze, maybe even wear a mask? Sure. Most do exactly that.

First-class upgrades – Folks, the people in first class have paid for their seats, either outright with a 300 percent premium — or more — over the price you paid, or by devoting their ongoing travel costs to one airline so they gain elite status in the carrier’s frequent-flier program. The first-class seat is a reward for customer loyalty.

Canceled flights – Did you realize that less than 2 percent of all the flights in the US are cancelled?  And even that figure is high, based on a December 2012 report; a winter month. Of all the travel complaints, this may be the least understandable. Do you really want to trust fate on a plane with an unsolved mechanical issue or in bad weather?  As a famous Beatle once said, “Let it be”.

Phone restrictions – Even though many say it’s nonsense that phones and other electronic devices might interfere with pilot communications, that’s not what pilots say. Isn’t it just a bit therapeutic to be offline for the few hours of your flight? If you still pine for your phone, consider this.  If it ever becomes ok for you, it becomes ok for everyone.  Imagine your loudmouth seatmate chatting incessantly all the way from Baton Rouge to Tacoma while you’re trying to nap or read your work report.  Better safe than sorry, in this case.

Expensive airfares – Playwright Oscar Wilde said, “Everybody knows the price of something, but nobody knows the value.” In this case, most people know neither. Inside the U.S., airfares adjusted for inflation are less than half what they were three decades ago, and have been declining almost every single year. The average inflation-adjusted airfare in 1980 was more than $600; in 2011, it was $360 (including fees). Cost per mile: 32 cents 1980, 16 cents now.

Not convinced? Here’s a real-time comparison for travel between San Francisco and New York. By plane, it costs approximately $400. By car, $1,480. By train, $285.

The Online Airfare Maze Gets Tougher, But Not Impossible

Monday, January 31st, 2011

With online travel sites battling with some airlines, where does that leave travelers shopping for flights online? The simple answer is that they’re going to have to do more digging.  

Aircraft at Newark Liberty International Airport. American and Delta have removed flight listings from a range of Web sites.

Airlines are pulling their fares from travel Web sites amid a standoff over the fees that carriers pay to list their flights.

American Airlines removed its flight listings from Orbitz.com last month, when the companies could not agree on a new contract, and Delta withdrew its fares from CheapoAir.com, OneTravel.com and Bookit.com. More recently, Expedia.com dropped American flight listings. Delta has also notified Airfare.com, CheapAir.com, Vegas.com, AirGorilla.com and Globester.com that it will no longer allow its fares to be included on their Web sites in the United States and Canada after Friday.

The moves represent a standoff over the fees that airlines must pay to list their flights with online travel agencies. And at least one major fare distributor, Sabre, which runs a computer system that allows travel agents to see flight and fare information, joined the fray on Wednesday, announcing that it would end its distribution deal with American in August — a month before the end of its contract — and, in the meantime, would make American fares harder to see in its displays.

But American and Delta are not the only airlines becoming more selective about where their fares appear online. JetBlue, Virgin America and Spirit have increasingly been offering special fare sales only through their own Web sites. And some low-cost carriers, including Southwest and Allegiant Air, have long refused to list fares at online agencies or fare aggregators like Kayak.com, requiring travelers to visit the airlines’ own Web sites to see their flights.

So what’s the best way to search for fares now? Currently, there is no one-stop shopping site that includes all fares, but it is possible to cover your bases using only a few sites.

Start with ITA Software, which provides the technological backbone for many air fare shopping sites. It offers an easy way to narrow down the cheapest days to fly by allowing anyone to scan an entire month’s worth of fares for the cheapest rate. Click on “search airfares now” in the middle of the home page, then enter your departure date and destination and select “see calendar of lowest fares” to see which travel days yield the lowest rates. Travelers can also narrow searches by the number of stops and length of trip. But to book the actual ticket, users must go to another site, like the airline’s.

Cover your bases by adding a so-called meta-search site like Kayak.com, Fly.com or Farecompare.com, which don’t sell plane tickets but search hundreds of travel sites at once. Doing this will give you an idea of the best rates available from various sites. Each meta-search site configures its technology and accesses fares slightly differently, which can affect results. The sites also tend to differentiate themselves through special partnerships. Kayak.com, for example, receives fares from ITA Software; Amadeus, a global distribution system; and some airlines directly, including American and Delta. FareCompare licenses air fare data from more than 500 airlines via the Airline Tariff Publishing Company, which consolidates and distributes airline fares worldwide.

Before you hit the buy button, check out Airfarewatchdog.com, a site with actual people who manually search for fares and will sometimes uncover cheaper fares than the other sites. It often captures sales from Allegiant and Southwest, as well as special, last-minute fares that airlines often save for their own Web sites, like “JetBlue Cheeps” which are put on sale on Tuesdays via Twitter and listed only at jetblue.com/cheeps.

For trips to Europe, consider Momondo.com, a Danish travel search site that scours the airlines’ own Web sites as well as online agencies that focus on low-cost regional carriers, like LyddAir. It also compares rates with more than 4,000 high-speed train routes across Europe — a valuable service, as trains are often more convenient in Europe than planes. One caveat: Because of the way Momondo pulls fares, it may show expired fares in its results.

To help evaluate prices, consider Bing.com, which offers a Price Predictor that uses algorithms to determine whether a fare is likely to rise or fall in the next seven days; this can help when trying to decide whether to buy now or wait for a better rate. Students can also consult STATravel.com or StudentUniverse.com, which offer special deals for anyone enrolled in college or graduate school.

And for those who care most about the quality of the flight experience, there are a couple of notable mentions. Rather than a long list of fares, Hipmunk.com sorts fares according to an “agony” index that factors in price, length of flight and number of connections. In a similar vein, InsideTrip.com, evaluates flights by 11 criteria, including legroom, aircraft age and on-time performance.