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history_grrrl
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« on: February 20, 2008, 10:35:43 AM » |
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About three weeks ago, I checked airfares for a conference I'll be attending in April. I found a great flight for $367 Canadian. I didn't make the reservation, though, because I was waiting for the friend I'm sharing a hotel room with to tell me if she wanted to stay for an extra day or two to visit nearby Exciting-City-That-I've-Never-Been-To.
Finally she got back to me, saying she'd already made her reservation. Fine. So I went back to Expedia, and the flight I wanted is now:
Hold onto your hats!
$919.
WTF??? Are they crazy?
I can only hope nobody will buy these tickets, and the prices will crash in another month or so.
Would a few thousand miles on the train really be so terrible? It would give me a lot of time to read.
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[R]eality sometimes has a left-wing bias.
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qrypt
Qryptacular & not really a Member-Moderator
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 5,439
the great vampire squid round the face of humanity
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« Reply #1 on: February 20, 2008, 10:50:23 AM » |
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I've been looking at summer tickets to take my kids to see grandparents/cousins in the US (from the UK) - fukn gougers, three tickets will cost me in the region of $3500. WTF indeed.
I blame George Bush.
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"I'm tired of being your love slave!"
"Does that mean I'm not going to get my coffee?"
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secretweapon
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« Reply #2 on: February 20, 2008, 11:53:59 AM » |
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Me too. I just went to book some tickets and thought, "Wow! That is much higher than last year!" Then I saw that the "fuel surcharge" had gone up quite a bit and that the base price had remained roughly the same.
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If you want a cookie, bake a cookie.
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deleteplease
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« Reply #3 on: February 20, 2008, 01:00:01 PM » |
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Flights from Canada to the US are outrageous. Two ways around this:
1. Drive to the US and then fly within the US (if you live with an hour or two of the border this is normally a lot cheaper)
2. Find a cheap flight from Canada to the nearest big US hub (Chicago, Seattle, etc.) and then a separate round trip within the US.
I've actually found flights to the UK cheaper than ones to the western US (Thomas Cook charters, Air transat)
Also, check individual airline websites -- sometimes they are cheaper than Expedia.
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scheherazade
1/3 of the Triumvirate of Evil and the Most Delicious
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 7,105
Running feminist prostitution rings since 1998
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« Reply #4 on: February 20, 2008, 01:15:34 PM » |
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Watch the prices at the pump. The gas in my area just jumped a quarter a gallon. When they go down again, check the airline prices again.
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You historians disturb me sometimes. |
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scotia
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« Reply #5 on: February 20, 2008, 01:37:28 PM » |
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It might be worth trying the airline website. I find that Expedia often hikes the price before the airline (my guess is that Expedia gets an allocation of 'cheap' tickets and once they have gone they can only go direct to the airline and pay close to the maximum fare, but the airlines have more direct information about demand and so adjust their prices accordingly). And also keep tracking during the week. I did some investigations a couple of years ago and found that prices are often lower midweek.
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expatinuk
Has spent over 1000 pounds but now holds a Brit passport!
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 6,653
From SC living in UK
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« Reply #6 on: February 20, 2008, 01:41:22 PM » |
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Hubby Bubba and I wanted to go to the USA for holiday this year (July). Airfare was $3000 for two tickets. I cashed in 200,000 frequent flyer miles... ONLY AT TOURIST rate not even Business Class (normal tourist fare for frequent flyer miles is 50,000 for each trans-Atlantic... but since it's summer they wanted 100,000 each).
It was the only way we could afford to visit.
I want to fly back in April/May to check on my mother but can't afford the $1300 for the ticket. I had to pay $1300 for the ticket to fly over for my Dad's funeral.
Times is rough.
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Expatinuk seems to be a Soviet Satellite in stationary orbit over the UK
It is what it is.
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socsci
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« Reply #7 on: February 20, 2008, 02:25:35 PM » |
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I noticed the high Canada-US fares, too. A big part of it seems to be the taxes. meden, I liked your suggestions. They could work in the opposite direction, too. Fly to Buffalo for Toronto, Burlington for Montreal (actually did that way back in People Express days), Seattle for Vancouver, for example.
Transatlantic, it seems like the taxes flying to Ireland are only about $85 roundtrip, which often makes it a better deal than other gateways. Plus, you can then get on Ryanair to fly further on, sometimes for next to nothing.
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fiona
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« Reply #8 on: February 20, 2008, 03:42:01 PM » |
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Sidestep.com does fare comparisons, and sometimes you can get a better fare than what Expedia offers.
I share everyone's frustration.
The Fiona
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The Fiona or perhaps La Fiona
Professor of Thread Killing, Fiork University
The Right Reverend Fiona, PhD, Bishop of the Fora
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deleteplease
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« Reply #9 on: February 20, 2008, 05:45:31 PM » |
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Expat --
Have you tried Thomas Cook charters? The UK-Canada flights are great --
lots of footroom (36" pitch), clean airplanes, and cheap prices ($500-700
roundtrip). They even fly to Manchester and a few smaller airports if
you want to avoid the usual LHR/LGW crowds. Air Transat is a bit grubbier,
but equally cheap. I've found the service no worse than Air Canada (of
course, I'm not sure if it's possible to find service much worse than
Air Canada -- I think AC staff have acheived the ultimate pinnacle of
success in combining relentless superficial politeness with utter lack of
helpfulness).
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aandsdean
I feel affirmed that I'm truly a 6,000+ post
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 6,641
Positively impactful on stakeholder synergies
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« Reply #10 on: February 20, 2008, 05:53:54 PM » |
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kayak.com consolidates a great many travel websites and I think it's more user-friendly than Sidestep. Worth a check there, too.
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Wearing a black armband for Lucy
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helpful
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« Reply #11 on: February 20, 2008, 06:00:41 PM » |
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Expat, check out Zoom airlines. Course they only go to Canada, I think, but their fares are pretty good.
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kissa_mau
Frequently Napping
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 1,212
Purrrvocative Posing
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« Reply #12 on: February 20, 2008, 06:23:07 PM » |
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kayak.com consolidates a great many travel websites and I think it's more user-friendly than Sidestep. Worth a check there, too.
I second kayak.com... it is really great and very user-friendly. |
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Cat! I'm a kitty cat. And I dance, dance, dance and I dance, dance, dance.
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humanista
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« Reply #13 on: February 20, 2008, 06:50:46 PM » |
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Hubby Bubba and I wanted to go to the USA for holiday this year (July). Airfare was $3000 for two tickets. I cashed in 200,000 frequent flyer miles... ONLY AT TOURIST rate not even Business Class (normal tourist fare for frequent flyer miles is 50,000 for each trans-Atlantic... but since it's summer they wanted 100,000 each).
It was the only way we could afford to visit.
I want to fly back in April/May to check on my mother but can't afford the $1300 for the ticket. I had to pay $1300 for the ticket to fly over for my Dad's funeral.
Times is rough.
Expatinuk, Weren't you the one who claimed to have turned down a $98K offer to work in the states? If you are making money hand over fist, then the ticket prices probably aren't hitting you as hard as the rest of us. |
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expatinuk
Has spent over 1000 pounds but now holds a Brit passport!
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 6,653
From SC living in UK
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« Reply #14 on: February 21, 2008, 03:20:17 AM » |
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Hubby Bubba and I wanted to go to the USA for holiday this year (July). Airfare was $3000 for two tickets. I cashed in 200,000 frequent flyer miles... ONLY AT TOURIST rate not even Business Class (normal tourist fare for frequent flyer miles is 50,000 for each trans-Atlantic... but since it's summer they wanted 100,000 each).
It was the only way we could afford to visit.
I want to fly back in April/May to check on my mother but can't afford the $1300 for the ticket. I had to pay $1300 for the ticket to fly over for my Dad's funeral.
Times is rough.
Expatinuk, Weren't you the one who claimed to have turned down a $98K offer to work in the states? If you are making money hand over fist, then the ticket prices probably aren't hitting you as hard as the rest of us. Ahhh... yes, I do make over 100K (US) a year and my husband has a pretty good job as well. But if you think that even with such a salary (and don't forget that I live in the UK where taxes aren't low and house prices are silly) I can afford to shell out $1300-$1500 every six weeks to meet family obligations you're nuts. For the folks who suggest that I fly into Canada... thanks... but my family lives in South Carolina. Getting to Canada may only cost $500 but getting to South Carolina from Canada would cost about $700. As for Thomas Cook, I've flown them in Europe to a lot of places (for work not for holiday) and would be willing to use them if it suited. I'm the Queen of getting cheap flights. But one does have to take into consideration all the other things when dealing with a cheap flight. I can fly from Manchester UK to Charlotte NC USA for less money than I can fly into Columbia SC USA... but then I have to rent a car to get to Columbia. This isn't a problem when we're going on holiday, but it does add to the cost of the trip. Now that my Dad is gone I do have access to his car when in the USA, but it's a Caddie and gets really bad gas mileage. |
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Expatinuk seems to be a Soviet Satellite in stationary orbit over the UK
It is what it is.
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