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Two specific airports on fairly specific dates less than 21 days advance purchase is going to be pretty rough in most cases. The only airline that has somewhat reasonable odds of dropping prices at this point is Frontier if they fly your route. The rest are hoping for full fare walk-up business flyers they can make a lot of money on.
Going forward a year or so for future flight needs, last minute tickets are a good reason to have a nice stash of frequent flyer miles in a few different programs. Some of them, like the dread United, are actually very easy to acquire without actually flying the airline proper.
Monitor prices constantly. Prices change dramatically, sometimes even ont he same day. Check all of the airlines, pricing is random. One day American might be the cheapest to a particular location, the next day, it may be United.
I have not checked, but I would guess right now United has lower prices everywhere to try to get people on their planes. In my experience Delta is never the cheapest which is too bad, our local airport is a delta hub and sometimes their service is a bit better that others.
A couple of items I have learned over time:
1. Buy direct from the airline, not from price-line or Expedia or whatever. The price is the same or close to the same, and if you have a problem like miss a flight, get delayed, etc, the airline will take care of it. If you buy through XXX.com and have a problem, the airline tells you that you are not their customer and you need to call XXX.com. You contact XXX.com and they tell you to look to the airline for help with your problem. Even when there is a savings, it is not worth it.
2. Figure out the real cost of your flight. Takes and airport fees add a lot to the ticket price. Also are you bringing luggage? A carry on? Some airlines offer cheap tickets but then charge $50 or more for a checked bag or carry on.
3. If it is a short trip, stuff your change of clothes into a pillow case and carry it on as a pillow - which is a "personal item" meaning no charges apply. Added advantage, you can use your pillow to try to sleep on the flight (assuming you can sleep during torture).
4. If they do not charge for drinks, ask for the bottle or can. If they are not too busy, they will usually give it to you. Otherwise, you get a small cup of ice with about two swallows of whatever drink you order.
5. Bring snacks/food. All airlines charge for any food now I think and they charge a lot. And the food is not very good. Spend ten minutes to make a couple of sandwiches before you leave and save $10 or more.
6. Do not board early and certainly do not pay the premium for the privilege of boarding early offered by some airlines. Some people want to board as early as possible so they have a better chance to get carry on space. That just means you have to sit in that hot horridly uncomfortable or even painful thing they call a seat even longer. It also means you have to stand, sit, duck, dodge, stand, duck, sit . . . over and over. Just wait and board at last call. you may have to check your carry on, but it will be waiting for you at the other end. The way they seat people on top of each other, you are not going to be able to get out and use your computer, or often even a book to read.
7. Seat upgrades. If you conditioner them, keep in mind each upgrade is only for one leg of the flight. Thus, the upgraded seat for a Detroit to LA may appear to be $35 and that woudl be worth it. However, $35 is only for the 45 minute flight to Chicago. To upgrade the seat from Chicago to LA it is $90 more. Then there will be more fees to upgrade for the return trip. Also some airlines sell you only an upgrade chit. Meaning, you will be entitled to wait in line for an upgrade if one becomes available, which might not be until 2023.
Last edited by Coldjensens; 04-20-2017 at 10:21 AM..
I installed an app from apple app store. The flights are really cheap because it's last minute.
I Know the Pilot
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