Flying to/from Des Moines - $$$$ (Cedar Rapids, Orleans: to buy, live, prices)

[Sparks]

Boy it's expensive flying to and from Des Moines. Doesn't seem to matter where you're going or coming from.

Is there any cheaper way???? Any tips or tricks?

[El Rhino]

What kind of prices are you getting?



A guy at work was telling me today that he was priced $700+ per ticket round trip to New Orleans out of Des Moines. I just checked it on another site and it's $480 (which is still steep, but considerably less). Maybe you're not looking at the right places?

[STLCityMike]

When I lived in Des Moines (in the early 90's -- so it's been a while), we drove the 2 hours or so to Omaha. KC is another option. Back then, Omaha or KC flights were easily half the price of a DSM ticket.

[Luke9686]

I don't think you'll find KC, Omaha, or Minneapolis cheap enough to justify driving there. Unless your travel is soon and not flexible. Typically you want to depart on either a Thursday or Saturday, and return on one of those two days. Try several different websites and use a variation of Thursday and Saturdays. Also, two to three week is as far out as you want to look. There is a myth that the sooner you buy the ticket, the cheaper the flight will be. That may be the case sometimes, but usually not.

[cdc1211]

Tuesdays and Wednesday are actually the most consistantly least expensive days.

Also, I just bought a ticket (not out of DSM) but same idea. A lot of times they jack up the price if you go to buy your ticket over the weekend because they know people have more time to research and plan trips over the weekend. Then on Monday or Tuesday, the price will drop. I priced out my trip, and it was $310 when I looked on Friday. On the following Tuesday, it dropped to $230.

If you are flexible on flight times, try Priceline. A lot of airlines that use them fly out of DSM. I have gotten some great deals by quoting a price 20-50% less than the lowest published price.

[capitalcityguy]

Agree with most the comments here. The days of having to drive to Omaha and KC are pretty much history ( less a few instances where you try and book a flight late). Granted, it is normally more expense to fly out of DSM then the other two, but not enough to justify the time and expense to drive.

[Old Surrender]

Allegiant Air flies Des Moines but usually doesn't show up on web sites like expedia. It's a budget airline meaning no free bevvie and they'll charge you out the wazoo for checked luggage. So if it's just your body and a carry-on, it's a good option.

[SL Hawkeye]

We tend to fly into/out of Cedar Rapids based entirely on the cost. DSM is closer, but not convenient enought to make it worth while. As a single passenger in the DSM area, the 20% or so saved may not be worth it, but it adds up pretty quickly for a family of four.

[1stpontiac]

I find the best deals (in general, not necessarily through DSM) on kayak.com. That has pretty flexible search options as well.

[Sparks]

I generally check kayak first when shopping for a flight. I haven't been able to actually try priceline yet. With the cost of gas right now, driving to Omaha or even Cedar Rapids probably isn't worth it.

We even tried Moline once but it was quite a drive.

I guess there's just not a lot of competition in DSM. I'm flying in tomorrow from Baltimore and it wasn't too bad. I think I paid around $330. I looked into a flight for January from DSM to Miami and it was well over $500. Perhaps it's just too early to look for that flight.