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I live in Boise and want to visit my parents near Seattle. They are giving me an old truck they don't need anymore, so I'll be driving back. Ideally I'd like to do it before winter arrives because there are a couple of passes that can get nasty in bad weather on the route.
I'm self-employed and can work from anywhere, so my dates are flexible and flying at the last minute isn't a problem. I'd like to pay no more than $100 for the ticket, but I'm not sure how to go about finding the super cheap last-minute fares I've heard about.
Super Cheap and Last Minute don't go together any more.
Airline yield management software is so good now, that there are very few empty seats (load factor over 90%) most of the time. The few seats that hold back they can get a premium price for, or send the plane out with a few empty seats. The money they would get for last minute seats would not be worth it for them if they sold them as liquidation prices, cause the Last minute high price buyers would be the one getting them, The AL want to sell them a super overpriced last minute ticket. For 1 Last minute ticket sale, they can send out a plane with 4 empty seats and the $'s would be the same.
Just look SouthWest as a bunch of tickets in the $80/90 range OW..
Some airlines offer very reduced prices on busy holidays, on the actual holiday when nobody flies, but they still have to move the equipment. A decade or so ago, American Airlines offered flights to any domestic destination for $59, OW or RT, on Memorial Day and Labor Day. My wife used that a couple of times, once oneway from Miami to Detroit. There were so many empty seats and little prospect of selling them. If you still haven't flown by Thanksgiving, keep that in mind.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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1) I use the 'low fare calender' at SWA or other carriers.
2) sign up for weekly email specials from carriers in BOI (You have quite a few who frequent SEA)
3) use Airfarewatchdog to alert you to a cheap fare on your designated rte.
I have got some really cheap last minute fares from legacy carriers that want to fill space(this coming weekend in fact). Just search a bit. You can also use PDX and get a ride to SEA area. I do that frequently on CL. There is a very handy I-5 NB and SB rideshare that links to CL.
SWA is my favorite and I often take them one way to pick up a 'Beater' (tool boxes, coolers & sleeping bags fly free on SWA). Of course with SWA you can 'rebook' for free if the weather turns nasty. Other carriers you might Forfeit the fare. BTDT many times
go to AirFareWatchDog.com and subscribe to get the low fares they find for the route you want. They include SW in their searches, which are done by humans, not engines.
but when you get that email telling you there's a sale, jump on it immediately.
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BTDT many times
