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Why are fares so confusing
and where are the cheap fares?
I'm constantly asked by friends to tell them where they
can get the cheapest ticket, or explain seemingly bizarre restrictions on their ticket,
or how they were sat next to this guy who "paid three times what I did -- what a sucker
!!". You can be sure that if your traveling on a reputable airline, that there
usually is a good reason for it. Where to get the cheapest fare....? it's no
secret. All you do is book as early as possible, be prepared to fly at really
odd times, stay over a weekend, sit in a middle seat, near the lavs, next to the engines,
eat peanuts drink diet-coke and meet other bargain hunters and airline employees.
Also get on over to on-line to the airlines'
web sites, or specially designed places like www.travelocity.com and
surf for the best deal (don't forget to come back!!). You may even get a frequent
flyer point bonus, take part in an live-online ticket auction, and book a hotel, car,
cruise, flowers, tickets. These sites really are very good for bargain hunters,
as you're doing all the sales work, and not the travel agent. Remember you can
only get the internet fare over the internet. So go ahead and try it, it's really
quite fun. Any how all that aside...
- Here's my top ten list of how to get the
cheapest tickets:
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Have someone else pay for the ticket (business, rich
aunt etc.)
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Work for an airline (yes some lucky folks get to fly
for nothing or next to nothing)
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Be closely related to someone who works for an airline
(start enrolling your kids in flying lessons)
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Have a friend who works at an airline (hard to find
one with tickets to spare)
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Trade in your frequent flyer miles (earned on business)
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Take advantage of whacky deals like showing up for the
flight as Elvis, or donating a case of canned food etc.
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Surf the net well in advance of your intended flight
date
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Call the airline several times, well in advance, asking
for the absolute cheapest fare regardless of whether you have to fly on Christmas
morning at 4 am
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Buy your air fare in conjunction with a group (package
tour, cruise, ski etc.)
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Be old, young or sadly, bereaved and get a discount
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- Remember there are other illegal ways to get
cheap fares, I'll explain below, but if you're caught (and yes they can and do) you
may get a hefty bill, and a solid dose of embarrassment to boot.
What's with all these restrictions? Non transferable!,
round-trips cheaper than one-way, hidden cities...!
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- Remember
from my answer above that for the most part, price is related to demand. What
you're seeing manifested on your ticket are all the details of the tactics airlines
play to manage demand. Your ticket is part of a truly elaborate and awe-inspiring
system that extracts the maximum economic benefit out of the unwilling and unwitting
public. And there is not much you can do about it. Here are some of the
terms you'll run across from time to time:
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Non-transferability is simply that the
airlines can earn more money this way.
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Cheaper round-trips than one way.
This phenomenon really baffles some people -- remember that while this is true at
face value, your cheap round trip ticket has a bunch of restrictions on it, and was
bought several weeks earlier. Some people buy back to back cheap round trips
and merge the two to get around the restrictions that come with cheap fares.
They simply throw the unused tickets away because they are non-transferable.
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Hidden city fares. This occurs when
it's cheaper to fly to a point further than where you really want to go, or cheaper
from before where you want to start to where you need to go. This way people
buy a ticket and don't use the first &/or last coupon(s) in their ticket book.
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Saturday night stays are simply another
way airlines manage demand away from peak demand periods to save space for higher
value passengers who want to pay more to get home for the weekend, and make sure the
flight attendants have someone to serve coke and pretzels to on Sunday morning.
Time was when you could get away with beating the system
and slip between the cracks of a labarynthian system, but nowadays I would not try
to beat it. Those same smart computer systems that figure out all that complicated
pricing are watching. If you're caught, the airlines can rightfully charge you
the balance of the full fare (very very pricey), or if you're a frequent flyer, they
can revoke all your miles or both.
Site last updated December, 2004
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Copyright 2004
R Ryan. All Rights Reserved
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