Frequent fliers,
I can't believe the phenomenal itineraries you guys are managing to craft for just a few hundred dollars!! Amazing.
(1) First question: How do you guys do this on your own. Are you using Expedia or something like that? It seems so opaque and very difficult to put together all the segments? Some hints would be great.
(2) Second question: I need 20 segments in any class that earns miles on NW/CO/KL over the next 2-3 months. How would I do that as cheaply as possible. My home city is Chicago but could get to another starting point through work I think.
Thanks a lot for any help and hints!!
thesilb
Feb 3, 02, 2:14 am
You've just got to wait it out and be prepared to go to another departure point if necessary. CO does run specials. I posted here about a SFO-CMH via EWR for $99 recently, that's 6K status miles for $99. Use dreammaps and monlight labs, and use them frequently.
very cool tool... enter Metro Chicago as your Origin, then "Domestic: All-USA" as the destination. choose CO/HP/NW as airlines... if you choose "Parners: Continental" you'll get F9 (Frontier), leave them out.
I am usually looking for "mileage", so I usually go to the bottom and choose sort by cents-per-mile, choose 99 result displayed.
That was the easy part. then find the cheap fares and research the fare rules on Expedia. They use some kind of Java script so I can't get you a URL, but go to Expedia/Flights/Airline Fare List. Enter the city pairs that you saw on Farebrowser.
Click on "more rules" for that fare... then go to the bottom and look at the routing...
sometimes you'll see:
ROUTING 1 *** TRAVEL MUST BE NONSTOP ***
1 FROM-TO EWR-CO-WAS*
this is a "no-go" for a mile/segment run...
but other times you'll see:
ROUTING 209 FROM NYC-NW-PHL-NW-MHT-NW-BOS-NW-
EWR-
OR FROM NYC-NW-PHL-NW-ERI-NW-CLE-NW-
CAK-NW-CHI-
VIA NW-CLE/DTT-NW-RHI-NW-ATW-NW-
CWA-NW-MKG-
OR VIA NW-CLE/DTT-NW-GRR/STL/BNA/ATL/
LEX/FWA/MKC/CHI/CWA/MKE/CHI-
OR VIA NW-CLE/DTT-NW-GRB-NW-MSN-NW-
LSE-
OR VIA NW-CLE/DTT-NW-MSN-NW-MKE-
OR VIA NW-CLE/DTT-NW-ESC-NW-CMX-
OR VIA NW-CLE/DTT-NW-CMH-NW-DAY-NW-
CVG-
OR VIA NW-CLE/DTT-NW-CLE-NW-IND-NW-
SDF-NW-PAH-NW-BHM-
OR VIA NW-CLE/DTT-NW-LAF/IND/GRR/CMH-
TO NW-MEM/HOU/MSP-NW-PHX*
that is a candidate...
also, start out at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum124/HTML/000027.html
MatthewClement
Feb 3, 02, 8:52 pm
I'm in the same boat as you, based (right now) in ORD and trying for 20 segments on NW/CO/KL.
I've had good luck getting 8-10 segments for around $250 on the following route:
ORD-CMH-BWI-CLE-ORD
You can connect through CLE and DTW on the way out, DTW on the way back. Check the fare rules, but you should be able to pick up the segments pretty cheaply. If your Royalwing status has posted, you can even do these flights from the comfort of F class. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif
Seven day advanced purchase required for these fares.
fly co to see the yanks
Feb 4, 02, 9:34 am
certainly not here. i dont even know airport codes or fare basis codes. but, i am plat. so i do get by. i'm just not as cool as everyone else on flyertalk.com. smile.
[This message has been edited by fly co to see the yanks (edited 02-04-2002).]
jimbob
Feb 4, 02, 6:07 pm
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">That was the easy part. then find the cheap fares and research the fare rules on Expedia. They use some kind of Java script so I can't get you a URL, but go to Expedia/Flights/Airline Fare List. Enter the city pairs that you saw on Farebrowser.</font>
Hi EWR-COflyer. I wrote FareBrowser, so I can make your life a little easier. When you find the cheap fare that you're looking for, click on the appropriate "E" in the Fare Details column. That will jump to the correct Airline Fare List spot on Expedia's website. "T" will go to a similar spot on Travelocity's website. Alternatively, you can use the following URL directly with the correct airport code substitutions:
------------------
Check out FareBrowser (http://www.moonlightlabs.com/farebrowser.html), MileTracker (miletracker.com (http://www.miletracker.com)), and auto promotion registration for CO (http://www.moonlightlabs.com/copromo.php) and NW (http://www.moonlightlabs.com/nwpromo.php)!
azebedee
Feb 7, 02, 10:23 am
Okay I started using FareBrowser and curious about others experience. The program is great because it gives alot of information but the fares seem stale. For example, I am traveling from SAN to CLE leaving March 12 and returning March 16 or 17. I put the info into FareBrowser using the advanced features and find:
1 SAN CLE NW 188 99 1 99 K14ORNR 2023 4.64 E | T Q
2 SAN CLE NW 198 99 99 99 K7RXBQN 2023 4.89 E | T Q
3 SAN ORD HP 238 99 99 30 KOE14NU 1720 6.91 E | T Q
but then I go to Travelocity and the lowest fare on this route is listed as HP for 238. If I go NWA.COM I cannot find these lower fares either. I have been tracking this for several days now and the NW fares come and go at least on a daily basis. I have seen the fare go as low as $160 but I cannot find these when they exist anywehere else. Perhaps the fares are not stale and I can call NW directly and ask for the specific fare basis. What are other peoples experience using this free and extremely useful site.
As an unsolicited endorsement I also really like MileTracker particularly now that you can track multiple peoples FF accounts at the same time.
EPS
Feb 7, 02, 12:17 pm
Whoa. Check out NW's published transcon fares to/from OAK (many viable city pairs!) for travel through June 7, 2002. Travel any day, no minimum stay, only blackouts May 24, 27.
Example: OAK-X/IAH-X/MSP-BOS and back = 7606 status miles for $220 including all taxes (2.89¢/status mile). (OAK-IAH segments codeshare on CO metal.) 4 transfers are allowed in each direction, so get creative!
ROUTING 209 FROM OAK-NW-HOU-NW-MSP/HOU/MEM-NW-
BHM-NW-PAH-NW-SDF-NW-IND-NW-CLE-NW-DTT/
CLE-NW-
OR FROM OAK-NW-HOU-NW-MSP/HOU/MEM-NW-
CVG-NW-DAY-NW-CMH-NW-DTT/CLE-NW-
OR FROM OAK-NW-HOU-NW-MSP/HOU/MEM-NW-
CMX-NW-ESC-NW-DTT/CLE-NW-
OR FROM OAK-NW-HOU-NW-MSP/HOU/MEM-NW-
MKE-NW-MSN-NW-DTT/CLE-NW-
OR FROM OAK-NW-HOU-NW-MSP/HOU/MEM-NW-
LSE-NW-MSN-NW-GRB-NW-DTT/CLE-NW-
OR FROM OAK-NW-HOU-NW-MSP/HOU/MEM-NW-
CHI/MKE/CWA/CHI/MKC/FWA/LEX/ATL/BNA/
STL/GRR-NW-DTT/CLE-NW-
OR FROM OAK-NW-HOU-NW-MSP/HOU/MEM-NW-
MKG-NW-CWA-NW-ATW-NW-RHI-NW-DTT/CLE-NW-
OR FROM OAK-NW-HOU-NW-MSP/HOU/MEM-NW-
CMH/GRR/IND/LAF-NW-DTT/CLE-NW-
VIA NYC/EWR-NW-MHT-NW-
OR VIA CHI-NW-CAK-NW-CLE-NW-ERI-NW-
TO PHL-NW-ALB-NW-HPN-NW-BOS*
OR TO PHL-NW-NYC/EWR-NW-BDL-NW-BOS*
jimbob
Feb 7, 02, 8:54 pm
Hi azebedee. The data that I have definitely does get stale. There are occasional lapses, but it's generally within 2-3 days of being accurate. Unfortunately that can mean ancient info during fare sale seasons. I devote as much time and CPU resources to maintaining it as I can, but it's very tedious (it was great fun building though) and it's only earned me enough money for a few pizzas. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
Anyway, just to show that the data that you saw was accurate at one point, here's a screenshot of Travelocity showing similar info:
------------------
Check out FareBrowser (http://www.moonlightlabs.com/farebrowser.html), MileTracker (miletracker.com (http://www.miletracker.com)), and auto promotion registration for CO (http://www.moonlightlabs.com/copromo.php) and NW (http://www.moonlightlabs.com/nwpromo.php)!
[This message has been edited by jimbob (edited 02-07-2002).]
EPS
Feb 8, 02, 2:54 pm
Yesterday's awesome deals on NW are gone. If you missed them, you missed out.
You can't be 2-3 days behind if you're looking for good mileage runs... According to Sabre, fares typically change 5 times a day. Regular readers know that the best deals are not widely advertised, and last for a day or less!
karns
Feb 11, 02, 10:44 am
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by EPS:
Yesterday's awesome deals on NW are gone. If you missed them, you missed out.
You can't be 2-3 days behind if you're looking for good mileage runs... According to Sabre, fares typically change 5 times a day. Regular readers know that the best deals are not widely advertised, and last for a day or less!</font>
OK, so maybe some of the gurus here could post a STRATEGY for looking for these great fares?
------------------
Viajero Joven
Feb 11, 02, 10:55 am
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Prytz:
(1) First question: Are you using Expedia or something like that? </font>
Yes, Expedia among other sites. On Expedia, click "flights" then "airline fare list", and when you enter to and from cities, the "more rules" link shows you which routings are allowed.
Then, you can check itn.net to se availability, if you log in and set your profile to "expert" mode.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">(2) Second question: I need 20 segments in any class that earns miles on NW/CO/KL over the next 2-3 months. How would I do that as cheaply as possible. My home city is Chicago but could get to another starting point through work I think.
</font>
Sounds like the KLM elite match promo. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif My best suggestion from Chicago, knowing CO and NW routes, is to head to Florida. You can hit hubs in CLE, DTW, EWR, and maybe MEM, plus an intermediate city (i.e. DTW-BNA-MEM) and even tack on a segment in Florida (TPA-FLL).... of course, check the rules of the fares to make sure this will work. You probably know that Chicago-Southeast or Florida fares can easily be found for under $200, but watch availability since we're coming up on Spring Break time. After Easter, you shouldn't have trouble finding seats. Work things the right way and you could possibly book 2 round trips with 10 segments each, and complete the 20 segments for under $400.
Some routes to keep your eye on: Chicago to Birmingham, Nashville, Atlanta, Jackson, New Orleans, Little Rock, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach.
Good luck, and welcome to the board! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
Viajero Joven
Feb 11, 02, 11:05 am
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by karns:
OK, so maybe some of the gurus here could post a STRATEGY for looking for these great fares?
</font>
karns, I also welcome you to Flyertalk! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
My strategy: monitor routes with low fare airlines (Southwest, Airtran), and when one airline has a sale, CO and NW most likely will match. The Southeast and Florida are good spots because 1. fares are usually low from Chicago and, in your case, New England, and 2. the CO and NW hubs are located in parts of the US that make multiple connections en route to the SE easier. For purposes of the KLM promo, only segments really count, and IMHO, I think minimizing time is a factor-- thus a 5 segment one way MDW-FLL that takes 10 hours is more attractive than a 5 segment MDW-SJC trip that takes 18 hours, fares and all else equal.
As others have mentioned, there are different specific routes that have great fares for a few hours, but as a general strategy for a novice, the Southeast/Florida fares are pretty easy to find for under $200 round trip anytime.
[This message has been edited by Viajero Joven (edited 02-11-2002).]
JS
Feb 11, 02, 11:07 am
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by karns:
OK, so maybe some of the gurus here could post a STRATEGY for looking for these great fares?
</font>
Check Expedia.com's Airline Fare List as often as you wish. I try to check at least twice a day. I check LGA to DFW, HOU, AUS, SAT, ELP, ABQ, PHX, LAS and LAX. When I see a good deal, I post it here. If other people check other routes and post them here, the combination of the Mileage Run posts gives everyone a large number of routes at once.
I think it would be very difficult to have one person or program to constantly query the database of fares and update them in one place. Several different people checking a few fares at a time and posting to a central location (the Mileage Run forum) doesn't require nearly as much computing power. Yet another example of the power of distributed computing! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
[This message has been edited by JS (edited 02-11-2002).]
ilovemiles
Feb 11, 02, 6:58 pm
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by karns:
OK, so maybe some of the gurus here could post a STRATEGY for looking for these great fares?
</font>
I like using Dream Maps on Travelocity -- it has its limitations, but it works well for me because it is quick.
I have a dream map button in my "Links" Bar on Internet Explorer. I click it whenever I get a chance and have a look at the fares within a few seconds.
Of course, you would change MSP to your favorite airport(s) and maxFare to a value to suit your tastes (but be sure to pick one of the available choices on the Dream Map screen). You can also change the 2 to the number of passengers or remove the &paxCount altogether (it will default to one).