MilesBuzz! - Oooh! What a deal...NOT!

Every week I check out the Web Specials posted by Alaska Airlines (www.alaskaair.com/WebSpecials/start.asp) in hopes of finding a cheap deal.

This week they have a fare of $238 between Seattle and Portland! Be still my beating heart! I could pay half that fare as a walkup customer....I think it might be a mistake. :0

Sort of related...

I, like most of you, receive the weekly 'cheap fare' lists from various airlines as well as specific destination fares from a couple other travel booking sites. Not surprisingly, whenever I try to take advantage of any of these fares, they are not available.

So the question (or idea for you entrepreneurs out there) is there a site where I can input my my destination and have the reservation system tell me the available depart/return dates in order to get the best fare? I've looked at many of them, but all require you to input specific dates.

Cheers,

'toad

Travelocity has added a new feature. They have "9 best" and by schedule, but they have a "cheapest fare" choice. You hit that and it asks you for your start date. It then comes up with valid return dates to get that fare.

It's still not perfect, but it's better than the "9 best" option when you have a little flexibility in dates.

This is why we want EasySabre to continue (see EasySabre thread/s). EasySabre shows fare classes available for every flight. It's a real treat once you learn how to use it (pretty simple but not graphics based).

United has a great piece of software Called United Connection. It allows you to book on over 500 airlines, not just united.

The great thing is this feature called Super Shopper which will check all airlines for 2 or 3 days around both your departure and return segments for the best fares.

The only problem is that I can't find the download link for it anymore on their web site anymore. They seem to have only the web html version up there now - which doesn't have nearly the same features. It also has an amazing hotel price/availability feature - and the system is super fast!

I wonder if they are discontinuing support for it in the future. My copy still works - it is a 'thick' client application that runs over a normal TCP/IP connection with your regular ISP.

United connection software: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum50/HTML/000577.html



[This message has been edited by Matt Wald (edited 04-22-99).]

http://travel.yahoo.com has a new feature that allows you to put in your origin and destination cities. It will then tell you the cheapest airlines to fly and which dates these fares are available on. Hope this helps ...

The only problem you may run into is "web only" fares. Each of the mentioned systems is a front end on a reservation system (i.e. Travelocity is the front end for Sabre, United Connetion is the front end for Apollo). All travel agents subscribe to one of these systems (there may be more than Apollo and Sabre -- but they are probably the biggest). Many airlines though will not load "web only" fares to these reservation systems. You either have to book these fares on the web or call a special number (not the normal reservation number). The only way you will be able to find the special fares is lots of typing or talking to the specific airline.

Just as an example, last October I was flying from NY to Costa Rica. Being an international flight, I monitored the prices and requested vouchers for fare difference when the fares decreased. The night before I left, I checked American's web site again (to ensure that the price had not gone down). Lo and behold, a "web only" fare of $330 r/t popped up (versus the $510 that I was paying). I called Reservation and the lowest they could quote me was $640, the AAdvanatge desk -- the same thing, travelocity the same. I finally called AA's web department and they told me that fare ($330) could *ONLY* be booked online. If I did not bood it online I would not ge the fare. Well, after 1 hour of discussions, they finally lowered my fare.

Note though that many times, airlines will allow upgrades on "published fares" only. Web fares are not considered published fares (why? I dont know). SO you may not be able to upgrade this fare (at least on American, I could not upgrade this fare with miles).

--Jim

Actually, Mileage Addict, a walk up fare is GULP $268.00. Seattle/Portland is supposed to be the busiest commuter flight in the country and has virtually NO competition (unless you want to count United, which I don't).

They fly at least every half hour, all day long, somtimes on the 15, and they are almost always full from what I can see. Of course, those of us who do this twice a week, plan ahead so we pay less. But I have paid $268 in a pinch.

I think the $238 was Seattle/Juneau. Very good price considering the fact that this is the only way you can get there.

Maybe the folks at Alaska Airlines read this board! Within a few hours of my posting, the Seattle-Portland web special was removed from their website. I know it must have been a mistake since they have offered this route at their website for $59 round trip in the past.