Originally Posted by
RRDD
I never know when I'll be free, so I can't plan a weekend MR until Friday evening. How do I find the cheapest flight (going anywhere), that leaves on Sat and comes back on Sun? I want to fly DL from either PIT, CAK or CLE. Low $/mile would be nice, but I just want the cheapest flight that gets me "Up In the Air".
Check on FareCompare from your location (they allow 3) on the FlyerTalk page:
http://www.farecompare.com/search/flyertalk.html
Once you choose where you are willing to travel, filter out only DL flights, and sort by the 'Fare Class'. Having no experience with DL fares, I might be wrong, but it looks like the third & fourth characters are two numbers (after the first two letters), which appear as if they are the minimum purchase requirement, so you are looking for 00 (double zero).
Also, if that doesn't work for you, just goto Farecompare Maps and search for flights leaving in the given month.
Neither of those will be perfect, because of a lot of reasons, most notably that a given availability bucket might not be available, but if you want a another good and quick method, put in a lot of airports you are willing to travel into ITA with your dates (Friday night or Saturday) and return Sunday or Saturday, flying only on DL, and you'll get flights. Look for flights without RED (showing you that they are at different airports) and you'll have realistic options.
Shouldn't be too bad - I do this all the time. Plus, once you know certain commonalities, you'll be better off in the long run for finding deals.
-jeremy