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Old Nov 17, 2013, 11:25 am
  #11  
jackal
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SGF
Programs: AS, AA, UA, AGR S (former 75K, GLD, 1K, and S+, now an elite peon)
Posts: 23,185
Originally Posted by MariaSangria
Hi there!

Very first post here. I've been looking around and learning lots. I feel waaay behind the curve on the lingo. I've had various levels of status with UA in the past, and booked a MR to get back to Premier status thanks to tips on fares here on FT. This will effectively also get Mr. MariaSangria 1K status!

Getting better with the ITA software, but have yet to figure out how to find out which airports to try for MR or good fares other than hit and miss. I've hunted around but can't seem to find any tips on how to find fares. We're often flexible on destination as we love to travel.
Welcome!

I've discovered that having a hint as to where to start is far more productive than blindly searching. Once you know about a good fare, it's much, much easier to then use ITA to find availability and maximize the routing and mileage. I generally don't have the time to just sit on ITA and try dozens of city pairs to come up with something new--it's far better to let others do that heavy lifting.

http://www.TheFlightDeal.com/ is one of the best I've encountered, as it has a very good signal-to-noise ratio compared to other sites (that is, they generally only post fares that are actually good fares). If you "like" them on Facebook and make sure to check "Get Notified," they'll geographically target you and only send you notifications for good fares from your home airport. (I get notifications maybe once a week about a particularly good fare out of PHL.)

Other sources include:
http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/ (low signal-to-noise ratio; I mostly ignore their emails, although I still subscribe to them)
http://www.farecompare.com/ (used to be a great source; much more hobbled now)
http://travel.travelocity.com/mystuf...FareWatcher.do (create alerts for fares between a city pair below a specified threshold--it actually works)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mileage-run-deals-372/

More sources and info here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milea...ser-guide.html

Or, just do as I do and become friends with someone who pays attention to fares. They'll let you know when a good deal pops up.

Last edited by jackal; Jan 1, 2014 at 12:35 pm Reason: further info/clarification
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