sarang23

Hello all,

Appreciate if someone can help me find a deal for my upcoming travel.

I can fly from MBS, FNT, DTW on 12/17 +/- 3 days to DEL, BOM, PNQ and come back on 1/17/15 +/- 3 days.

My actual destination, where I want to go is PNQ so if I get DEL ticket cheaper, I will then book domestic ticket from DEL to PNQ or DEL to BOM and if I get BOM, I will hire a car to go to PNQ.

I tried all the combinations however the lowest I could find was 1500$. I miserably failed to find anything on ITA due to my lack of understanding of effective use.

I want to book for 2 adults and 1 kid (4 yr).

Any help or suggestion is highly appreciated.

sonofzeus

Excess luggage fees would kill any airfare deal.

mike2200

Where did you already search? What class are you wanting to fly? Do you have any status with any airline? Any points/ miles to use?

Good luck

Romelle

You might try setting "alerts" with the various systems so you get an email if the fare drops. There are a number of systems that have them, and they work slightly differently with each system. The ones I tend to use are:

Kayak
Farecompare
Yapta
TripAdvisor

But these also have them (or did the last time I looked):

Travelocity
Orbitz
Expedia

We are right at the point where the early sales for your dates could occur. But I wouldn't wait any later than 2 months before you want to depart. Absolute outside would be 6 weeks before departure. If you haven't seen a sale by then, usually best to just go ahead with what you've found.

The alerts let you jump on a sale right when it occurs. But it would still be a good idea to check regularly anyway.

The best number I found on ITA was $1552, so your $1500 is actually pretty good.

Romelle

sarang23

Thanks to all for your reply.

I finally pulled the trigger and booked on Lufthansa. Got it for 956$. The compromise I had to do was to fly from Chicago. This was the lowest I found directly on Lufthansa. I wonder why ITA could not find this?

I was trying economy or comfort economy. Now looking for cheap flights from MBS to ORD, worst case I might drive with one way rental.

sonofzeus

The dropoff fee on that OW rental will floor you.

Romelle

I didn't search a lot, but Priceline shows a one day Dec 16 OW rental MBS-ORD Economy Car for $158. Since you are saving about $500 per fare, you are still ahead of the game.

Romelle

Detroit is one of those expensive places from which to depart, and the nearby cities are even higher. Minneapolis often exhibits the same phenomenon. Chicago is often lots less expensive than Minneapolis. Direct flights from Minneapolis may be higher than a forced routing over Chicago.

sonofzeus

1) Don't forget gas/tolls.

2) 4-5 hour drive through NW Indiana/Chicago before a arduous flight to India.

3) Trunk size on economy car sufficient?

sarang23

Booked midsize on Hertz for 97$. I know its a long drive before a flight but I think I can use the saved $ in India.

Romelle

You were really "thinking outside the box". Very nice solutions, and thanks for sharing your process of working them out.

Romelle

sonofzeus

For some, time = money.

DanielCosta

Travelocity seems to be the best bet as far as lower end luggage fees go. I would try doing what has been suggested above and having alerts set up. Prices on tickets go up and down on a weekly basis. You are going around a major holiday which is why it is so expensive.

sarang23

Agreed. I guess that is what I did. Spent my time to save some money. Remember the saying "Money saved is money earned."?

Nobody was going to pay me for the time I will be travelling to India (forgot that I am actually getting paid for vacations!)

Also how many times did you ask an agent to book your ticket since you don't want to spend time looking for deals, as time is Money?

Thanks to all who helped me with some great tips! Really appreciate your valuable points.

sonofzeus

ESL?
10 hours driving to/from ORD?
You really need a travel agent and a better source of cashflow.

tom_MN

I-94 can be driven nearly all the way to ORD and without tolls. The last bit on I-90 also has no toll.

Under $1000 to India is an excellent fare.

I have found fares on united.com that do not show up on the ITA Matrix software.