Tedeman

After about nine months off for some PhD work, I'm ready to start flying again. I'm always fascinated by those that find the cheap fares with good mileage. Is there a particular strategy / website / source that you veterans are using to find these fares?

blairvanhorn

There are so many sources, but I think FT is the best as a "diving board". You should monitor the specific boards for the carriers that interest you (UA, for example) and always keep an eye out for "DOC"'s posts. He seems to be the local press office, and if something is happening with airlines and fares, he usually posts the information with the source ... hats off, DOC

I usually scan all newspapers (local, NYT, WSJ, etc) because it's surprising how many interesting offers show up as ads.

Keep your ears and your mind open; you'll find lots of opportunities for miles. That's why these boards are so great, IMHO.

What are you doing your PHD work in? I stopped on the way at my MA degree to go Paris and look where I am 14 years later!

johnfpage

Try this site: http://www.air-fare.com/
Red are big cuts (20%), green are previous days big cuts, blue is best price from your city.




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I can see for miles and miles...

chemist661

If you have time & patience, you can check bestfares.com. Check under the snooze you lose category. The fares are there for a short time & may be expired when you check but I got some great bargains from their info. For example, I bought UA ticket LAX-CVG for $103 (total minus $25 UA coupon), LAX-MSP for $142 total. Check this board as there are lots of good bargains posted here.

clacko

i concentrate on aa. & find lots on their web site. also have had good results w/ priceline when only one carrier serves the destination.

[This message has been edited by clacko (edited 05-19-2001).]

ChinaShark

One of my favorites is using the "Dream Maps" feauture of travelocity.com

Just put in your departure city and let it do its magic.

Also, sign up with the various airline web specials (except beware of Northwest as you don't get miles with their Cyber Savers).

Take care.

CS

Tedeman

Thanks. These are all great. I think most of the great deals sound like they originate in LAX and SFO. I'm moving to South Bend with a shuttle bus to ORD available so maybe I can scoop some better big city fares. I stalk some of these sites you mentioned. Just wanted to see if I was missing a secret!
:-)

Pacha

Either expedia or travelocity(i think it is the latter, but I cant' check as their webite is down) have an option called fare tracker. You can set up to 5 route up in your profile, and every time you visit their site it will show you the lowest price on that route.

MRLIMO

Tedeman, for starters I use Travelocity's Fare Watcher which is what Pacha may be referring to above. I bookmarked My Fare Watcher and check it often. I am notified via e-mail whenever fares change by more than $25 for any of the five markets in my profile. There are various notification options available. One caveat, the notification alerts don't always arrive in a timely manner. Hours or minutes can make a difference with some fare changes.

Travelocity's Dream Maps are another useful tool.
http://dps1.travelocity.com/dreamMap...p_arp_name=LAX
To select a different departure city, simply change the last three letters (LAX) of this link to the three-letter airport code of your choice.

I've downloaded several of the airlines Electronic Timetables, and I update them monthly. When I learn of a fare that interests me, I search for the longest, most indirect valid routing to get from point A to point B. The electronic timetables are very helpful and user friendly. The most useful feature is being able to select and view Nonstop , Direct , 1-Stop and More valid routings! Not all the airlines have electronic versions available.

Armed and educated with the necessary information, I proceed to the airline's web site and attempt to book the best (longest) routing. This is where the challenge begins. Sometimes it's readily available, sometimes it's not. With skill, practice, talent, persistence, perseverance, flexibility and some good old-fashioned luck, I sometimes prevail. There are times when I find my preferred routing doesn't price right or simply will not list on the airline's web site and yet will be available at the right price on other booking engines such as Travelocity www.travelocity.com or Expedia www.expedia.com ! In these instances, I readily give up my 1,000 mile online booking bonus for the savings involved.

And last but not least, FlyerTalk is one of the best Mileage Run resources of them all!

Happy Travels!

[This message has been edited by MRLIMO (edited 05-25-2001).]

srodr

MRLIMO,

This is good advise. How and where do you get these timetables? I am always looking for the long multisegment runs on CO and it sounds like these might do the work for me.

essxjay

Miles are not awarded on Priceline tickets, thus defeating the purpose of a mileage run.

tvl4free

I know that miles are not awarded with PL tkts. on UA/DL. But, I've read reports of folks getting credit with TW/AA.

Can you confirm that all tkts. sold by PL do not earn credit?

MRLIMO

srodr, here are the links for several Downloadable Electronic Timetables.
[*]Continental
http://www.continental.com/dash/buil....asp?tis_02_06
[*]Northwest/KLM
http://www.nwa.com/travel/timetable/
[*]United
http://www.ual.com/site/primary/0,10017,1891,00.html

See the post BELOW by EPS with links for additional airlines.

tvl4free, although Priceline airline tickets do not qualify for miles, I have heard that posting errors do occur once in a while. The miles actually post but not very often though, just an exception to the rules.

[This message has been edited by MRLIMO (edited 05-29-2001).]

Warrenlm

-Miles on priceline tix....although said not to earn them, there are always exceptions. A friend bought priceline, was surprised to get AA tix, was told no miles, no upgrade, but later got both.

-Fare watcher and fare tracker....these have a time delay that usually means you get the word right after that deep discount one day fare goes away

-To grab the real low fares...like less than $120-$150RT transcon...that are available only one day or part of a day...we need lots of eyes checking lots of routings every morning as many are posted overnight. And then posting on FT The ones I have spotted have been through plugging in selected city pairs in travelocity each morning. Some fares have stayed available for more than a day but many disappear quickly.

-Dream maps...see EPS' post on the limitations of that feature. It generally will not reveal the deep discount one day fares...until the next day. I find it useful to speed up the spot check process. When the fare has changed, it sometimes is one of those spot drops.

Tedeman

These continue to be great helps. Thanks. I have been growingly able to "find" good deals-with mileage. So, some of this I've learned through trial, trial, and error. (The two "trials" are purposeful). FT has been a great resource - as proven by your posts on this thread!