Nov 20, 2013, 7:48 am
Last edit by: Pat89339
Do not call the airlines under any conditions! This is the fastest way to kill the trick and bring unwanted attention to your itinerary! And do not post precious deals in this thread, this is by far the fastest way to kill the trick!
************************************************** ******
This is NOT the right place to ask: "Can you help me with a low fare for AAA-BBB?" This is not the beg-it thread, but the trick-it thread.
This thread deals with unique combinations of routes and booking tricks in order to lower prices on airline fares. Prices that would astound the general public are often achieved by the posters in this thread.
Many people, including airline representatives, monitor this thread. For that reason, it is unorganized, very content heavy, often lacking details, and written in shorthand. It takes patience and effort in order to understand the conversation and be able to participate as an active member.
We encourage you to read the entirety of this thread if you would like to get started and to experiment as soon as you understand the gist of Trick It. Lots of time spent reading, practicing, and learning is the only way to be able to reproduce our tricks and discover new ones yourself. There are many, many people who ask for advice here, so productive members are only able to help those who have shown a concerted effort and progress over a long period of time (months).
If you have no idea what this thread is about, a good place to start are various blogs' posts on the subject. At the very least, read the Rules for posting in this thread. They're also listed in the very first post, below.
Older portions of the thread have been separated into archive thread by year. They are listed below
2008 Trick It / negotiate it / special savings lounge thread
2009 Trick It / negotiate it / special savings lounge thread
2010 Trick It / negotiate it / special savings lounge thread
2011 Trick It / negotiate it / special savings lounge thread
2012 Trick It / negotiate it / special savings lounge thread
2013 Trick It / negotiate it / special savings lounge thread
2014 Trick It / negotiate it / special savings lounge thread
************************************************** ******
This is NOT the right place to ask: "Can you help me with a low fare for AAA-BBB?" This is not the beg-it thread, but the trick-it thread.
This thread deals with unique combinations of routes and booking tricks in order to lower prices on airline fares. Prices that would astound the general public are often achieved by the posters in this thread.
Many people, including airline representatives, monitor this thread. For that reason, it is unorganized, very content heavy, often lacking details, and written in shorthand. It takes patience and effort in order to understand the conversation and be able to participate as an active member.
We encourage you to read the entirety of this thread if you would like to get started and to experiment as soon as you understand the gist of Trick It. Lots of time spent reading, practicing, and learning is the only way to be able to reproduce our tricks and discover new ones yourself. There are many, many people who ask for advice here, so productive members are only able to help those who have shown a concerted effort and progress over a long period of time (months).
If you have no idea what this thread is about, a good place to start are various blogs' posts on the subject. At the very least, read the Rules for posting in this thread. They're also listed in the very first post, below.
Older portions of the thread have been separated into archive thread by year. They are listed below
2008 Trick It / negotiate it / special savings lounge thread
2009 Trick It / negotiate it / special savings lounge thread
2010 Trick It / negotiate it / special savings lounge thread
2011 Trick It / negotiate it / special savings lounge thread
2012 Trick It / negotiate it / special savings lounge thread
2013 Trick It / negotiate it / special savings lounge thread
2014 Trick It / negotiate it / special savings lounge thread
Trick it / negotiate it / special savings lounge thread
Jul 28, 2015, 9:29 am
#2972
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: MSP, NYC, or WAS
Programs: AA CO DL
Posts: 717
Quite right too 
WWE did share valuable information openly for ALL of us to see and use.. Showing "relationships" between certain airlines and the routing involved!! I had success with the first relationship i tried to recreate
Whether they are currently active or not on a screenshot of one particular routing to me is irrelevent as there are many variations and OTAs where the relationship as i found does indeed work!!
WWE did share valuable information openly for ALL of us to see and use.. Showing "relationships" between certain airlines and the routing involved!! I had success with the first relationship i tried to recreate
Whether they are currently active or not on a screenshot of one particular routing to me is irrelevent as there are many variations and OTAs where the relationship as i found does indeed work!!
Jul 28, 2015, 9:40 am
#2973
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA 1K, HHonors Gold, National Emerald Club Executive, Toys R Us Kid Lifetime Status
Posts: 8
Hi there and welcome, great news on your first FD..
I posted a *A and ST C1w-C3 just a few days ago.. feel free to send me a pm of the route you booked if you like as there are some variations on my post that are also effective from other C1w cities to other C3 destinations
I posted a *A and ST C1w-C3 just a few days ago.. feel free to send me a pm of the route you booked if you like as there are some variations on my post that are also effective from other C1w cities to other C3 destinations
Thank you! Will do.
Jul 28, 2015, 9:54 am
#2974
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: BHX
Posts: 87
guess it just wasn't meant to be hey lol Your post did make me smile though..I'd highly recommend a waterproof phone/tablet cover just so you don't miss out again :P
On a serious note though.. I'd say good work to anyone who shares useable and useful information on here.. No matter who it is! As i was able to use the information given a few pages back by WWE to last night create a working 2x from the airlines mentioned
Jul 28, 2015, 10:07 am
#2975
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: New York Metropolitan Area 45 km from JFK
Programs: UA,AA,AS,BA
Posts: 4,607
guess it just wasn't meant to be hey lol Your post did make me smile though..I'd highly recommend a waterproof phone/tablet cover just so you don't miss out again :P
On a serious note though.. I'd say good work to anyone who shares useable and useful information on here.. No matter who it is! As i was able to use the information given a few pages back by WWE to last night create a working 2x from the airlines mentioned
Jul 28, 2015, 10:13 am
#2976
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 2
Hello Supermonzon, I am a beginner myself, but I think I see what happened here. The major issue is that it's not enough to simply find a good BF. You need to be sure that the fare you have found can be combined with the strike.
When you added the strike, the BF was not compatible with it, so the website you were using had to jump to an airline/fare that was compatible with your strike (at a significantly higher cost - incidentally, a frequent occurrence). So, your strike did not "dump" the fuel surcharge from the KLM flight. Rather, you found a different fare without a surcharge (this either bc it WAS dropped by your strike, or because it never had one to begin with). It is also possible that the strike would have worked with a different travel agent. Reading the fare rules is the only way to understand which flight combinations are allowed.
Best of luck!
When you added the strike, the BF was not compatible with it, so the website you were using had to jump to an airline/fare that was compatible with your strike (at a significantly higher cost - incidentally, a frequent occurrence). So, your strike did not "dump" the fuel surcharge from the KLM flight. Rather, you found a different fare without a surcharge (this either bc it WAS dropped by your strike, or because it never had one to begin with). It is also possible that the strike would have worked with a different travel agent. Reading the fare rules is the only way to understand which flight combinations are allowed.
Best of luck!
I'm not on the proper 3x yet. I try to find areas with many airports clumped together. Expensive locations seem a poor option. Remote and isolated are also poor. Something in the middle should be ideal. Let's see. I am relying more on the map than airfare search engines when it comes to checking 3x options. Then I go to the airfares. Slow learning. I'm not in a hurry to fly myself...
Jul 28, 2015, 10:34 am
#2977
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: MSP, NYC, or WAS
Programs: AA CO DL
Posts: 717
guess it just wasn't meant to be hey lol Your post did make me smile though..You are welcome....
I'd highly recommend a waterproof phone/tablet cover just so you don't miss out again :P
I will give that a try, sounds doable.
On a serious note though.. I'd say good work to anyone who shares useable and useful information on here.. No matter who it is! As i was able to use the information given a few pages back by WWE to last night create a working 2x from the airlines mentioned
Two chicas??? I only wish !!!!
Jul 28, 2015, 12:16 pm
#2980
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: LaLa Land
Programs: SPG
Posts: 3
Hello All!
Although a long-time lurker/learner I am new to the forum. I want to thank everyone for all the information that has been shared in the thousands of pages here. A few months ago I dived face first into all this 'data' and since I've been obsessive about learning I've actually achieved my first FD (exciting!) Although my trip was already booked at regular fare, I wanted to see if I could get it down and I did. It actually might be a route that was posted earlier but it is C1w-C3 for $454. I've been playing with some other trips I have in mind for Sept and achieved minimal success, but I'm here to learn and always open to tips and more tricks. I look forward to interacting!
Although a long-time lurker/learner I am new to the forum. I want to thank everyone for all the information that has been shared in the thousands of pages here. A few months ago I dived face first into all this 'data' and since I've been obsessive about learning I've actually achieved my first FD (exciting!) Although my trip was already booked at regular fare, I wanted to see if I could get it down and I did. It actually might be a route that was posted earlier but it is C1w-C3 for $454. I've been playing with some other trips I have in mind for Sept and achieved minimal success, but I'm here to learn and always open to tips and more tricks. I look forward to interacting!
Out of curiosity, did you use a program to search, or just manually?
Jul 28, 2015, 12:29 pm
#2981
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA 1K, HHonors Gold, National Emerald Club Executive, Toys R Us Kid Lifetime Status
Posts: 8
Try a different OTA. Close, but no canoe. I actually searched on ITA and lucked out after some random 3x trials. Finding what to actually try was very manual.
Jul 28, 2015, 12:55 pm
#2982
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 59
Thank you, I will try to check different options. Rephrase the request to the search engine to see if I find a way to do the 3x properly.
I'm not on the proper 3x yet. I try to find areas with many airports clumped together. Expensive locations seem a poor option. Remote and isolated are also poor. Something in the middle should be ideal. Let's see. I am relying more on the map than airfare search engines when it comes to checking 3x options. Then I go to the airfares. Slow learning. I'm not in a hurry to fly myself...
I'm not on the proper 3x yet. I try to find areas with many airports clumped together. Expensive locations seem a poor option. Remote and isolated are also poor. Something in the middle should be ideal. Let's see. I am relying more on the map than airfare search engines when it comes to checking 3x options. Then I go to the airfares. Slow learning. I'm not in a hurry to fly myself...
When looking for strikes, I am definitely not an expert, but I am willing to share what I have learned - perhaps by PM? I am a *A flyer, so have concentrated on those airlines. I would suggest looking at short routes in Oceania, Europe, the Middle East (think islands, low cost carriers, different combinations of alliances). I have not been able to fully dump YQ with just a 3x, although often the return segment (i.e. 50%) is possible. My biggest success so far with 3x has been dumping UA surcharges on LH/UA combined fares leaving from C1 (where I reside).
1x's are easier to find using these same strategies, but often are not practical to fly.
Jul 28, 2015, 1:25 pm
#2983
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA 1K, HHonors Gold, National Emerald Club Executive, Toys R Us Kid Lifetime Status
Posts: 8
I'm glad you found it helpful. I have been working on 1x and 3x constructions for some time. I would emphasize again that a given strike may only work with certain combinations of airlines/routes, so it's not really a question of finding "the strike" that will reduce YQ on any base fare. And, the fare rules are vital for finding the right base fare. In my experience, if the fare rules say "No EOE permitted" with no exceptions, they will not combine with any strike I have tried (although certain small travel websites might allow these to sneak through the cracks).
When looking for strikes, I am definitely not an expert, but I am willing to share what I have learned - perhaps by PM? I am a *A flyer, so have concentrated on those airlines. I would suggest looking at short routes in Oceania, Europe, the Middle East (think islands, low cost carriers, different combinations of alliances). I have not been able to fully dump YQ with just a 3x, although often the return segment (i.e. 50%) is possible. My biggest success so far with 3x has been dumping UA surcharges on LH/UA combined fares leaving from C1 (where I reside).
1x's are easier to find using these same strategies, but often are not practical to fly.
When looking for strikes, I am definitely not an expert, but I am willing to share what I have learned - perhaps by PM? I am a *A flyer, so have concentrated on those airlines. I would suggest looking at short routes in Oceania, Europe, the Middle East (think islands, low cost carriers, different combinations of alliances). I have not been able to fully dump YQ with just a 3x, although often the return segment (i.e. 50%) is possible. My biggest success so far with 3x has been dumping UA surcharges on LH/UA combined fares leaving from C1 (where I reside).
1x's are easier to find using these same strategies, but often are not practical to fly.
Jul 28, 2015, 4:45 pm
#2985
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: SAT
Programs: AA EXP BA Gold, TK Gold, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, AS 100K, QR PLT, SAS Gold, IHG Spire, AMR
Posts: 5,899