Last minute vacations

[Z3Dreamer]

Closest airport is Greensboro. Would like to log on, say on Wednesday, see where I can go to on the cheap that day or next and go. To find these I sign up at the airport website and a bunch of airline websites and all I get are daily emails about flights from Denver to LA or laguardia to poughkeepsie. Some are high priced. What filter am I missing?

[nphx]

I think you are geographically disadvantaged being far from a "hub" city for an airline. International "last minute' flights are usually 2 weeks out - so NY, Atlanta and Dallas/Houston, Miami with carriers like AA, Delta, United are those to sign up for. Of course you would need a low fare to get there, or a one way rental car, to have it make sense.

[Z3Dreamer]

Domestic would be fine.

[ShortInSeattle]

Try airfare watchdog and/or Skyscanner. They'll give you the cheapest flights from your location. Flights have not been cheap lately.

SIS

[Meadbh]

I suggest you use the websites of the bigger airlines that serve your local airport, e.g. Delta. Set up an account where you can specify your preferences. Some airlines will send you emails about good deals that incorporate your preferences.

[heeyy_joe]

Try www.getgoing.com

[lemming]

Thanks H-joe. That's a new link to wander around on.

[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShortInSeattle Try airfare watchdog and/or Skyscanner. They'll give you the cheapest flights from your location. Flights have not been cheap lately. SIS

You definitely have to look around to get the deals. I know Frontier airlines is leading the way on fighting the search engine sites such as Kayak, Orbitz, etc. If you book your flight through one of those sites instead of the mother ship, you have to pay for your carry on baggage. If you book through their site, you do not. Seems they don't like paying that referral fee.
Another example was my recent air purchase through Kayak. Found a great deal to USVI for under $215 rd trip on United. When I went directly to United's site, it did not show that flight and the cheapest was over $1000. But originating through Kayak and linking then to United, the deal shows up. Very odd.

[MooreBonds]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mulligan Another example was my recent air purchase through Kayak. Found a great deal to USVI for under $215 rd trip on United. When I went directly to United's site, it did not show that flight and the cheapest was over $1000. But originating through Kayak and linking then to United, the deal shows up. Very odd.

Did you actually book the United flight through Kayak, or just shop around?

A few years back, did a search on Orbitz (back when I always used Orbitz for searching, and sometimes booking). Found a flight I liked. Clicked on the "buy" button, and went through the pages. On about the 3rd or 4th page, when it finally was at the "click here to buy - no turning back" page, I clicked on it....only to tell me that the flight was no longer available. (and no, it wasn't one of those "just 1 ticket left at this price" flights...just listed as an ordinary flight)

I had also checked the mother ship's website, and had been surprised to not see the flight on their website that Orbitz had listed - so when I was denied on Orbitz, I wasn't too surprised. I then learned the hard way that not everything you see on Orbitz is necessarily available.

[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MooreBonds Did you actually book the United flight through Kayak, or just shop around? A few years back, did a search on Orbitz (back when I always used Orbitz for searching, and sometimes booking). Found a flight I liked. Clicked on the "buy" button, and went through the pages. On about the 3rd or 4th page, when it finally was at the "click here to buy - no turning back" page, I clicked on it....only to tell me that the flight was no longer available. (and no, it wasn't one of those "just 1 ticket left at this price" flights...just listed as an ordinary flight) I had also checked the mother ship's website, and had been surprised to not see the flight on their website that Orbitz had listed - so when I was denied on Orbitz, I wasn't too surprised. I then learned the hard way that not everything you see on Orbitz is necessarily available.

I booked through Kayak, but then it redirects you on to the United website through them. It was very interesting. United is not a major player to USVI through STL anyways, as its always for me been Delta or American, but it was a steal deal. It seemed very odd because the only way on the direct United website to USVI was through North Carolina and way over $1000. My deal was through Houston, to San Juan, then USVI. While on the direct United website I punched in the flight number for STL to Houston and it did show up matching exactly what was offered through Kayak but for $458 rd. trip only to STL- HOU. But for $214 you go through Houston using that flight then connecting on. 3X the air travel miles for half the price, you have to love airfare pricing.

[CoolChange]

A couple of tricks that I have recently found:

• Departure City Fares - SmarterTravel.com lets you pick your home airport and see where you can fly cheaply.
• Kayak will let you search for flights to four airports at one time; they do not actually have to be close to each other, just list the airport codes separated by commas.

Apple Vacations serves my home airport and used to have some good deals; but, I have not found anything good recently from them. You might want to try and find out which vacation packagers, if any, fly out of Greensboro and then check their last minute specials. We used to have a couple of others; but, they both seemed to have morphed into something else.

[sailor]

In the past for such problems I used Fare Compare: FareCompare Where-to-Go Getaway Map
Put GSO as your departure city and and have a look.

[sengsational]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailor In the past for such problems I used Fare Compare: FareCompare Where-to-Go Getaway Map Put GSO as your departure city and and have a look.

Awesome. GSO > Orlando for $80 in May. Two stops, though.

[killingme]

The issue I have with many of these sites is they skip carriers like jetblue and have multiple stops. DW scared to death of take offs and landings so direct flights only for us!

[sengsational]

Quote:

Originally Posted by killingme The issue I have with many of these sites is they skip carriers like jetblue and have multiple stops. DW scared to death of take offs and landings so direct flights only for us!

When I have 10 days of vacation, direct is the only way to go. But retired? Who cares if it takes a day to get there. Actually, I do, hehe. They make you put away your mp3 player and Kindle on take off and landing. I'm getting ready for the day when the plane nazi yanks the dang book out of my hand! Flying ain't what it used to be.

[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by killingme The issue I have with many of these sites is they skip carriers like jetblue and have multiple stops. DW scared to death of take offs and landings so direct flights only for us!

I believe it's the airlines themselves that don't allow the information to be posted on the site. Southwest and Allegiant are also prime examples. They do not want to pay that "referral fee" and want you to do business directly with them.

[killingme]

Mulligan, that's true the pay to play feature often causes companies to weigh between lower costs or higher fees, just a notice to get the full picture. I have actually gotten better rates from jetblue and southwest then these sites show for direct flights, and since I have the time, what better way to use it

[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by killingme Mulligan, that's true the pay to play feature often causes companies to weigh between lower costs or higher fees, just a notice to get the full picture. I have actually gotten better rates from jetblue and southwest then these sites show for direct flights, and since I have the time, what better way to use it

The opposite has occurred to me for some reason. I only started flying about ten years ago and for the first 7 or 8 it was always Southwest as they had the cheapest fares by far. The past couple years I have rarely been able to use SW as they are usually $100 higher rd trip than Delta or Frontier for my specific trips. So like you, I am "stuck" taking connecting flights to save. It's funny how people think on these matters. When I go with a friend or GF on a trip, there immediate response is "I want to take the direct flight". Then I say, "would you be willing to sit in a chair doing nothing for 2 hours and get paid $100?". They then answer, yes, and suddenly be are saving money and booking the connecting flight.