Showing posts in category Airfares
By Don Nadeau, on April 26, 2009, in Airfares, Travel
This is all going to seem so very commonsense and simple–and perhaps more than a bit boring–but so many people allow too little connecting time between flights and do not handle short connections well when they have no choice.
When you arrive at Chicago/O’Hare late at 9:30 a.m. and miss your connecting flight to New York/LaGuardia, you usually face few worries. With so many later departures to NYC-area airports, you’re nearly certain to get on something, and may not even have to wait very long.
Arrive late at that same airport at 9:30 p.m., and you probably have a problem. In most cases, expect to stay overnight at your own expense. There are also extra connection risks when traveling to less busy airports, which have fewer flights and a last one that perhaps leaves quite early in the day.
Missed connections to most international destinations can wipe out an entire day of your trip or more, as all nonstop flights tend to depart solely within a few hours of each other. In the case of Europe from the east coast, this means in the very late afternoon or evening. In the case of Australia or New Zealand from the west coast, this means solely in the late evening.
In these cases, you may have to wait a night plus nearly a full day for your next ongoing flight if you miss the one you booked. Again, these days, don’t expect the airline to pay for this involuntary stopover.
Of course, I am asking you to allow ample connecting time when a missed connecting flight has such consequences. The so-called minimum connecting times allowed by airlines are based on ideal conditions and less stressful times.
However, what if you have no choice? What if the cheapest fare does not seem to allow ample time?
If the cheapest fare involves separate tickets on two different airlines, simply do not buy this itinerary. Airline #1 won’t be responsible if you miss airline #2. You may be forced to pay airline #2 for a new ticket—at a last-minute price—and lose at least some of the value of your original ticket, if not all, on airline #2.
If your cheapest fare requires one ticket, even though it may include different airlines, buy it, but consider standing by for an earlier flight from your point of origin.
For example, if you’re booked on American from Chicago to Los Angeles with a 90-minute connection to Qantas because that had the cheapest fare, seriously consider standing by for an American flight that would give you a three-hour or more connection.
Most airlines allow you to standby for earlier flights. See Standby Flight Tips.
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By Don Nadeau, on April 20, 2009, in Airfares, Travel
With travelers having a choice of four nonstop airlines from LAX to Australia by July, instead of two, look for 2009 to be an extraordinarily good time to travel to Australia. Delta and V Australia (part of the Virgin family) join Qantas and United.
Australia could be the budget travel destination of the year.
Already, fares are astonishingly low. If you are can grab one of these, you’d have to be almost crazy to waste frequent flyer miles for this trip.
Values continue once you land, with an excellent U.S. dollar exchange rate.
Traveling cheaply in this vast country? No worries. Budget airlines like Virgin Blue have surprisingly cheap rates. There’s Greyhound too, not to be confused with the American one.
Go for it!
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By Don Nadeau, on April 19, 2009, in Airfares, Travel
With a move to a new platform, WordPress, and to a new host, Media Temple, I’ve regained the ability to post here. Soon, the blog will regain the appearance that you expect from BidonTravel.
The last post in March said merely that Southwest would probably be serving New York City. Of course since then, the carrier finalized its lease at LaGuardia, with flights starting in June, and announced flights to Boston’s Logan Airport starting in August.
These cities, as well as new service to Minneapolis, mark a departure from Southwest’s traditional strategy to dominate a market, because at least until another airline goes bankrupt, Southwest will access few gates at these airports.
The new airports (with more surely to come) seem designed to fill in holes in Southwest’s route system for its most loyal customers, who simply do not like traveling on other airlines, as well as gaining new customers in large markets.
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By Don Nadeau, on March 27, 2009, in Airfares
No official announcement yet, but seems very likely.
If approved, New York service plugs the biggest omission in Southwest’s route structure.
Watch Southwest.com for very special introductory fares when service announced.
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By Don Nadeau, on March 27, 2009, in Airfares
Check out new airline routes. These may have an opening special that fills them up, but it can take time to establish a “name” on a route, which means that these airlines may face empty seats for some time.
Big airlines like Delta have been adding international routes, as they attempt to avoid competing head on with the likes of AirTran and Southwest, whenever possible. That means opportunities for you.
For example, American soon will fly Dallas to Madrid and United Washington/Dulles to Geneva. Delta will add Atlanta to Cape Town and Nairobi, JFK to Tokyo nonstop, and LAX to Sydney and Sao Paulo among others.
Moreover, you’ll still find new routes within the U.S., such as Southwest Chicago/Midway to the Twin Cities and Delta Boston to San Diego nonstop. And once it adds a new city, Southwest keeps adding more nonstop service to it.
Search for “new routes” or “press releases” on the websites.
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By Don Nadeau, on March 26, 2009, in Airfares
With service set to start 7/1, Delta still has frequent flyer seats periodically available from then until the end of the year on its new service from LAX to Sydney. Be flexible with dates for your best chance.
If you find it difficult to coordinate a direct connection in Los Angeles, remember that Delta frequent flyer tickets allow a stopover in one direction. This can break a long trip, and get you to or from Australia.
In order to have enough miles available, Northwest WorldPerks members can now move their points to Delta’s SkyMiles program.
Once in Australia, you may find surprisingly cheap fares on airlines like Virgin Blue.
UPDATE: April 26, 2009: With fares now so very low from LAX to Australia, you may wish to buy a ticket and save your frequent flyer miles for another trip.
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By Don Nadeau, on March 20, 2009, in Airfares
When various American-owed airlines charge extra for aisle seating, checked bags, etc, that’s very irritating of them, but certainly not deceptive pricing. Checking bags and sitting in certain seats are optional activities that most passengers aren’t required to do.
However, Ryanair, a popular budget carrier in Europe, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, is eliminating airport check in and starting to require that you check in online, with a fee of around $6.50 for this (depending on the exchange rate), which is not included in its “lowest fares guaranteed” advertised prices. This seems to be deceptive pricing. You have to pay the $6.50. It’s not optional.
Ryanair is the same airline whose CEO admitted that it was investigating charging for use of onboard toilets! This would be a very creative, but perhaps not a good business decision.
We applaud Ryanair for being a low fare leader for years. Even with the online check in fee, it still often is. We just hope that the airline maintains an ethical reputation.
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By Don Nadeau, on January 26, 2009, in Airfares
With airlines as large and famous as Swissair going out of business in recent years due to lack of cash, with most likely more to come, be cautious when choosing an airline.
Nearly all are doing poorly, but be especially aware of those doing more poorly than others.
Has an airline’s stock price fallen far more steeply than others? This is easily checked on a site like Yahoo Finance. If the stock is worth nearly nothing, you have the opinion of the those who move a lot of money into and out of a stock.
Is an airline privately held, where you can’t check it’s finances? You may wish to avoid it.
Does an airline normally do badly even in better times, in contrast to an airline like Southwest that has lost money during just a couple of quarters during the last 35 years?
If you’re booking ahead, you need to go beyond price when making a wise choice.
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By Don Nadeau, on January 26, 2009, in Airfares
In this travel environment, avoid prepaying airfares with debit cards or cash. If the airline goes out of business before you travel, you’re probably out of luck. The money has likely already been removed from your bank.
However, if you paid by credit card, you’ll likely get your money back after petitioning the card company.
This could change, but that’s how it’s been going until now.
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By Don Nadeau, on December 29, 2008, in Airfares
I flew into Los Angeles International on Qantas on Christmas Eve morning. A very nice person several seats over had saved money by booking a separate ticket on Southwest Airlines from LAX to Sacramento, instead of using a higher “through fare” on one ticket.
The problem was that she had allowed only 90 minutes for this connection. A bus had to take us from where Qantas parked to the international terminal. Then we had to stand in a long line to clear Immigration. Then wait and wait for our bags. (I don’t usually check bags, but overseas rules for carry ons tend to be more restrictive.). Then we had to clear Customs, which is separate from Immigration, after standing in another long line.
By the time her luggage came, there were just 30 minutes left for her to clear Customs, reach the Southwest terminal, go through security, and reach her gate. By that time, of course, even if she somehow reached the gate prior to departure, her seat had likely been given to a standby passenger on this super busy travel day.
By not allowing adequate time, I fear this nice person had a terrible day. For example, how many later flights were full, when she tried to stand by? Did Southwest honor her original low fare? After all, it was not responsible for the delay.
In this travel environment, especially during school holidays and especially when using two separate tickets for your trip, you have to cushion your connections.
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