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How to Beat High Airfares

nytimes.com

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Re: How to Beat High Airfares

#111

Post by scdc »

hugh3 wrote: post #16
OstiaAntica wrote: post #5

This is unethical, basically he calls for jumping off of flights at layovers, which violates the terms of the ticket. There's even a security issue for the airlines, because they need to check if your bags are flying unaccompanied. Ironic that the NYT cracks down on people evading its paywall but is selling content on doing the same for air travel.

This guy was modded down, but are there ethical issues? If I'm booked through from SFO to DFW to MIA and I vanish at DFW, they're going to be calling my name over the PA system and trying to figure out whether or not to hold the DFW-MIA flight. This is especially true if my SFO-DFW leg is delayed -- my vanishing act might well wind up holding up a planeload of people as the airline figures out what the hell has happe…

No ethical issue-- as kulkarnic said, why not just tell the gate agent, "I'm sorry, I can't fly on the final leg of this flight. Here's my boarding pass."

Now there is no reason to delay the flight.

Re: How to Beat High Airfares

#112

Post by tibbon »

OstiaAntica wrote: post #5

This is unethical, basically he calls for jumping off of flights at layovers, which violates the terms of the ticket. There's even a security issue for the airlines, because they need to check if your bags are flying unaccompanied. Ironic that the NYT cracks down on people evading its paywall but is selling content on doing the same for air travel.

Is this any more unethical than ordering a #6 combo at McDonald's and not eating the fries... just because you calculated that for some reason the drink + sandwich cost more than the #6? Even if McDonald's put in big bold letter, "You must eat everything you order or else"?

I don't see why you are obliged to use more of the service than you want to. If I buy a train ticket from DC-Boston and hop off in NYC, no one's going to care. Airlines get special treatment?

What if I had left a bag on the train? There seems to be some issue with leaving it on a plane and losing it. As long as I'm not a terrorist (which I'm not) and they have screened my bags, I don't see the issue. On the flip side, the airline doesn't really care if they lost your bag and don't know where it is. The bag not being tied to you does not put a bomb in it.

Plus, people travel on planes that their bags aren't on all the time and we have no indicator that people doing bad things are more likely to want to be off the plane than on it.

Re: How to Beat High Airfares

#113

Post by aterimperator »

bad_user wrote: post #100
aterimperator wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair... money has different value to different people. I doubt any billionaires would care to waste 10 minutes of other people's time to save much money, because money doesn't have that much value to them. On the other hand, college students that eat lots of ramen are already valuing money more than their own health, so it seems natural that they'd place far more value on the money, even if they place the same…

You probably don't know many rich people. Disregarding the infamous rich brats you see on TV, rich people are in general very frugal and do care about dimes and nickels. That's how many of them got rich in the first place. And regardless, billionaires are in a minority. college students that eat lots of ramen are already valuing money more than their own health On the contrary, I think college students are the ones t…

Are you really arguing that the marginal value of an extra dollar is more for a billionaire than for a college student who eats ramen?

Re: How to Beat High Airfares

#114

Post by flyosity »

vandalizeit wrote: post #78
Jach wrote: post #77

The second way to beat high airfares: buy early. I'm going on a trip next week. About three weeks ago a round trip 2-hour flight trip was $250, a week later it was $350, but I found a 6-hour round-trip flight (that overshoots my destination, has me wait a while, then backtracks) for $256.

Counter example: my next flight. I check fares one month ago - $599. Two weeks ago - $549. Yesterday - $499. Tulsa to DC.

Yup, there's not a distinct correlation between buying early and getting the best price. Sometimes the best price doesn't show up until a week before the departure. Sometimes the best price is attained when purchasing months prior to departure. The only thing you can bet on is that the cheapest fares are usually attained when you fly out on a Wednesday. Monday flights are more expensive as it's typically for business travelers, and Friday/Saturday flights are expensive as well because of vacationers. If you can fly to your destination on a Wednesday instead of a few days later, you'll usually save a bunch of money.

Re: when to purchase a ticket, Farecast (now owned by Bing) was the best predictor I've seen.

Re: How to Beat High Airfares

#115

Post by camiller »

kijinbear wrote: post #67
rexreed wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At $4 a gallon, I might even challenge that. I recently calculated the cost of driving from DC to Boston, which is regularly a $240 or so ROUNDTRIP on many airlines. It takes 2 tanks of gas each way (about a 350 mile trip, 20 miles per gallon, 15 gallons per tank). The gas cost alone is close to $240. Even if you managed to burn 3 tanks instead of 4 during the trip, you're talking 45 gallons @ $4 a gallon, which is $…

Driving can still be cheaper than flying if you have 2 or more people traveling together. It would be tough to beat trains and buses, though.

True, driving a family of four anywhere in the US is almost always cheaper than flying. And trains, not so much in the US unless you happen to have a fairly direct route. Omaha to Denver by train is OK, Topeka to Denver, nearly the same distance for practical purposes, but to take the train you have to go to Chicago then to Omaha, then to Denver.

Re: How to Beat High Airfares

#116

Post by flyosity »

rinkjustice wrote: post #72

What's wrong with paying pilots and airline workers a decent wage? Beating high costs of some consumer goods and services is reasonable, but must we 'nickel and dime' trained professionals who safely transport your loved ones? Pretty screwed up priorities if you ask me.

You do realize that by doing this technique you're not physically taking money out of airline pilots' wallets, right? Airlines already screw over pilots (WSJ says average starting salary for a commercial airline pilot is ~$30k) so I don't think this technique will really impact wages of airline employees either way.

Re: How to Beat High Airfares

#117

Post by AlexC04 »

Funny thing, my Father used to own a travel agency. This is exactly the sort of thing that travel agents were paid to know AND search for.

Before the rise of all the internet discount travel sites, travel agents earned their keep by doing all this for you.

For better or for worse, that world changed over time. People would come into the agency, sit down for 1 to 2 hours to gather advice and information... then when it came time to book, they'd say somethign to the effect of "well I can book it myself online and save 15%". (Then he'd lose the sale).

That or they'd come in, grab one of his travel brochures then book online.

I'm not trying to bemoan anything here. He did well with the agency for a number of years and sold out to someone at the end who picked up the 'business travel' (where agents still earn commissions for doing it all for you). Just trying to shed a bit of light on the story from my real life observation of the travel industry.

Anyways, kinda interesting way the world has changed.

(edit, oh ... I don't think his travel agents ever advised hopping off mid-journey, but then I think they knew how to book it so you'd not have to do that.)

Re: How to Beat High Airfares

#118

Post by camiller »

spc476 wrote: post #73
kijinbear wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Driving can still be cheaper than flying if you have 2 or more people traveling together. It would be tough to beat trains and buses, though.

I'm not sure about trains. I actually looked into this, getting a train from Tuscaloosa to Las Vegas. The two cheapest round trip train tickets were more than twice the price of a round trip plane ticket. Also, both train routes took four days, both of which involved a bus ride on the last day. That's not to mention both train routes going through Chicago. It was crazy.

Once had a flight from Omaha to Evansville through St. Louis. At the gate in St. Louis the airline informed us that the flight was being canceled so they put us (10 passengers in all) in a van and drove us to the Evansville airport, dropped us off, and the driver drove away. The airport was closed! The only pay phone you could see was on the other side of locked doors! This was long enough ago that most of the passengers didn't have cell phones.

Re: How to Beat High Airfares

#119

Post by BrandonM »

aterimperator wrote: post #113
bad_user wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You probably don't know many rich people. Disregarding the infamous rich brats you see on TV, rich people are in general very frugal and do care about dimes and nickels. That's how many of them got rich in the first place. And regardless, billionaires are in a minority. college students that eat lots of ramen are already valuing money more than their own health On the contrary, I think college students are the ones t…

Are you really arguing that the marginal value of an extra dollar is more for a billionaire than for a college student who eats ramen?

No, he's clearly arguing that the billionaire is more rational with his money. Even though the marginal value is higher for the college student, that student is not as smart might not even see the opportunity for monetary gain.

Re: How to Beat High Airfares

#120

Post by BrandonM »

rexreed wrote: post #59
MatthewB wrote: post #13

How to beat high airfares...drive.

At $4 a gallon, I might even challenge that. I recently calculated the cost of driving from DC to Boston, which is regularly a $240 or so ROUNDTRIP on many airlines. It takes 2 tanks of gas each way (about a 350 mile trip, 20 miles per gallon, 15 gallons per tank). The gas cost alone is close to $240. Even if you managed to burn 3 tanks instead of 4 during the trip, you're talking 45 gallons @ $4 a gallon, which is $…

If you're driving alone from DC to Boston in a vehicle that only gets 20 mi/gal, you're doing something wrong.
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