airfare searches: fun, like being stabbed in the ear with a screwdriver!
When I googled "Cheap Airfare" images, I got these morons***But buy cheap airline tickets? You may as well drop me without provisions into a remote village in Nepal with nothing but a "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" tee-shirt and a bag of chocolate chips and tell me to find my way to Indianapolis. Apparently in the great American Quest-To-Make-Life-Easy we've done ourselves in. Or done ME in.
At last count, there are no less than 1,647,991 websites that exist to find me cheap airfare to Paradise. Fine, so forget that, "find a reasonable flight this afternoon and make our honeymoon reservation" theory.
First I have to wade through all million and a half websites, because, wouldn't luck have it, I KNOW that as soon as I give one site my credit card number, I'll find it for $600 LESS over at knuckledraggingcheapflightsonline.com and I'll wish I could get back every penny of that non-refundable web-special fare. May as well be thorough, it's not every day we plan to go broke flying to Paradise, no reason to waste good money on the flight that we could waste at Duty Free.
SO - after I've waded through something like a billion different sites all offering slightly different prices on slightly different flights, I decide, "Aha! That's gotta be the lowest price out there. I'll take two!" Then I start pondering connections and layovers. All of a sudden flycheapinexchangeforonekidney.com starts looking better and better...slightly higher price, but AHA, our only connecting flight is at JFK, isn't that much better than trying to hustle through customs in Germany with 20 minutes to spare? Easier that way...
Then I notice that XYZ airline offers wireless internet. Well, that makes the more expensive flight seem more worthwhile. You mean I could join the Mile High Bloggers Club?
*ahem...side bar...Husband would take issue with "Mile High" used in conjunction with blogging, that's shameful. If I'm doing anything a mile high....well...it shouldn't involve a keyboard, ahem*
Three days later and no flights purchased. At this point, with exactly one month to go, prices start to climb. Mild panic sets in. Suddenly the cheapest flights on tradeyourfirstbornforaticket.com is looking like the best bet. Nevermind that we stop in three different states and most of the countries in the European Union to get there, at least it's $26 cheaper than the next flight that would get us there in the middle of the night (catch: we're meeting some friends IN Paradise and the idea is to get to the airport at about the same time...so that adds an extra level of good old-fashioned fun).
At this point, I'm tempted to take it to a travel agent...say, "I'll pay your fees, just get me there for CHEAP, with the fewest number of connections, and make it a WINDOW SEAT. Whatever it takes to keep my kidneys, unborn children, and fingernails."
My best guess: "easy, do-it-yourself" airfare purchasing is what killed the dinosaurs.
***Nope, this isn't the first time I've bought tickets for international travel, I'm not a complete novice. Apparently, however Desination: Paradise is about THE most expensive place to travel on the entire globe...and add to the pressure to save money the fact it's our Honeymoon, I want everything to be perfect and I'm on an inflexible schedule....stir all of that together, and basically: well, I'm not looking as gleefully happy as the morons in that picture that just found cheap airfare.
posted by heatheradair at 9:43 PM
7 Comments:
I've booked online many a time, usually through the airline's site or Expedia, but for my last exotix destination, I turned it over to a ticket broker and she got me a great deal. They know a few secrets, methinks.
You should try farecast.com, if you haven't bought your tickets already...though it only does domestic flights.
you're right kurt, I think they DO know some secret tricks...just about to that point with this gig...flights getting more expensive every day...i'm behind the curve!
brianne - dang! we're goin international or i'd try farecast...wonder if I could use it to get as far as new york, then find a cheaper flight from there...hmmmmm
would some engineering geek please get of their ass and finally invent the freakin' teleporter so we don't have to pay through the nose to fly in oversized tin cans anymore!!!
... oh, and create cheap tickets for heather+hubbie for their trip to destination:paradise... that's all we ask for =:-)
You know what? The post was great as usual, but you could have stopped with those 3 morons in the picture and it still would have killed. Who the hell thought that picture was a good idea.
Sidestep lets you search all the major ticket sites from one place. It also lets you change to a nearby airport (and other stuff) after the search so you don't have to start over. I don't know if they'll get you the cheapest but at least you can compare the non-shady sites.
My mom got a cheapest avg. $3500 ticket for $1700 from a family member's agency...a week before the flight. So, i think its well past a few secrets to a full fledged blood pact with the devil.
I know I'm really late in posting on this but after reading it, it really hit home! We recently booked a trip to Colorado and it was a freakin' pain in the ass! Not only did we need airfare/hotel/rental car, but we were also staying in three different cities which meant three different hotel rooms! And being one of these "I MUST FIND THE BEST DEAL OUT THERE OR SO HELP ME GOD" kind of gals, I refused to book anything until I was SURE that I was getting the best deal. It made my brain nearly implode. Seriously. I had to take pain killers from the headache.
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