[DimeBait]

I'm literally trying to get to Medellin Colombia next week but I live in a shitty non-hub city and the most affordable flight is ten hours with like 3 stops. I was reading/listening to the 4-Hour Work Week book and the author talked about buying flights within three days of departure by finding the flight you want on Orbitz, then bidding 50% on Priceline and keep going up in 5% increments till you get it.
Anyone ever used this method and have luck?

[rudebwoy]

Google
Skyscanner

Check flights that leave mid-week.

Check flights from the major hub.

[chicane]

Buying with points worked really well for me. Round trip to Ukraine for 60K points when airfare was all $1700+

[Rossi]

Skiplagged

[aeroektar]

(09-27-2018 05:42 AM)Rossi Wrote:  

Skiplagged

Great find.

[Tail Gunner]

Not sure about last minute flights, but Secret Flying and Scott's Cheap Flights both offer killer deals. Two published mistake fares from just the past week. They offer free email alerts, but you get even better deals (before the free email crowd) if you join for a small fee.

Quote:

TO:

Barcelona (BCN) - $287 *
Madrid (MAD) - $292 *
Paris (CDG) - $276

FROM:

New York City (JFK)

* - nonstop / direct

Quote:

TO:

Beijing (PEK)

FROM:

San Jose (SJC) - $294

[Kelent]

@Tail_Gunner Now I see why it's worth the $6/mo... damn

[Tail Gunner]

(09-28-2018 12:55 AM)Kelent Wrote:  

@Tail_Gunner Now I see why it's worth the $6/mo... damn

Those were free notifications for just signing up with their email lists. I can only imagine what you can get access to with a paid account. You get notified before all the free-riders do and also get access to flights that the free-riders do not. I have not yet signed up simply because I do not have much free time to travel right now, but I have been impressed with the basic offers obtained just by getting on their email lists.

[Luther]

Doesn’t help you get to Colombia but Canada to Europe is always cheap if we fly WestJet to London (Gatwing). Normally 3-400 bucks, then skip to the continent on a budget line like Wizz or Ryanair to almost anywhere for under 100. Compare that to 1000-2000 if I try and book direct to a hub on the continent. Paris is normally next cheapest after London. 5 or 600 if your lucky. But London Gatwing on WestJet is always cheap.

[RVF400]

(09-26-2018 10:55 PM)chicane Wrote:  

Buying with points worked really well for me. Round trip to Ukraine for 60K points when airfare was all $1700+

This can work out well, especially so for flying J and F. For example Alaska is selling miles for just 2 cents a piece right now. That would get you a one way on Japan Airlines to Tokyo for about $1180, no way could you buy a business class seat that cheap. For another 5000 miles you can get to SE Asia. Plus they allow a free stop over, even on a one way ticket.

Sometimes buying FF miles if space is available is a great deal.

[rudebwoy]

(09-28-2018 02:00 AM)Luther Wrote:  

Doesn’t help you get to Colombia but Canada to Europe is always cheap if we fly WestJet to London (Gatwing). Normally 3-400 bucks, then skip to the continent on a budget line like Wizz or Ryanair to almost anywhere for under 100. Compare that to 1000-2000 if I try and book direct to a hub on the continent. Paris is normally next cheapest after London. 5 or 600 if your lucky. But London Gatwing on WestJet is always cheap.

It is Gatwick not Gatwing.

The best and cheapest way to Europe, is through Iceland using Wow Airlines or Icelandair. Plus you have the option of spending a day or two in Iceland.

@Rossi - great find with that site.

[Tail Gunner]

(09-28-2018 10:54 PM)rudebwoy Wrote:  

(09-28-2018 02:00 AM)Luther Wrote:  

Doesn’t help you get to Colombia but Canada to Europe is always cheap if we fly WestJet to London (Gatwing). Normally 3-400 bucks, then skip to the continent on a budget line like Wizz or Ryanair to almost anywhere for under 100. Compare that to 1000-2000 if I try and book direct to a hub on the continent. Paris is normally next cheapest after London. 5 or 600 if your lucky. But London Gatwing on WestJet is always cheap.

The best and cheapest way to Europe, is through Iceland using Wow Airlines or Icelandair. Plus you have the option of spending a day or two in Iceland.

Probably the cheapest; very far from the best. Some prices from last month:

Quote:

Take 40% off your next flight to Iceland or Europe with the current promo code from WOW air.

Enter promo code WOWSALE when booking to apply discount to the base fare.

Fares are valid for travel from August 27 through December 15.

Tickets must be booked by 11:59pm GMT, August 27.

Fares include:

Boston to Reykjavik $153 roundtrip, nonstop

Detroit to Reykjavik $153 roundtrip, nonstop

Newark to Reykjavik $153 roundtrip, nonstop

Pittsburgh to Reykjavik $159 roundtrip, nonstop

Baltimore to Reykjavik $165 roundtrip, nonstop

Cleveland to Reykjavik $165 roundtrip, nonstop

Cincinnati to Reykjavik $183 roundtrip, nonstop

Chicago to Reykjavik $189 roundtrip, nonstop

San Francisco to Reykjavik $189 roundtrip, nonstop

St Louis to Reykjavik $195 roundtrip, nonstop

Los Angeles to Reykjavik $189 roundtrip, nonstop

Dallas to Reykjavik $189 roundtrip, nonstop

Toronto to Reykjavik $207USD roundtrip, nonstop

Montreal to Reykjavik $219USD roundtrip, nonstop

Boston to Dublin $228 roundtrip

Montreal to Dublin $229USD roundtrip

New York to Dublin $232 roundtrip

Boston to Amsterdam $233 roundtrip

New York to Paris $243 roundtrip

Chicago to Brussels $251 roundtrip

Los Angeles to Amsterdam $257 roundtrip

Baltimore to Paris $272 roundtrip

San Francisco to Berlin $275 roundtrip

Detroit to Amsterdam $281 roundtrip

Baltimore to Dublin $286 roundtrip

Boston to Tel Aviv $344 roundtrip

Wow is rated only 1-1/2 stars on SkyTrax with many one-star reviews. Probably best to travel with no luggage or one small carry-on. If you get ensnared in their sketchy baggage schemes, an unexpected baggage fee could cost as much as the flight. One example:

Quote:

"had to pay or we could not fly"
D Kanovich (United States) 11th September 2018
✅ Trip Verified | Amsterdam to Detroit via Keflavik. This is not a complaint about the lack of free meals or in-flight entertainment. I know how so-called low cost airlines operate and have never had a problem with any of them until my partner and I tried to fly WOW for the first (and last) time. This is a complaint about the treatment we received and the fees we were charged at the gate of our flight WW447 AMS-KEF, on the date of September 3 at AMS (Schiphol) airport. We booked our WOW air flights months in advance of our flight measured our bags, which fit perfectly within the very restrictive WOW measurements. We have photographs to prove that the bags fit into the bags measurement frame placed at WOW gates. Prior to our flight we checked in online and received boarding passes into email, that was not a problem. However, at the gate of our flight from AMS to KEF we were stopped impolitely by an individual from WOW ground personnel, who started insisting that our bags were carry-ons just because they had 2 wheels, and that we had to pay in order to get them on the plane. She would not even look at my original ticket, where the definition of included luggage only showed dimensions and had in no way specified that included luggage could not have wheels. She never measured the bags, nor weighed them, nothing, just insisted that "wheels" cannot be placed under seats due to "safety." This individual further refused to provide her name and also prohibited me from taking a photo of her ID for evidence, repeating multiple times that it is not allowed. Every question I tried to ask she dismissed with It is not allowed, to the point that I felt I was talking to a robot. I tried to show her the original ticket on my phone, but she refused to have any human communication or reasoning with me, and kept repeating it is not allowed. When I asked to see a supervisor, she replied, it is not allowed to have a supervisor, after which she moved us to the side and said we were not getting on the flight at all. We had to wait until the entire plane was boarded, when she sent a colleague of hers, who likewise insisted that our small bags were trolleys and were not allowed on the flight for free due to safety. I tried to explain that my original ticket showed no such prohibition whatsoever, but she insisted we had to pay or we could not fly. We absolutely felt blackmailed, humiliated and ended up profoundly disturbed They charged us 160 Euro for our two bags, as we were taking a connect flight to Detroit later that afternoon from Reykjavik, and only then were we allowed to board the flight. Once we paid, however, we were told that we could place our bags wherever we chose, and when I said that the entire affair was not about safety but about paying, they had no response, because this is what it was all about – extorting money from travelers. If the company wants to prohibit the use of wheeled luggage, it must define the included luggage as such excluding wheels, otherwise am free to interpret the shape or pattern of the luggage freely, as long as it complies with the measurements, which it did. Customer service? Non-existent.

https://www.airlinequality.com/airline-reviews/wow-air/


You must sign up with Wow to get their deep discounts:

Quote:

Last but not least, WOW Air also offers exclusive fares for MyWOW members. Best of all, signing up is currently absolutely FREE. All that is required is submitting your email address to gain access to MyWOW fares when booking on wowair.com.

Introduced last year, MyWOW fares allow WOW to sell special fares directly on its website that it does not share with third-party booking sites. Since introducing these fares, WOW also now requires you to sign up for a free MyWOW membership in order to use any promo codes.

WOW Air fares can be heavily discounted during promo code offers and since it’ll only cost you your email address, it’s definitely worth signing up in order to save. While I believe this is a trial run for a future paid membership program, currently this is a no-brainer to join if you are booking a WOW Air flight. You can sometimes completely offset the cost of bag fees, and then some, by simply giving your email address.

https://www.airfarewatchdog.com/blog/442...mcid=21443

[rudebwoy]

I used Wow the last time I went to Iceland, yes it sucks and it a cheap discount airline.

No different to Ryannair or Easyjet that I have used many times in Europe.

[pk9090]

Momondo
Kiwi has a nice new feature that lets you select multiple flights along your choice of countries.

[Luther]

“ It is Gatwick not Gatwing. “

We can agree to disagree.

[Tail Gunner]

(09-29-2018 10:07 PM)Luther Wrote:  

“ It is Gatwick not Gatwing. “

We can agree to disagree.

Not really. Classic hamster rationalization. Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.

[gework]

(09-29-2018 03:27 PM)pk9090 Wrote:  

Kiwi has a nice new feature that lets you select multiple flights along your choice of countries.

The best feature I've found for cheap flights is Google Flights's forward looking map.

Just choose your departure airport and leave the destination blank. This will show you world destinations in the next six months. If you click on the calendar you can narrow to a month.

I was using this, this year to book flights as I was in an area with few cheap flights. And just went to wherever was cheap on a vague route home.

I use it in conjunction with an app called Rom2Rio (also a website). This site has extensive routes indexed so you can easily plan post-flight travel in Europe.

You can easily spend hours messing around looking for transport before you arrive. Now I just turn up, check for public transport; if it's no good fall back on Yandex/Uber. Use Booking.com to locate hotels if you're in a bind.

SkipLagged has some more up to date prices and a better engine for picking up cheap flights with 1 or more connecting flights.

For last minute flights you could look at empty leg flights. These are charter jets which are empty for their return flight, so you can fly first class for less. But at a glance the services that book them are not up to scratch.