How I Got Cheap Rates To Las Vegas Part 1
You Can Get Cheap Rates Even Four
Days From Your Trip Date
(Post 1 of 3)
DeeNice, The Digital Dynamo’s Story of Getting to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas
TALK ABOUT CUTTING IT CLOSE!
Not having had an opportunity to fly in 2 years, I was unaware that the rules had changed significantly in that time.
So, even though I am DeeNice,the Digital Dynamo (you know the Technie – Geeky gal), I had a struggle trying to harangue a decent airfare 2 weeks before the event, which I had hoped would be more than enough time.
In the past, I had used Kayak.com, which brings up airfares from most of the major airlines. Here’s a tip: I noticed that Southwest was not listed on Kayak. (I’ll talk more about Southwest later in this post.)
So it should have been a walk in the park, right? Wrong! The rates were $550 and up. So I figured, “Well, that’s not such a bad price.” However, I had forgotten an important point: YOU HAVE TO ADD THE TAXES AND FEES.
Airfare Odyssey
Holy crap! Moreover, during this Airfare Odyssey, I discovered that in the olden days, selected flights with multiple stopovers had caused the rates to go down. Now, in 2012, they added taxes and fees for each stopover.
So even though my flight was $475.00, by time I added the taxes and fees (oh, and don’t forget the $25 per bag, which is $50 round-trip!), my flight ended up costing $650 plus. WHAT?! $650 for a round-trip flight to Las Vegas?!
My normal cost in the past (2000-2007) had been $200-$300 round trip, with minimal fees, no charge for the first bag, and free carry-on.
Please Don’t Yell!
And please don’t yell at me – I know, I should have gotten the ticket a month ahead of time, blah blah blah.
So then it was time to redo my budget. Yes, I do have a budget (I took a long class with Michelle Singletary of Prosperity Partners), and I was considering not going. I wasn’t prepared to pay that type of fare. I checked out going by train, but it cost approximately $360 one way. Therefore, that was not an option.
Heck to the NO!
One of my friends suggested the bus – oh Heck to the No. It would be too hard on my back to go cross-country via bus. By the way, a bus trip from Washington, DC to Las Vegas is approximately $460 round trip. That’s better than the $650-$850 airfare, but it does take 3 days.
By the last 7 days before the event, I saw a couple of good options; JetBlue had a special flight for $179 one way back from Las Vegas. I thought, “OK, now you’re talkin’.” Taxes and fees were about $30 – so the one-way price would be $209.00, including the baggage cost. My only challenge was that because I was now less than 7 days from my event, the cost to go to Las Vegas was $346.00 – however, the first bag was free (as long as it was less than 50 pounds).
My bad!
Had I been able to make this reservation a month ago, this flight would have been a no-brainer. But that’s not a realistic situation for many of us mortals, who have circumstances that keep us from committing to a flight until the last minute.
So, I was still hoping for a good price – oh, did I mention my budget for the flight was $350 round trip (including fees, taxes and bags)? I knew it was a pipe dream. I had to try something, but what?
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