Airlines
Redcoats are your best friend when flying Continental Airlines (assuming you are already at the airport). They have the power to do just about anything you need done IF you are nice to them. Whether you need to cut the check-in line, relay a message to the gate agent to hold the plane, switch to a later or earlier flight on a Continental / Partner Airline or pretty much any other annoying customer service request... Redcoats can take care of you. The trick isn't finding them, it's getting them to do what you want them to do. Be very nice and don't raise your voice or pressure them with your problems. Simply walk up to the desk and tell the person that you were just on the phone with a Continental representative and they asked you to speak with a Redcoat at the airport. Now that you are "in the know" don't mess it up!
Many airlines offer "special" promotions that help you earn miles and move up in frequent flyer status at an accelerated pace. For example, if you sign up for American Airline's Platinum Challenge you have three months to rack up 5,000 points for Gold status or 10,000 points for Platinum status (1 mile = 1 point for regular fare tickets). A long international roundtrip ticket is usually enough to qualify gold and some times even platinum status. For some reason this is a secret -- AA's platinum challenge isn't publicized anywhere so you will have to call 1-800-882-8880 for details. Welcome Aboard!
Before booking a flight that is operated by two airlines, make sure to check the ticket price with each company prior to purchasing. Each airline is "free" to set their own price, and most of the time one of the airlines will be offering the same ticket for a lower price.
A few weeks ago I purchased a ticket from New York, NY to Charleston, SC. The same flight (operated by Northwest Airlines) was listed on both Continental and Northwest, but it was much cheaper to buy through Continental's website.
You can increase your chance of getting a good price on your next flight if you book at the right time. Airlines release their new fares to a central clearinghouse (Airline Tariff Publishing Company) at predetermined times throughout the week. On weekdays, the best times to look for new fares are just after 2:00p.m., 4:30p.m. and midnight (tickets reserved but never paid for usually appear just after midnight). On weekends, fares are only updated once a day, usually around 5:00p.m.
These two numbers are far from the same -- especially when you are trying to figure out the status of your flight. Normally, when you check your flight status online or on the phone with a customer service agent you will rarely get accurate/timely information using the flight number because the flight status isn't updated until the last minute. However, if you call in and get the aircraft number, you can use this to pin-point the specific location of the plane. Chances are if your flight from New York to Austin is in 45 min and the plane is still in Florida, you're going to be delayed. Now you can stop yelling at the cab driver!
Use your frequent flyer miles to fly to three cities for the price of two. Ask for a multi-destination ticket instead of a round-trip ticket. You can fly from Houston to New York City to Philadelphia and back to Houston all for 25,000 rewards points / miles. Generally, it is easier to reserve these flights by calling the airline directly; however, certain airlines let you do this online as well. Safe Travels!
Think like a local citizen when traveling abroad and save lots of money in the process. For example, when traveling to Spain, don?t use www.hertz.com , use www.hertz.es , and save significant Euros. Many travel sites today have multiple domains catering to multiple countries. Take advantage of this pricing arbitrage next time you book a flight, hotel room or rental car!
Bet you didn?t know that Expedia has 13 foreign sites, did you? Safe travels!
Shout-out: nytimes.com
Hidden city fares can be the worst. Let's say you live on the west coast and you want to visit your friend in New York over Labor Day weekend. The cheapest direct flight you can find is $643 + taxes. Don't pay that outrageous fare, instead call up the airline and ask to travel to a nearby city with a connection in NY. Once you land in NY, simply get off the plane and don't fly the next leg. You can't check your luggage for this to work. (Note: the remaining part of your ticket will be canceled once the airline detects an unflown flight, so plan accordingly).
Hints to keep from getting noticed: Use two different airlines when possible (not partner airlines), purchase your tickets directly from the airlines website or through another online travel site, avoid using your frequent flyer number if flying the same/partner airlines (this is how they track you), alternate between your first and middle name and use different contact phone numbers (cell, work, home).
Shout-out: thetravelinsider.info
Online travel sites such as Expedia/ Orbitz/ Travelocity/ Mobissimo/ Kayak are great aggregators, but in the end you are paying a few dollars for their services. Next time you are booking anything online take your trip planning a step further by finding that perfect ticket, car rental or hotel deal on the actual Company's website. It's guaranteed to be cheaper. If for some reason you cannot find what you are looking for, simply call and ask them to match what you found through the aggregator.
If you need to go to the same city twice within 30 days but you aren't staying over a Saturday night, tickets can get very expensive. Let's assume you have a business meeting in NYC on Tuesday and you need to fly home that Thursday. Then in two weeks you have a conference in NYC Monday-Friday. Buy one ticket from your home city to NY and a second ticket from NY back to your home city -- each with Saturday night stays. As you fly, simply alternate between tickets; be careful this is technically against most airline policies for some reason.
Hints to keep from getting noticed: Use two different airlines when possible (not partner airlines), purchase your tickets directly from the airlines website or through another online travel site, avoid using your frequent flyer number if flying the same/partner airlines (this is how they track you), alternate between your first and middle name and use different contact phone numbers (cell, work, home).
Shout-out: thetravelinsider.info
Instead of buying one expensive round trip ticket, buy two cheaper tickets and use half of each. That's right, throw away the other half of each ticket. A round trip ticket from New York to San Francisco without a Saturday night stay was $685 last week; instead of paying that much stagger two round trip tickets each with Saturday night stays and pay $275 per ticket. Fly there on one, throw away the return and fly back on the other ticket. You just saved $135 = $685 - (2*$275).
Hints to keep from getting noticed: Use two different airlines when possible (not partner airlines), purchase your tickets directly from the airlines website or through another online travel site, avoid using your frequent flyer number if flying the same/partner airlines (this is how they track you), alternate between your first and middle name and use different contact phone numbers (cell, work, home).
Shout-out: thetravelinsider.info
