Airline pricing is crazy

[Lydia Leftcoast]

I will be attending a convention in England in June, and I went to a couple of airline websites to see what prices are like, not that I can afford any of them right now.

The range for flights from Minneapolis to London was between $1150 and $1300, but Northwest offered a special price of $1132 for (get this) a routing that went Minneapolis-Newark-Detroit-London. :wtf:

And that isn't the strangest routing I've seen on travel websites. Last year, I could have gone to England via Singapore for about $2500.

[pitohui]

1. no it's actually quite logical

i've never paid anything like that to fly to LON but you are shopping too early

airlines figure if you MUST reserve the flight so many months in advance it's a MUST like a wedding, so they can charge a higher price

or if you MUST take a last minute flight, again, an emergency, so last-minute/stand-by flights are high priced

start shopping 12 to 6 weeks out from the dates you want to travel, if you MUST lock up a flight now, you are going to pay twice the going rate for it

it's actually quite logical when you think about it

i just pulled up the routing you cited MSP-EWR-DTW-LGW and i agree it's fairly entertaining but you'll do better if you put off the shopping for a few weeks more

i would only go to england via hawaii, singapore, or narita when trying for a mileage run, unless it's first class $2,500 is not a mileage run, a few hundred dollars is -- but these really cheap east/west flights are not always offered

there may be a hub premium for departing MSP, i've heard conflicting stories about that, but when it's time to go shopping, can't hurt to check alternate airports to see if you get a cheaper price by starting at a smaller airport which then takes you to MSP and onward to LGW

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. Thanks for the advice

I made elite status on United last year, so I'm watching United, BMI, Lufthansa, and SAS.

[AmandaRuth]

2. some celebrity type person once said

for real excitement on a flight, just stand up and tell how much you paid for your ticket and ask what everyone else paid.

On second thought, homeland security would probably be waiting for you at the other end.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. Yes, that would be a fun exercise

When I lived in Oregon, I used to check the prices daily for flights to Minnesota for Christmas. All through September and October, the website said $550, which was higher than I'd ever paid before.

Since I was determined not to use credit cards, I waited until I had the money and then went into my travel agent.

She typed in the dates I wanted and came up with a price of $198.00. (Yay!) Then she did a double take and said, "I just booked a couple on that same flight for $550.00 yesterday."

She said that she would rebook them, because they'd come out ahead, even with the change fee.

Anyway, when I finally took that flight, there were people who had paid $198 like me, as well as some who had paid $550, and probably a couple of last-minute business travelers who had paid $2200, so I had paid less than 1/10 of what the last-minute travelers had paid.

By the way, the bereavement fare is rarely a good deal. On NW, it's pegged at 1/3 of the full, refundable ("Y") fare, which for MSP<>PDX is usually about $2200. (Yup, for coach.) A travel agent or an Internet search can undoubtedly do better.

Furthermore, it pays to shop around for one-way flights.

When I moved from Portland to Minneapolis, I didn't have a car, so after seeing my Stuff packed onto the van, I'd have to fly east. Well, NW, with their nonstop, told me that they sold one-ways only at half the "Y" price, or about $1100.

Rrrriight. So I tried Frontier, and while I would have to sit in the Denver airpot for three hours, they would charge me only $200.

I decided that for $900, I could sit in the Denver airport for three hours.

I bet that people wouldn't be so crazy to find good deals if the pricing were simpler and more predictable.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. But if you go next week,

it's half as much (including all the taxes and security charges). Like pitohui said, it's too soon -- wait awhile and it will be cheaper. Buying airline tickets is kind of like bidding for them at an auction.

I highly recommend flying to London on the nice new Airbus A330. Brand-spanking-new, very high tech and very comfortable.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

9. Yes, I saw the fare sales for travel before March 31

Unfortunately, the conference is in late June, the height of the tourist season.

[Generic Brad]

6. It's nuts flying to countries west of Minnesota as well

It's way cheaper to fly to Asian countries from Minneapolis if you catch a flight that routes through Atlanta, Georgia than if you fly directly in the direction you want to go. Nothing against Atlanta, but if I'm flying to South Korea or Japan I do not want to spend an extra day on an jet zig zagging unnecessarily across the United States.

[Little Wing]

7. It's not crazy, it's calling gouging, and it's one of the few industries that

gets away with it on a daily basis

[Whoa_Nelly]

8. Ever check out FareCompare?

Great site! Have found the best prices there.

http://www.farecompare.com

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. Thanks, I just signed up for alerts

for prices to England and Japan.