Air Issues
Posted on May 27, 2008 13 Comments
My annual budget-friendly trips have become a highlight of, well, my life. During the past few years I’ve traveled on the cheap to California several times, to Washington and Oregon and to Ireland, to name a few. I early await trip-planning season every year. And every year, I book a reward ticket on American and use my credit card rewards to keep the cost of most trips around $1,000 for a week-long expedition.
But have you tried booking flights lately? It’s out of control! I’d spend the cost of my entire annual trip on airfare alone. The cost of flying to the Pacific coast has doubled since the last time I flew there, and now my miles are ridiculously difficult to redeem. We were considering a trip to Belize, but the flights cost an arm and a leg. I checked a few other destinations and the costs and mile redemptions are nuts…
This is a vacation crisis, people!
I feel blindsided. I mean, I know the cost of gas is bad, but what happened to Southwest’s cheap flights? I guess I haven’t been following the effects of airline consolidation and the high prices of gas haven’t really hit me yet either(don’t laugh, I don’t drive).
So what’s a girl to do this summer? I was really relying on cheap airfare for the summer. I need some suggestions for a good August destination with outdoor adventures stat! I’m thinking now I should just try to go to the boundary waters in Minnesota or do something in the Midwest. Which kind of sucks because I really love meeting people from all over, learning about the history and culture of new regions and GETTING FAR AWAY with my long vacation time.
SOS!
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13 Responses to “Air Issues”
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May 27th, 2008 @ 11:39 am
Nicole: I can totally relate. When I was booking my airfare to London I was shocked at the prices. Sad to say, I think these are the norm now. Cheap flights will be a thing of the distant past.
However, the airlines still do have pretty good seat sales! I was able to snag a ticket to Virginia for $300 on sale, as opposed to the regular price of $650 (going from a really small airport to another really small airport).
The other thing to consider with road trips is the insane price of gas…and I’m assuming you’d have to rent a car as well.
I was recently able to price a trip to San Francisco from ORD for less than $300 on United. That’s pretty cheap!
May 27th, 2008 @ 1:43 pm
My husband and I were having a vacation crisis, too. Our 10th anniversary is this summer and my parents offered free babysitting for a week. So how could we not go on e a trip!?
I wanted to go somewhere different & foreign, my husband wanted to keep the trip cost around $2000. Our solution was booking a package deal on priceline. We have 5 nights at a 4-star hotel on the island of Curacao in July. It’s in the southern Caribbean next to Aruba, and it’s actually part of the Netherlands, so that takes care of the “different & foreign” part for me. But they have their own currency with a favorable exchange rate (no Euros, yay!)and the hotel + air came to around $1000 per person. (We’ll have to add on one night’s hotel in Miami because of a layover, and maybe rent a car for a day on the island to see the sights outside of Willemstad (the one main town on the island.)
Keep looking, there are still some good deals out there!
May 27th, 2008 @ 8:27 pm
Nicole, I’m there to. I was planning on going to Peru or London this summer. But with the high prices and a new car, that’s a no go. I still want to keep the money I saved so I can go in the future.
So now I’m faced with trying to figure out a low cost alternative. I thought about visiting family or just sitting at home, but in many ways that’s not a vacation. I have thought about Altlanta (my friend lives there) or just booking a last minute flight somewhere and figure it out when I get there.
Let us know what you decide, I would be curious to see what you and others come up with.
May 27th, 2008 @ 10:46 pm
More and more people are doing staycations this year.
May 27th, 2008 @ 11:46 pm
Try airfarewatchdog.com
May 27th, 2008 @ 11:50 pm
also, if you’re looking for an international adventure, try the cathay pacific all asia pass.
May 28th, 2008 @ 2:02 pm
Ugh. A Staycation sounds awful to me. I want to TRAVEL!!!! (Erm… Whines, kicks heels, throws tantrums…)
May 28th, 2008 @ 4:02 pm
I’m a big Southwest fan, and I’m assuming that if you are, you use the Ding application. The one that lets you know when the cheapest flights are? All you have to do is input different locations you’re interested in flying into, and your computer makes a dinging noise whenever the flights are super cheap. I definitely recommend it! I made it to the east coast from Chicago for a meager $139 round trip.
May 30th, 2008 @ 1:36 pm
You’re telling me! I’m in a wedding on the East coast this summer, and I have to make two trips out there for it–it’s going to cost me about $900 for travel costs alone! That’s not counting the hotel and dress and all that…Good thing I love the bride!
May 31st, 2008 @ 12:26 am
Have you tried kayak.com?
June 1st, 2008 @ 5:51 pm
Yeah.. Kayak, orbitz, priceline, and the airline web sites. All too high!
NM
June 4th, 2008 @ 2:45 pm
Hi Nicole! I just went to belize! it was awesome and very budget friendly if you take certain steps, like staying in caye caulker instead of ambergris and cooking your own food.
June 4th, 2008 @ 9:58 pm
I actually was just listening to an NPR story about this just the other day. The trick is to sign up for all the newsletters of the airlines and use an widgits they offer. You should be notified when super cheap airfares are available.
As far as the midwest goes … don’t lose all hope. There are a few interesting things to do out here. For example – I just went up to South Dakota to visit Mount Rushmore and the Badlands. It was really interesting and a fun vacation overall. If you keep your eyes peeled there are tons of awesome little places along the road to stop and check things out. We went to the Corn Palace (it’s a-maize-ing, haha) and the Cosmos Mystery Area where gravity doesn’t work right. It was pretty sweet.