The "Best Airfare" Conundrum

Some of you remember back in the day when flying was a gigantic luxury.  The cost of airfare kept most American families out of the air and stuck to vacations within driving distance.  Then, as the economy changed, flying became more and more of a feasible way to get you from point A to B.  Because of that, slowly but surely flying became an ordinary thing for travelers and now it is something that everyone treats as a commodity on the open market.  "How cheap can I get it?"  That is now the standard measuring stick someone uses when looking to fly.

Article after article are being written about how you can attempt to get the cheapest price out there.  Some will tell you to make sure you buy on a Tuesday or a Thursday or try logging on a different computer in case the airline knows you were looking at that flight previously.  Some will tell you to fly on certain days in order to get a better fare (I will come back to flying on certain days in a minute).  And other "experts" will try to tell you to wait 60 days to buy before your trip or some other amount of time before you are wanting to fly.

But here is something that is very important when it comes to waiting or looking for cheaper airfare etc.; what if the flight you really wanted is sold out after you waited to see if airfare is getting any cheaper?  What if you really wanted to leave on a Thursday, but those flights are gone and now you are leaving on a Friday? What if your 6 night vacation just got shortened to a 5 night vacation because seats sold out?

The "how to get cheap airfare" articles never ever address the issue of sold out flights.  They also never address the issue of double connections or terrible layovers.

The majority of the traveling public will not want sit in an airport for 6 hours because that long layover saved the person $30.   The majority of our clients do not want to leave at 5am and arrive at their destination at 9pm because they left one airport, flew to another with a 3 hour layover, flew to another one with a 3 hour layover and then finally on to their destination.  But that all day-double connecting flight may have been the cheapest by $30-$40 each way.  Is the extra $60 to $80 worth it if you have to spend $20 to $40 for airport food because you traveled all day and on flights where there was no food service?  Is that extra savings worth the chance that your luggage may get lost between points A to D? We professionals say no it is not. We say there are more factors at play when deciding on what airline to fly and how much the ticket is going to cost.

So when looking at airfare, here are the criteria WE use for our clients when it comes to the air portion of their vacation:

1)  How early can we get you to your destination?  Our theory is to get you relaxed in a pool chair or hammock as quickly as possible.  Early morning departures with single connections and shorter layovers usually accomplish just that.  Early departures also allow for mishaps such as weather delays, mechanical issues etc.  If you are taking the last flight out because it is the cheapest, you have no room for mishaps and may end up spending the night in the airport.

2) How long is the layover?  We prefer an hour to 2 hours.  Anything shorter has the traveler at risk of missing a connection.  Anything longer than 2 hours is overkill and not preferable.

3) Where is the connecting city?  If you are flying in the winter, connecting in Dallas may be better than connecting in Chicago or Detroit.  If you are flying internationally, we know which airports have the better customs set-up and which ones do not.  Miami is horrific (generally) when it comes to getting through customs.  Dallas on the other hand seems to have theirs more organized and streamlined.  So connecting cities matter.

4) Are you flexible when it comes to schedule?  I mentioned above that I would come back to this. Flying on a Tuesday or Thursday may be preferable simply because the airports tend to be less crowded.  Forget the idea that it might be cheaper to fly on certain days.  I like to fly on certain days for the sake of possible shorter security lines and check in lines.  Sundays, Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays tend to be more crowded due to business and leisure travel. So regardless of being cheaper or not, days of the week can make for a better overall travel experience.

5) Do you have a frequent flier account?  United may be $50 cheaper than American, but you may have a frequent flier account with American and this next trip may give you enough miles for a free airline ticket on your next vacation.  So spending that extra $50 may end up saving you $500.

So again...none of the above is ever discussed in the "How to get cheap airfare" articles.  No one walks into a clothing store and says, "I want the cheapest pair of pants you have.  I don't care about how they fit, what they look like etc.  I just want the cheapest."  Yet so many treat their travel plans this way, especially when it comes to airfare.

So there you have it.  You now have our airfare advice and we didn't have to write some complicated computer program to help you figure it all out.

Google Flights...What You Should Know

There seems to be a lot of hubbub these days when it comes to Google and their dabble into the travel arena.  Some are saying it will transform our industry yet again while at the same time giving Google and particularly their new flight search site Google.com/flights way too many props for being some form of ingenious new way to book your airfare.  One recent travel writer made a claim that Google flights is even better than a travel agent.  So what I thought I would do is simply show what it does and explain how I even use it as a tool when looking for the best airfare for my clients.   Then you be the judge whether or not you think it is the best thing since sliced bread and professional advice from a experienced travel consultant.

First...let's be clear.  Google.com/flights is simply an airfare search page.  That is all it is.  It is not a vacation package booking engine.  It is not even an airfare booking engine.  It is simply a search site. Let me show you how it works and how I use it.  Let's assume you want to fly from good ole Nashvegas (that's Nashville to you lay-people) to Los Angeles during May of this year.  Let's even assume that your dates are flexible.  For the most part, regardless of advertising gimmicks, travelers and their schedules are usually not that flexible due to vacation times at work, school etc. But let's assume you ARE flexible and can travel at any point in May.

Here is what the search page would look like as you enter the originating airport, your destination airport and the dates of travel...

You can see that $322 round trip looks to be the best looking fare for the entire month of May.  So if I click on May 1st and then click on May 16th for my return...it shows me the following options for my outbound flight...

So after choosing the 6:00am departure...it shows me more details of that segment of the trip...

So in case you were unsure of what IAH stood for on the previous screen, you now know that your flight is connecting through Houston and has a 3+hour layover.   So then I went to the next step which was to select my return flight option.  To keep it in that $322 range, I decided to come home on the 1:30pm flight which connects through Chicago.

Now here is what I want you to notice.  I have the flights I want and it appears that the price is going to be $322 round trip for these flights.  So what is my next step?  Book them right here on the Google site? Is Google now also my booking engine? No, not at all.  In order to book this flight, Google is directing me to "book with United."  United's website is where I would actually go to book the flights.  So Google did a good job of showing prices and flights associated with those prices.  But did it offer advice on which airport is the easiest to connect through?  Did it tell you that a 48 min layover may not be enough time to make a connection through Chicago's O'hare Airport?  Did it advise you that taking the latest flight out leaves virtually no options in case a delay were to happen due to weather or mechanical trouble with an aircraft?   Did Google.com/flights offer any sound travel advice other than providing you with times and prices?

So does this new search site mark the end of the need for sound professional travel agent advice?  What is it doing that some search sites have not already done?  Is it neatly arranged and easy to navigate?  Yes!  That is why I use it to see which airline may be offering the best prices for a given destination during a given time.  I then take that info and head straight to the airline itself to book for my clients.  And here is something to keep in mind...it is not offering any better price than what you are going to get straight from the airline.  It is not a cost saver in that way...it is a search time saver.  So do I, a professional travel consultant, use Google.com/flights?  I sure do.  But let's not make it out to be more than it really is.

The Waiting Game

Not sure what it is.  Is it a cultural thing? Is it a generational thing?  Or is it simply a human thing?  I am referring to this idea that waiting will somehow give you a better advantage when it comes to the cost of booking a trip.

I am curious because it seems to cross over into other areas of life.  Back in the day when I was a Realtor, I had clients who would decide to wait on making an offer on the home they wanted or decide to wait to list their home to see if the market would improve.  In most of those cases, the waiting cost them money.  I am talking about 5+ years ago.  A couple would think that waiting might cause the owner to reduce their price before they made an offer, but then get upset when that same house sold right out from under them.

I am not intending to make this a post about real estate, but I want you to see that maybe it is more than just an industry-specific notion that waiting will somehow work out to your benefit.  Because here I am now working as a professional travel consultant and I see the same exact mentality.  "Let's wait and see if airfare will go down" or "let's wait and see if that cruise offers some steep last minute discounts."  That might have been the case several years ago, but the landscape has changed.

Today...we are experiencing a huge uptick in travel across the board.  In fact, this article, "Consumer Travel Attitudes Hit a High Note," shows that more people are traveling now due to several positive factors.  That means demand is up.  Airplane seats are being filled.  Hotel rooms are being booked.  Cruise lines are selling staterooms further in advance of the actual cruise date.  I already have clients booking vacations into December of this year and hotel rooms have already become scarce at the more popular destinations.

I say all of that to say...if you wait, you might not only pay a higher cost for your trip, but you may also lose out on the place that you wanted to stay.  I have had situations where someone wanted to ponder a little longer and that pondering cost them a few hundred dollars because the cheaper airfare had already sold out.

This is going to take a mentality shift for a lot of you, but here is my advice.  Decide where you want to go.  Determine the dates as quick as you can.  Sit down with yourself, your spouse or your significant other and determine a budget that you can afford for the trip.  Then contact a professional travel planner and give him or her that info and let them do their job.  And when they come back with options, don't think that you have lots of time to ponder and check prices etc.  That price you were quoted may not be there tomorrow.  So listen to your trusted professional.  He or she knows whether the place you are going and the time that you want to go will be something that you can wait on or not.  If it is Hawaii in December...I wouldn't cue the Jeopardy music and think you have plenty of time to decide.

So I am not sure I have an answer to my original question; is this idea of waiting unique to us Americans or is it a world wide trait?  Have you waited to book only to find out that you missed your chance at getting the lowest price?  Maybe you disagree with me.  You comments are always welcome.

If Coffee Could Fly

If coffee could fly, we would all be flying first class.  This will be a brief look into the psyche of the American traveler. Proceed with caution, I may be talking about you.

We live in an age where everyone wants Ritz Carlton accommodations at Motel 6 prices.  Americans will spend hours searching high and low for the absolute cheapest price on every aspect of their vacation.  Travelers will opt for flights that leave at 5:00am with connections in 3 different airports and that does not arrive at their actual destination until 11:00pm that night to save $100 on airfare and then complain about not getting a bag of pretzels for free.  That same traveler will book a room at a hotel that they found on patheticallydirtcheapgetaways.biz and then spend 45 minutes with the motel’s manager complaining about the fact that the room is located near the hotel’s trash compactor.

But get this; that same traveler, the one who just nickeled and dimed every part of their “dream vacation,” will then march down to their favorite coffee venue and order a double-shot, no foam, non-fat, latte with a hint of cinnamon sprinkled on top and pay over $3.00 for a Venti and never complain a bit about not getting a free muffin.  Oh…and they do that 5 days a week or more.  You do the math.

Go figure…

Do You Charge Me a Fee?

That is a standard question that travel agents get asked by prospective clients.  I am finding that the majority of today’s travelers do not understand how travel agents get compensated.  So I wanted to write and answer the question, “how doe a travel agent get paid?”

In 99% of the cases where I am working with a client on a particular trip, my services are free to the client (I will explain the 1% in a moment).  The travel “system” as I will call it, has a travel agent’s compensation built in and is invisible to the client.  For example, major hotel chains, cruise lines and even resort destinations such as Disneyland and Walt Disney World offer commission to travel agents as a way of saying “thank you” for bringing clients their way.  The price the consumer pays would be the same whether they used a travel agent or not.  Naturally there are benefits for using a travel agent, but that has already been addressed in previous posts.

So please understand that our compensation is being paid by the suppliers to us (the travel agents) there are no additional fees being tacked on to the consumer’s cost.  

But here is where the exception comes in, the 1% that I mentioned; airlines quit paying commissions to travel agents several years back due to their own economic issues.  So if a client is only interested in booking airfare through a travel agent, the travel agent has to charge a service fee in order to make any income.  Those service fees are discussed ahead of time so there are no surprises.  I personally charge a small fee unless the client has booked other commissionable items such as a hotel, rental car, cruise etc, in which case I waive my fee.

But please understand this one last point.  Almost every professional travel agent out there works off of commission only.  We do not get paid salaries.  So if you go to a travel agent for help with learning about a destination or a cruise and so on, and then choose to take that information and book it yourself, that professional just worked for nothing.  Travel agents have bills to pay and families to feed just like every other working person so please consider that before taking their professional advice and info and then rushing out to book something on your own because you think you can get a better deal.

I hope this answers the question.  Please feel free to ask other questions or offer a comment or opinion.

If I Ran an Airline...

If you are a fairly frequent traveler, one of the things that probably frustrates you the most is flying.  Most airlines have done a successful job of making it a huge hassle from start to finish.  Now granted some of the aggravation has nothing to do with the airlines and more with the security process we all most go through now.  But you would think that at least one airline would grab a clue and see that airline passengers are becoming increasingly hacked off well before they ever step through the door of an airport.

From the time you click on an airline’s website, you immediately feel tension because nothing is simple anymore.  Do you want to pay for “coach-flexible?”  Or how about the “super-triple-saver-web-only” fare?  If you have a bank account in the Caymans with a few million in it, you may even want to buy the “business class-flexible-early fare.”  That is just the beginning.  Now that you have selected the time you want with the fare that is going to require a new mortgage on the home, it is now the time to decide if you want to actually select your own seat.  Most likely there will be a charge for that so don’t tally up the final cost quite yet.  Or how about wifi or luggage?  Do you plan on actually changing clothes on your trip?  That’s gonna cost ya.  Ugh!  I am getting frustrated just typing this.

To top it all off, we still have to listen to airlines whine when their quarterly reports come out showing that they are still losing money.  So here it is, here is what I would do, if I ran an airline.

First...I would do away with different fares across all flights and all times.  Each valued guest would pay only one fare of $250 for a roundtrip ticket.  How many times have you boarded a plane and sat down and wondered what the person next to you paid for the same exact flight in the same exact row of seats etc?  If you are like me, you are afraid to ask.  You don’t want to know that you maybe paid double of what that person paid.  So away with varying fares. Away I say!  One fare only.  And if you want to sit in first class (I would do away with business class), you all pay one fare of $500 for a roundtrip flight.  No more upgrades.  No more using mileage to get bumped up.  Just pay the fare and the seat is yours.

Second, you would only be able to book a flight via the internet. You could still go through a travel agent or tour company, but they too would have to book via the internet.  That would significantly reduce the number of employees needed and would allow me to properly staff and train the customer service department which would still be accessible by phone. My customer service staff would be the best of the best to handle any form of issues that might come up during travel and they would be able to handle existing reservations etc.

Third and finally, No more nickel and dime’ing the passengers.  There would be no charge for 2 checked bags per person.  Each flight would offer free wifi.  Each flight would offer complimentary snacks and non-alcoholic beverages.  Each flight would also offer fresh baked cookies and satellite radio for free.  

Think about that now...each flight, no matter of where it flies and at what time, would all be the same flat fare of $250.  That would fill up the flights with the most desirable times and connections quicker.  If someone knew what they were going to pay, they would want to book further ahead of time to ensure they get the best times etc.  No more last minute sales to fill seats.  

So the question is, would you fly with my airline if it was structured that way?  Would you be willing to pay the $250 knowing that you were going to get great service and no more “extra fee” surprises?  Would you be more willing to buy in advance when planning a vacation?  Would the extra $250 be worth it to upgrade to first class?

Now I just need to come up with a catchy name...

Airline Tickets: When Should I Buy?

This is a very common and frequently asked question and one with a variety of answers.  As airline costs have risen, more and more travelers are trying to find ways of lessening their impact on their travel budget.

There used to be a general rule that certain days of the week may offer cheaper fares, but that is not really the case at the present time.  A quick glance at some different airlines and travel scenarios will show you that the cost to fly out on a Saturday and return on a Sunday with a 5-6 month advance purchase will most likely cost you the same as if you were to fly out on a Tuesday and return on a Monday.

So how does someone find the cheapest airfare possible if the days of travel don’t really make a difference?  Well, how flexible are you with your travel plans?  Is it possible for you to leave very early in the morning or fly on what they used to call a “red-eye flight?”  Are you willing to make multiple connections between your home airport and your final destination?  Both the time and number of connections effect the price a traveler will pay. For example...a flight with Delta airlines that departs at 6:00am may cost you over $100 less than a flight that leaves at 9:30am. 

Are your plans solid?  Are you comfortable with buying your airline tickets 6 months or more in advance? I have purchased airfare at the 6 month mark of my trips and have saved as much as $50 per person for the same flights that I have gone back and looked at 3 months later. 

So you see that your answer to those questions will determine the price you pay and the possible amount that you may save.  There is no hard and fast rule.  Some think discount airline sites are the way to go, but again you will find that most airlines guarantee the lowest price if you go direct through them to buy your airfare.  And please know that waiting until the last minute will most likely not save you any money and you run the risk of losing out on the best flight schedules.

And as I just mentioned, here is something to consider that might get you some sense of comfort after you hit the purchase button with any of the major airlines; most of our major domestic airlines offer some form of “price guarantee” (see each airline’s policy for exact details).  The guarantee, in essence, is designed to make travelers feel better about going ahead with their airline purchase at any given time.

Understanding Airline Costs

As I have searched for client's airfare over the past few days, I am being made aware again that the general public still does not completely understand the "real cost" of a particular flight. I will have clients that say they have found a flight for "X dollars" which appeared to be the cheapest option on the surface. That one flight may have come in $50 less than another option on another airline, but was it really $50 cheaper?

You won't know the answer to that question unless you are clearly aware of each airlines fee policy.

Southwest Airlines is always a good one to use when talking about fees due to their resistance to charge for certain items or services (such as baggage fees) above and beyond the actual airfare. So let's say you have found a flight on Southwest for $250 round trip. And for the sake of the argument, let's assume you do not want to check in early (earlier than 24 hours before your flight) just to keep it simple. You then go and search some more options and find a similar flight time on Frontier Airlines and their base fare is $199 round trip and you get all excited thinking you are about to save over $50. But let's also say that you will check in at least one piece of luggage for your trip. Southwest allows up to 2 free checked in bags per person. Frontier will charge you $20 for the first check piece of luggage each way. So now...the true cost of the Frontier Flight (round trip) is $239.

See? All of the sudden, most of the cost savings that you thought you were going to get with Frontier was just wiped away when you forgot to consider baggage fees.

We can get wrapped up in all of the other fees such as fees for pillows, blankets, advance seat selection etc, but the major cost difference between airlines (anything above the base fare) will be baggage fees. So please make sure you understand each airlines rules when it comes to checked in luggage before making your final decision, especially if you are basing your decision on cost more so than schedule.

So ask yourself these questions when you start looking into airfare:

1) Will I need to check in 1 or 2 pieces of luggage for this trip?
2) Will I care if I don't get to select my actual seat on the plane?
3) Will I care if the airline tells me that there will be a charge for any type beverage or food service?
4) Will I care if I am made to pay for a blanket or pillow on the flight?

Those are areas that airlines are finding ways of getting into your pocket book. If you answer no to all of those questions, then you will be in a better position to compare one airline's base fare to another and get a true apples to apples comparison. But if those 4 items do matter to you, then you better make sure which airline is charging what and how much before hitting the "purchase" button.

I hope this helps.

Thoughts? Comments? Questions?

Travel Tip of the Week...Understanding the Real Costs of a Flight

Travel Tip of the Week: Should I Buy Travel Insurance?

Hope this answers some of questions that revolve around the subject of travel insurance.