Sunday, April 11, 2010

Traveling Well - For Less!

Roadboy's Travel Tips: Part 1 Airlines

Updated 10-22
 
Once again it is time to update the "Traveling Well" post I first penned in 2010.

I believe that travel should be something to remember. Never a chore. So I plan trips to experience unique places. I just like to do it in comfort at a fair price. The next three posts will cover how to select and get the best possible prices for airlines, rental cars, and hotels.


Airlines

Flying is a crapshoot. Mergers, hidden fees, and tarmac waits - oh my!

Now, first things first. I always shop for good fares. But I don't always fly the lowest priced carrier. 
 
With some sleazeball airlines now adding hidden fee after hidden fee. fare is cheap. Want a seat assignment? That's extra. Want to use the overhead bin? That's extra. Want to get a boarding pass? That's extra. Want a coke on board? That's extra. Want any legroom at all? That's extra. Some of the fastest growing carriers in the US have all adopted the Ryan Air / Easy Jet European model of the death by a thousand cuts. As a result I unclick, Spirit, Allegiant and Frontier when I price match on google flights. i simply won't fly those carriers. Life's too short.

So here's the rest of the domestic options.

• Alaska
Nice people, an expanding route system, clean planes, and fair rates. Their first class on long flights is always nice. Thier Frequnet flier program is wonderful.
 
Their odd merger with Virgin America is now complete. They had to switch aircraft and they inherited another fragile hub (SFO where the tiniest whisp of fog closes the second runway and sets off horrible delays). 
 
If Alaska ever truly wants to become a national carrier it needs an all weather hub somewhere that doesn't have a view of the Pacific Ocean.

But for west coast service from Mexico to Alaska Alaska is the best.

• American
After years (decades) of declining service levels flying lousy flying stock American has finally gotten rid of that awful fleet of skinny old MD 80's. Its Airbus centric fleet now is excellent.
 
Historically American rivaled United for having some of the most patronizing, godawful, staff in the air. American staff openly exuded contempt for passengers and used the most bizarre upgrade policy (segments) in the industry. Throw in wretched hubs in Dallas, Chicago and Miami and viola - Yuk. 
 
Hard to imagine that despite how hard I tried to avoid flying them, I still passed my 2,000,000 miler status on AA years ago.

In the past five years American has also shown dramatic signs of improvement in customer service. It all seemed to happen after the merger with US Airways who had been acuired by America West (who always had the nicest flight crews in the air). 

AAdvantage American's current frequent flier program is now like Delta and United's presenting a constantly moving target in redemption pricing. 
 
Yet, they keep advertising to sell points. But why would any sane human buy points from when the airline continuously erodes the value those points? 
 
Some good news for me is they have finally bagged those stupid upgrade "Segments".  

• Delta
While I find the state of Georgia to be filled with some of the nicest, most wonderful people in the US, none seem to work at its airport. No matter how many improvements the airline makes Delta's main liability will always be its home base at Atlanta's horrible Hartsfield airport consistently one of North America's largest and worst hub airports.

For years Delta was another of the "recovering" legacy airlines. Their planes were old (oh those horrible Lockheed L10-11 Tri-stars) and the merger with NWA just increased their inventory of antique planes along with another hub in Minneapolis. 
 
In the last few years however, I find Delta's planes to be vastly improved and immaculately clean. Delta is now one of my favorite airlines to fly and their hub in Detroit is very nice. Salt Lake City....not so much.
 
• JetBlue
Great flights, fair prices and nice planes. They Are launching European service soon and offer a business class product called Mint. Sadly JetBlue just underserves the market I live in (Phoenix). 

I am at a complete loss why they recently purchased Spirit. What a clash of cultures. We will just have to wait and see how that goes.

• JSX
This is the anti-airline few have heard of. They offer an excellent alternative to conventional airline service. Sort of a private jet meets scheduled airline vibe. Small jets configured for comfort. They fly between separate private terminals at major airports. There are snacks, comfortable waiting rooms and quick TSA free boarding. I fly them whenever possible.
 
• Southwest
Smiling superbly trained staff (the best in the business - period). Clean almost new planes. Terrific refund / change policy. Wonderful frequent travel recognition with its "A" List program.  What's not to like? Lets start with "Just OK" fares and a new vein of special fees. Southwest's rabidly loyal customers drink the cool-aid and think they are always getting the best price.

Reality - After Southwest lost their fuel hedge pricing advantage, their prices began to mirror everyone else. In fact their fares are frequently the most expensive so spend the time to compare (I use google flights to start my comparison shopping)

They also have some nasty quirks that annoy me.

Quirk one. When you go to cash in a free trip you find that they now limit award seats just like everybody else.

Quirk two. The free bag thing. Recently I needed to change plans and return home from Denver on short notice. On the way to the terminal my I-phone showed Southwest had the most convenient flight at a $20 more than a less convenient Frontier flight. When I get to the counter I am told the fare was actually two times the price on the web. I show the agent the price on my web-phone. Counter agent laughs and says "That's web only, we can't sell it at the counter"(!?!?) So I fumble through a time consuming smart phone web purchase (the fare saving went a long way to pay for that little I-phone). 

For giggles I asked how come Southwest's web fare was $25 more than Frontier's? The agent winks and says, "we don"t charge $25 for checked bags". Got to hand it to Southwest, instead of just charging the passengers that check their bags, they charge everybody! Perhaps it is unfair to compare Southwest to the truly awful Frontier however.

In their zeal to perk up the bottom line, Southwest now charges (a lot) for the first 15 passengers (Business Select) and another fee each to buy lower boarding passes numbers.

• United
Another "Legacy" carrier in and out of trouble. the friendly skies are anything but friendly.
 
It is hard for me to ignore that so many of my worst travel experiences have been on United. But, like Delta, lately I see glimmers of hope! Planes getting cleaned up, fair prices, and improvements in service.

The new kids: Breeze and Avelo. These airlines are seeking to fill in the gaps in underserved markets. They have some good leadership, I hope they thrive.


Getting the Best Airfare

Normally I find it best to buy a month or so in advance. That said, fares can fluctuate wildly. All it takes is one company starting a 48 hour fare sale and all bets are off.  99% of the time, however, waiting to buy tickets just before you go is nuts. 
 
With the removal of change fees during Covid (lets see how ling that lasts?) there is really little reason not to set a Google fare alert and buy whenever fares are rated "much below normal".

1. Always buy more than 14 days in advance. Usually the time frame between 14-45 days is when savings can be secured.

2. Test fares using Fly.com, GoogleFlights, and Kayak. They will search everything but Southwest.

3. If you are more than 14 days out check Southwest. Unless they offer a sale, after 14 days they will likely price out high.

4. Check SkyLux if you want international business class.

5. Subscribe to TravelZoo's Weekly Top 20. Amazing what shows up there now and then.

5. Check your favorite airlines website and search their last minute deals. Once in awhile they are great. 

The Best For Last!
I've saved the best tip for last.  Register for Travel Zoo's weekly "Top 20".  In the past two years every week they have unearthed truly exceptional deals.

Thats how Roadboy does it.


Roadboy's Travels © 2010 (2022)