July 1, 2006 | Quick Tips, Travel
So you’ve decided to take off for the weekend, and you’re hoping to score some plane tickets without dipping into your retirement fund. It can be done!
You need to know two things:
1) Some sites specialize in procrastinators. Have just a week or two (or less) of lead time? Check out Orbitz or Site59. (I’m particularly jazzed about Site59 because someone mentioned it to me and then I spent an entire day convinced it was a travel site called Area 51, which proves that I have watched far too many episodes of The X-Files and also that I’m a poor listener. But I’ve found the right place, now, and they’re cool. Ahem.)
2) Packages are often cheaper than flights, especially when making last-minute plans. “But I don’t need a hotel room!” Right. Well, suppose booking the hotel room makes your overall cost $200 lower. Need a hotel room now? That’s what I thought. The two aforementioned sites (as well as a slew of other travel sites) allow you to toggle between flight + car and flight + hotel. Check them both. Compare them to flight alone. And then don’t give too much thought to the car you won’t be picking up or the room you won’t be checking into. Who cares? You saved money.
July 1st, 2006 at 9:04 pm
My husband leaves for Iraq in Sept and we’re trying to get tickets to go home to visit family in August. So far every airline wants around $350 for each ticket. I thought for sure it would be cheaper since we’re trying to book a month in advance.