HOW to get cheap flight tickets?

[i77ac]

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As interviews are on its way, I am slowly finding out how expensive the process is... Just booked one to DC, and I think the trip will cost me about $500 total, and I used the website Orbitz and Cheaptickets.com to search for flights. At this rate, I'm going to go bankrupt before I even start medical school.

I think there are a lot of us, including me, who can use this info to save some cash.

Anyone have some good advise?

 

[Daedalus]

www.jetblue.com 👍 👍

They have awesome fares, with leather seats and free direcTV 😍
I just looked up a round-trip fare to Washington DC and for me, across the country in LA, the trip would cost $256.
Unfortunately, they don't fly to as many places as other major airlines, but its an option. Another idea might be to try to get a student rate - www.studentuniverse.com is a good place to start. Good luck on your interviews

 

[Sweet Tea]

jetblue, independence air (flyi.com), and other small companies are giving cheap fares across the country, but many of them don't list with orbitz, expedia, and the like. try jet blue and independence and see if they're cheaper. i'm a big fan of independence.

 

[apar01]

Sometimes if you go directly to the airline website you can find good deals. American Airlines, Delta, Continental, etc. often have fairly cheap web fares.

I wouldn't recommend doing Priceline for airline tickets for interviews. You have no idea what time your flights are gonna be or what airline you get. Definitely use Priceline for hotels though - check www.biddingfortravel.com for hotel lists and what people are paying for them right now.

 

[qwerty one]

Anybody have any experience with Frontier Airlines?

 

[John Deere Gree]

Frontier is a good cheap airline

However, friends don't let friends fly America West or Alaskan Airlines.

(If any of you know if a non refundable southwest ticket is transferable let me know. I had to cancel a flight last year and have about $100 that can go toward the purchase of a southwest flight that I'd be willing to give away cheaply if it's possible. Only problem is that you have to fly in the very near future, I can't remember when the year deadline passes)

 

[rewindthemovie]

get a mom that works for an airline 😀


wow, i'm really mean. ummmmm....... orbitz?

 

[John Deere Gree]

If you complete travel by OCtober 25th I may be able to hook you up with a southwest ticket as explained above. You ahve to do the work and see if a non-refundable ticket is transferrable.

 

[musiclink213]

this may be a long shot, but if you have a really nice travel agent... i flew round trip from ny to paris this summer for $600, and i booked through a travel agent. all the other student websites like student universe or STA wanted more, and they weren't even direct.

 

[CanIMakeIt]

It is not true about priceline.......it gives you both the options..... you don't know the time/airlines if you name your own price...otherwise they do give you time and airlines now

Sometimes if you go directly to the airline website you can find good deals. American Airlines, Delta, Continental, etc. often have fairly cheap web fares.

I wouldn't recommend doing Priceline for airline tickets for interviews. You have no idea what time your flights are gonna be or what airline you get. Definitely use Priceline for hotels though - check www.biddingfortravel.com for hotel lists and what people are paying for them right now.

 

[tic112]

Frontier is a good cheap airline

However, friends don't let friends fly America West or Alaskan Airlines.

(If any of you know if a non refundable southwest ticket is transferable let me know. I had to cancel a flight last year and have about $100 that can go toward the purchase of a southwest flight that I'd be willing to give away cheaply if it's possible. Only problem is that you have to fly in the very near future, I can't remember when the year deadline passes)

what's wrong with america west? i have two future flights booked with that airline.

 

[bridge01]

how early do you need to book tickets to get a good price? 2 weeks? 3 weeks?

 

[Senor.Frog]

So far, I have found SideStep to offer the best deals. It's a search engine that finds the best deals online (JetBlue, Frontier, Southwest, etc...)

To find it, just google SideStep.

 

[John Deere Gree]

what's wrong with america west? i have two future flights booked with that airline.

They and Alaska have a couple of the worst safety records in the industry (at least from the last time I checked).

(I flew Amer. West once since it was $200 cheaper to fly to Phoenix at the last minute, but would never do it again).

 

[superdood]

They and Alaska have a couple of the worst safety records in the industry (at least from the last time I checked).

(I flew Amer. West once since it was $200 cheaper to fly to Phoenix at the last minute, but would never do it again).

as long as the plane doesn't crash, it should be fine.

 

[Daedalus]

how early do you need to book tickets to get a good price? 2 weeks? 3 weeks?

I bought my ticket from Long Beach,CA to NYC with Jetblue at 3 a.m. the morning of the flight (which was at 9 am) - still got an incredable price of $270. 👍

 

[srinu]

I'm a big fan of Independence Air. I booked a round trip ticket from Chicago to DC 5 hours before the flight and still got a price well under $200. When the flight was delayed because of the weather, they started handing out free Heinekens and wine while we were waiting on the tarmac. On top of that, they gave us $50 vouchers when we landed. In my opinion, any airline that hands out free beer and $50 vouchers due to a delay that wasn't even their fault is OK in my book.

 

[Geronimo]

www.jetblue.com

Southwest Airlines

Airtran Airways

Independence Air

 

[showstopper496]

Idependence is the best airline and the cheapest too.

 

[Sweet Tea]

I'm a big fan of Independence Air. I booked a round trip ticket from Chicago to DC 5 hours before the flight and still got a price well under $200. When the flight was delayed because of the weather, they started handing out free Heinekens and wine while we were waiting on the tarmac. On top of that, they gave us $50 vouchers when we landed. In my opinion, any airline that hands out free beer and $50 vouchers due to a delay that wasn't even their fault is OK in my book.

My flight from D.C. to White Plains was delayed due to weather, and they did the same thing. Considering I had paid $66 for the ticket (one-way) and got a free beer out of it, I was a happy girl.

 

[kaikai128]

get a mom that works for an airline 😀


wow, i'm really mean. ummmmm....... orbitz?

The boyfriend, his brother, his sister, and his best friend working for 2 different airlines is helpful also....however, the non-rev game can suck. 🙂

Also, this has been covered.Sticky in Pre-DO covering this

 

[rosa]

sometimes, if you fly to multiple destinations in one trip, it's cheaper than buying a ticket to each city separately. for example, i'm flying from boston to d.c., then from d.c. to chicago, then from chicago back to boston for about 220. The only thing is that you'd have to try and schedule interviews together which can be tough.

 

[Herman Bloom]

flyi, flyi, flyi baby. Up and comming, great service, and cheap almost beyond reason.

Used to be called Atlantic Coast Airlines (a United Express carrier out of Dulles and Chicago), so they have 14 or so years of service experience. Crews are very experienced (I was a pilot over there until recently, so I may be a bit biased).

www.flyi.com

Join the iClub and you'll get an additional 25 bones off of your first round trip fare (or 12.50 for a one way).

Giddyup.

 

[Krazed_Medic]

if you are sorta flexible in your dates, you could see if you can get on standby. I don't know how much cheaper the tickets are, but I'm sure it's kinda significant.

 

[bridge01]

anyone out there familiar w/the area:: i need to get to baltimore.

a flight from lax to bwi is more expensive than to a d.c. airports, but i'm wondering if its worth it for the trouble of getting from airport to md.

any recommendations? suggestions? would be appreciated!

 

[purple_rainbow]

anyone out there familiar w/the area:: i need to get to baltimore.

a flight from lax to bwi is more expensive than to a d.c. airports, but i'm wondering if its worth it for the trouble of getting from airport to md.

any recommendations? suggestions? would be appreciated!

yeah, i'm from LA and i went to Hopkins for undergrad.

lax to bwi is much more convenient. it depends how far in advance you schedule but it's possible to get 250ish tickets from United nonstop. Also, airtran has a hub in bwi it think so often that is pretty cheap also. From the bwi airport, you can call a cab to baltimore for 25 dollars ish or you can take a free shuttle to the marc train station, about 5 dollars to the penn station stop in baltimore, and there is a free hopkins shuttle that runs from the station to the med school. the downside is that it runs every 30 minutes or so so it would make sense to check the schedule (which is available online) for the shuttles.

hope this helps.

 

[aparecida]

If anybody's needing to fly out from someplace that's not a major city, i.e., JetBlue and FlyI aren't options ... I'm using cheaptickets.com, which has really good prices if you're willing to allow a day's stopover (e.g., fly down Saturday and fly back Monday). Kentucky to Pittsburgh $200 round trip. 👍