Giselle

I always thought I was such smart stuff because I could root out the lowest fares for my European trips.

So I volunteered to help (non travel-y)friends wanting to come to a get together in Portland, Oregon, all from around the country.

Excuse my ignorance, but I had no idea the domestic fares were higher than I thought!

However, I may be missing things you could help me with.

Firstly, I have done Priceline for hotels, but who has had luck with domestic airlines? Priceline tips I could pass on to those wanting the lowest fare? Do I need Priceline for Dummies? Biddingfortravel.com?

Who are the best consolidators? Hotwire?

I usually look at Expedia and Travelocity, then call the airline directly, to save the 10 dollars or so those sites tack on.

But I didn't realize the prices were so high! We flew R/T Sea-Tac to Paris CDC for 406 last winter BUT Chicago to PDX is looking 340 something! I'm a little disappointed.

I suppose it may not help that our Portland, OR reunuion is the June 16, 17th weekend, which might be high season.

Any help would be wonderful.

rkkwan

Airfares have been going on, no question about it. A $340 ORD-PDX fare really isn't too bad.

But to answer your question, no I don't have experience bidding on Priceline for airfare. I like to know the airline and schedule, when I fly. And your friends may, as well.

What possible, however, is to get a group fare if you have 10 or more people flying in, even if they're from all over the country. I know AA and CO have such discounts, and I'm sure all other airlines have as well. Check the airline's website for the group sales department.

BeachBoi

You may also be able to get a "Meeting Fare" even tho it sounds like its is social.The airlines do it for weddings all the time.Figure out where the attendees are coming from and contact the airline.They usually allow a degree of flexibility in arrival/departures and most often offer a discount of say 5% off the lowest fare available.Then again, they may charge a fee to bokk via the phone.Its worth a fone call.

rkkwan

Yeah, I was basically talking about the same thing.

gail

In addition to fares going up, smaller cities (like Portland) seem to have gone up much more. We fly several times/year into Savannah, GA and these fares have gone up much more than our flights into south Florida which has a greater number of airports and airlines. So Portland may be part of the problem.

rkkwan

I wouldn't call Portland, OR is "smaller city". But its airport PDX is one without a major airline hub. Yet, its prices are still not cheap. That's why I always question about the "hub premium". For the same weekend, ORD-SEA is about $40 cheaper than PDX, though SEA does have a AS hub.

But anyways, don't forget Southwest. They may have some cheap "Internet One-Way" or "Promotional" fares. For MDW-PDX, as an example, the lowest is $99 each way for selected flights. After tax, it'll still be cheaper than $340 r/t.