Image Courtesy of Bradley Gordon

Not long ago I shared a post on how to avoid airline baggage fees, and made a tongue-and-cheek comment on how it’s only a matter of time until airlines begin pricing airfare based on weight.

Well, fast-forward into the not to distant future, and pay as you weigh airfare apparently has arrived.

In a recent article on CNN it was stated that Uzbekistan Airways would begin weighing passengers along with their baggage prior to boarding.

I almost choked on my coffee.

Related Posts: How to Find Cheap Airfare Tickets

To be fair, Uzbekistan Airways hasn’t actually begun a pay as you weigh airfare ticket pricing (That distinction actually belongs to Samoa Air, who has been enforcing a pay as you weigh airfare structure since 2012), and have only enacted the policy for the purpose of flight safety. .

However, I see this as a sea-change to further unpopular airline practices; it’s a gradual inoculation. Remember free baggage? I don’t blame you if you don’t. But there once was a time we considered baggage fees as being outrageous. Now? Just the cost of flying.

Related Posts: Find Cheap Flights Like a Ninja

Here are my reasons why a pay as you weigh airfare pricing structure won’t, can’t, and should not be enforced:

1. Discrimination – There has always been discrimination, and chances are we will always be dealing with it in one form or another. But where it once was practiced duplicitously, “airfare by the pound” would effectively grant airlines a license to promote further price discrimination – legally!
2. Pregnancy and Disorder Insensitivity – how would they charge an expecting mother, or someone with a medical disorder like hypothyroidism? Interesting…
3. Ongoing Shaming – As though shaming isn’t already pervasive, having to pay more because you weigh more is just insensitive. A pay as you weigh airfare policy would throw all our progress as society a thousand steps back. TSA agents already make fun of our X-rays, now imagine our self-esteem as we watch them trying to stifle a giggle as we’re forced to step on the scale.
4. Increased Airfare Cost – Airlines will inevitable have a minimum cost and I wouldn’t count on them lowering current pricing standards. Which means, even if you happen to be wafer thin, your cost certainly will not be. They’ll just tack on a “surcharge” for each extra pound. Heavier passengers will invariably have to pay an increased rate for airfare. Good news is, figuring out how to stuff your carryon will now be the least of your concerns.
5. Fee Creep – Under the current airline oligopoly, we’re forced to eventually get use to unpopular policies and fee changes. A pay as you weigh policy would ultimately open the floodgates to more draconian treatment. By giving them an inch they will definitely, and flagrantly, take a mile.   Case in point: baggage fees.
6. Assigned Seating by Weight- Airlines already have an existing policy on how weight is to be distributed on a flight. Makes perfect sense. But I can certainly see a dystopian future where you’re asked to enter your weight, and if you happen to exceed a certain weight category, you’ll be relegated to the “fat” sections for balancing. Better get comfortable with the seat by the Lavatory.
7. Unfair Luggage Weight Allocation- If a pay as you weigh airfare price is determined by total weight of both passenger and luggage, lighter passengers would be able to bring more luggage while heavier passengers will have restrictions. For some reason, this just doesn’t sound very equitable.

Yesterday it was Samoa Air, today it’s Uzbekistan Airways, tomorrow: everyone else. As more companies adopt a pay as you weigh airfare structure, we will inevitably be forced to accept a new state of normalcy. Baggage fees are one thing, but when it comes to a pre-board weigh in, we need to draw the line.

If it’s sincerely about maintaining flight safety, I can get on board for that.   But if it’s not, we better rethink that extra helping of mash over the holidays.

The post Pay As You Weigh Airfare? Don’t Let it Happen appeared first on Blaze Your Adventure.

Above image courtesy of Kevin Dooley

Know what’s better than finding cheap airfare? It’s getting a refund on airline tickets when the price drops! If you didn’t know this, don’t feel bad; fine prints not really my strong suit either.  Most flyers have the wrong assumption that only premium refundable airline tickets have special privileges, and by clicking the purchase button you’re locked in to that price.   Believe it or not, that’s not entirely true; all U.S Airlines, and even some foreign Airlines, have a Guaranteed Airfare Policy that protects consumers when airfare drops or if you happen to find the same flight cheaper elsewhere.

But before you get refund happy, and start blasting the customer service line each time the price drops a few cents, there are restrictions depending on the airlines.

Airlines are able to stipulate their own qualifying limits, with some being more draconian than others. The limit you must hit also serves as their “re-booking” fee to reissue a new ticket (I know, I’m rolling my eyes too) that applies once you hit that limit. So for instance, lets say your original Hawaiian Airlines airfare of $300 is now $150. Hawaiian Airlines has a limit of $100, so you would “pay” the re-booking fee of $100 and they would refund you the difference in the form of a voucher or credit in the amount of $50. I know…$150 sounds a lot better, but hey, I’m surprised we get anything back at all.

Here are the limits that need to be reached before refunds on airline tickets kick in:

What if I find the flight cheaper elsewhere?

If you’re lucky enough to come across the same flight cheaper on a 3^rd party booking site, most airlines do have a low price guarantee. It’s rare but it does happen. Depending on the airline the process can range from super easy (Alaska Airlines) to what-the-hell (Delta). If you’re willing to jump through the hoops and plead your case, it is possible to get some money back. Go here to see Airfarewatchdog’s nifty chart and how they explain the low price guarantee policies.

So how do we get our refund on Airline tickets?

You need to act fast. The window for refunds closes quickly. Realistically, most of us want to just pay and forget. Constantly tracking daily fluctuations of airfare is no ones idea of a good time and between work and life who has time to hit refresh every 10 minutes until take-off? Best thing to do is to setup refund alerts using Yapta (free) or Tripit Pro ($49 US/Year).

Yapta goes a step further and provides some pretty spot on instructions on how to also negotiate refunds, from who to contact and what to say. Unfortunately, they don’t cover all airlines, and some companies, like Southwest, keep their data pretty close to the chest. For them, you’ll have to go to their website.

Once you discover a price drop, or a lower price elsewhere, get on the phone, submit the online request, take screenshots, and get some money back.

What if I purchased the Flight from Priceline or Orbitz?

If you book through 3^rd party sites like Orbitz or Cheaptickets, Yapta can track the price drop, but won’t automatically alert you to a refund. You’ll have to call the site you purchased from directly to work it out.

Hopefully this travel hack helps keep more money in your pocket. It’s not incredibly intuitive and does require a bit of work, but the policies do exist. For the budget conscious, every little bit helps.

The post Travel Hack Friday: How to get a Refund on Airline Tickets appeared first on Blaze Your Adventure.

Above image courtesy of Marcin Wichary

Remember the good ole days when airlines offered free drinks, and all you can eat peanuts? When customers were actually treated like customers? Now in the oligopoly of airlines we are at the behest of what they decide to do. Prices between the legacy carries vary, at most, in the single digits and rarely resemble anything close to competition. To add insult to injury, the airlines are on a quest to nickel and dime us to death, while no frills airlines offer bare bone flights that border hostile (remember when Ryanair proposed to get rid of seats, and install pay toilets? Yep, like that).

The perfect formula to find cheap airfare tickets is the holy grail of traveling. From the day and hour of purchase to the date of travel to where you depart all plays a part in scoring those cheap fares. Theories also abound with everyone perpetuating their own strategies from the abstract to the more actionable. But in the battle to find cheap airfare tickets any trick is a good trick.

Find Cheap Airfare Tickets

Avoid The Frills:

Be cheap and beat the airlines at their own game of nickel and diming. Don’t fall for the money traps: avoid checking in bags by traveling light, bring only personal items in cabin if the carrier charges for carryon and don’t buy the headphones! Also, take whatever seat they give you, and avoid early bird check-ins,

Be Flexible:

Being flexible is your secret weapon to find cheap airfare tickets. Airlines depend on business and leisure travelers that absolutely must leave on specific days, hence increased fares on days like Fridays and Sundays. If you’re not bound by a particular schedule, money savings are literally a day away.

1. Fly into alternative or regional airports – For instance, if San Francisco is your destination, try flying into Oakland airport. However, this is only sometimes true, as larger airports can have cheaper fares as well. Hence the need to be flexible.
2. Fly into an adjacent country and travel overland, or even take a cheaper flight – For international flights, try flying to adjacent countries and then traveling by bus or train or a short haul flight. Sometimes you can save hundreds even after factoring in the additional transport. For Domestic U.S flights, this can work as well considering how inexpensive it is to rent an economy car or take the greyhound.

3. Be open with your dates and time: If flying on Friday at 3pm is non-negotiable, then so is the price.  Keep your day and hour of travel open, and you’ll have more fare options to choose from. It’s no secret that some days are just cheaper than others and that red-eye and early morning flights are typically cheaper.

4. Don’t be scared of connecting flights: Layovers not only can save you significant amounts of money, but can also be a nice little side adventure in the event it’s an extended layover. Otherwise, if you need to stay in the airport lounge, painful, agonizing layovers are a thing of the past. With free Wi-Fi and creative activities to suck up the hours, layovers can put some dollars in your pocket. In some cases you can even use Multi City ticketing which can save you money: watch this video:

Best Day And Time to Fly:

The general rule is to fly when no one wants to fly (well, most people anyays). . Most business travelers fly the beginning and the end of the week, and leisure travelers don’t like giving up their Saturdays. This works for both domestic and international flights. Do your best to schedule your dates for mid-week whenever possible. As well, travel on the actual holidays, such as Christmas day.

1. Fly midweek – cheapest days are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays
2. Fly on or after the holidays – flying on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas day is usually loads cheaper than anytime before that.
3. Fly odd hours – Early morning, dinner hours, and red-eye flights are usually cheaper than flights at any other time.
   

   Image Courtesy of Jean-Pierre Dalbéra

When You Book Determines What You Pay:

This is different from the actual date of departure, and refers specifically to when you click the “purchase” button. Of the many strategies you can employ to find cheap airfare tickets, this is probably the most abstract and most complex. So take the following with a grain of salt, and exercise your own tests:

1. Tuesday is the best day, but maybe weekends too: The general consensus amongst most bargain hunters is that Tuesday afternoon is the best time to purchase your airfare. The idea is that airlines begin promoting sales Monday evening and by Tuesday afternoon all other airlines reduce their prices to stay competitive. Farecompare’s extensive data supports this for domestic US flights. They even go so far as to suggest Tuesday at 3pm eastern.  However, according to some number crunchers over at Texas A&M University, it was discovered that purchasing on Saturday and Sunday’s could save about 5% on airfare. In my own tests, this has never actually wrung true, but it’s worth a shot. Best approach here, is to wait for the weekend to see if the price changes from Wednesday, if not, buy on Tuesday (but keep in mind how far you are from the travel date, as the closer you get to your departure date, the more expensive it will become)

2. Purchase Early, but not too early: The suggestions here are pretty consistent across the board. For domestic U.S flights it’s suggested to purchase airline tickets no earlier than 3 months and no later than 30 days. International fares have a larger window with the earliest you should start looking being about 5 months. Airlines apparently do not actively “manage” sales and flights until the times above. Ignore advice that offer up precise days like 45 or 54 days. It’s not possible to pinpoint the exact date for future purchases
3. Don’t buy too late: Avoid purchasing last minute at all costs. The closer you buy to the departure date, the more expensive the airfare will be. Specifically, within 14 days price airfare rises dramatically; within 7, the hike in price is even crazier.

Use Technology:

Technology is your friend to find cheap airfare tickets. And as technology improves and becomes more robust, finding deals is only going to become easier. Fortunately for us, creating apps and programs to find low cost airfare is big business, and deal aggregate and bargain hunting sites have become our biggest champions. Use them to their fullest potential for the pure and simple reason that they work.

1. Sign up for Airfare alerts: Sites like Airfarewatchdog and FareCompare will do the heavy lifting and send you deals straight to your email. Sometimes you’ll get them before they even begin to populate on other sites.
2. Consider Hidden city Ticketing – The idea is to buy a ticket going from point A to point C, but get off at point B. Because distanced traveled doesn’t determine costs, sometimes it ends up cheaper to have your desired destination as a layover rather than your final destination. Read my article on how I used Skiplagged to find cheap flights.
3. Use a few flight search engines: Don’t use just one. Use a few of them to compare prices and options. For instance, Skyscanner provides results for all airlines, all airports, cities AND countries providing you greater flexibility. Other resources to use: Kayak, Momondo, Vayama and Google Flights
4. Buy one passenger at a time: On a single flight there can be different pricing structures for each seat. By purchasing multiple tickets at the same time, the airline’s reservation system automatically charges the highest price for each ticket even if there are cheaper seats available.
5. Be Anonymous: This is probably the most common strategy. Clear your cookies and cache in the event the airline’s website is tracking your behavior. You can also enable private browsing in your browser. In my experience this doesn’t always work, but it sure as hell doesn’t hurt.

At the end of the day, figure out if doing all the above is worth it to find cheap airfare tickets.   Finding the cheapest and lowest fares requires a confluence of factors and you can never rely on just one. If you put them all together you’ll be an unstoppable force of nature! Personally, I love the feeling of getting a good deal, in fact, it’s probably safe to say that I’m allergic to paying full price for anything. But for some travelers, paying a bit more for the convenience of a direct flight is worth it, whereas for others, layovers are just another opportunity to get some shuteye. Whatever you decide to do, or what strategies you decide to use, if you find that perfect flight…pull the damn trigger!

The above is nowhere near definitive so if I’m missing anything, please share! Lets make this the ultimate list of cheap airfare strategy!

The post How to Find Cheap Airfare Tickets appeared first on Blaze Your Adventure.

Above image courtesy of Canadian Pacific

Baggage fees have all but gone overboard.   Believe it or not, there once was a time that carrying one bag, or even two bags was a given and was included as part of your already exorbitant ticket price. Traveling has certainly changed over the years becoming less and less customer oriented. It really is a matter of time until the cost of airfare is measured by total weight and not just seat fare. Personally I would rather they just raise their prices by $25 and not tell me.

But I digress. Hopefully this week’s travel hack can help budget travelers, like us, save some money!

So, short of getting on the plane wearing 4 layers of clothing or trying to shove everything into a fanny pack, there’s a way to beat the baggage fee creep: Gate check your bag and save yourself the baggage fees.

We’ve all seen it; the bags sitting alongside the gangway waiting to be ushered on the plane. Not only do they get loaded last (which means they get unloaded first), but they’re generally getting free passage to your final destination.   You could always take Southwest, but unfortunately Southwest doesn’t fly to every destination and won’t always be an option.

Image courtesy of Per Gosche

How can I avoid baggage fees?

I’m glad you asked! The idea is to bring your bag through security as a carryon, and once at the departure gate, ask to have it gate checked. That’s it!

I came across this hack a few years ago, and fearing that the policy might have changed, I decided to try it again on a recent flight to San Francisco. And, I’m happy to report that it still works (yes, I was the ass dragging the giant pack through the lounge. I promise it was for a good cause). More often than not, the agents will be more than happy to accommodate -especially on crowded flights- in order to save space within the cabin. Sometimes you’ll even see the agents scouring the waiting area for oversized carryon just to gate check them anyways. Obviously you won’t be able to tote your 50lb plastic enforced suitcase with you, but you can certainly test the limits of what defines a carryon!

Word of warning though; the agents do have the authority to charge a fee, but I have yet to come across this myself.   Just remember, being pleasant with a smile goes a long way. As they have the authority to charge you the fee, they also have the discretion not to. Usually the crew will be more than happy to gate check your bag if asked nicely and to also keep the flow going. The last thing they want is to hold up the boarding process, ultimately delaying the plane.

Just be prepared for the worse case scenario of having to pay the baggage fee. If it works, you’re golden, and if it doesn’t, you were going to pay for the baggage fee anyways.

Did this work for you? Please share your experience if you’ve tried this hack.

The post Travel Hack Friday: Avoid Baggage Fees appeared first on Blaze Your Adventure.