Rick Seaney, co-founder of FareCompare.com - is a world-class air travel expert.
FareCompare.com presides over a kingdom of sophisticated software that searches out fares and destinations at a billion combinations per query - while keeping track of 500 airlines serving more than 270,000 markets around the globe.
And all of Rick's data is updated continuously - in real-time.
No wonder he's the media's go-to guy for all things air travel. He's got the answers. And he loves to share his knowledge.
That's why Rick and the team created FareCompare.com - to help everyone become an air travel expert, and get the best deals first -- every time they fly.
I’m sure the PR marketing masters over at Spirit Airlines aren’t paid nearly enough – after all, they’re forever waging uphill battles, what with spinning disasters like the discount carrier’s new carryon bag fees (“Everybody wins!”) and their new airplane seats (“They’re pre-reclined!”).
Plus, they get bloggers like me to write about them, thus, spreading the name of Spirit (“There’s no such thing as bad publicity!”).
Haven’t heard about the new, pre-reclined seats that Spirit is installing? Well, Spirit has two new Airbus 320’s with these seats, which the Palm Beach Post says are “seats that don’t recline”. That’s a bit different from “pre-reclined” wouldn’t you say? But maybe Spirit fliers don’t care – two cited in the article noted that the carrier’s seats that do recline are already pretty uncomfortable.
But Spirit says these seats have advantages in that they weigh less so they provide the airline with better fuel economy (here’s where the Spirit PR whizzes should be proclaiming, “They’re greener!”).
Okay, that aside – Spirit Airlines is what it is – a low cost carrier with rock bottom prices, little in the way of perks, and a whole lot of fans who love those cheap flights. Oh, and one heck of a marketing team.
This is becoming a standard restriction for new airfare sales – the cheap flights advertised are available only during certain weekdays or on Saturdays. And this is true just about any time you purchase airfare.
The cheapest days to fly are usually Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and sometimes Thursday.
And here are some examples of current sales that bear this out:
The reason? Airlines know that everyone wants to stretch out their vacation time by flying weekend to weekend – and they make you pay for that convenience.
Generally, the worst days to fly are Friday and/or Sunday (as my editor found out to her sorrow). Here’s a tip: if you must fly one of those days, try to make the other date a Tuesday or Wednesday, and you’ll at least net some savings.
UPDATE: See video of the CEO in an overhead bin, below.
The embattled CEO of Spirit Airlines, Ben Baldanza, is catching a lot of flak for instituting a $20-$45 carryon bag fee – including some nasty comments from government officials.
So Mr. Baldanza has sent out a mass email saying, “our latest innovation” is designed to save customers time and money.
I’m not so sure about the money part, especially if you wait to check your bag at the gate where you’ll have to fork over $45 – but he has a point about carryons, in that they slow security lines and boarding, and crowd the overhead bins. But how about policing the situation? If your bag doesn’t fit in that metal template at the gate, check it and charge for it.
But that’s not Spirit’s plan – instead, Mr. Baldanza is going the fee route, proclaiming that “Everyone wins!” because, “We expect total prices to be lower.”
And toward that end, they are instituting “one cent fares”. Of course, they’re not really penny fares, not after you pay the $40 club fees that are required, plus the taxes and other add-ons, along with the bag charges – but, they’ll still be a bargain, if the plane takes you where you want to go, when you want to go, but – how long will that last?
Surely, there are better ideas – and effectively policing the carryon brigade might be one of them.
Incredible: According to the Daily Mail, Europe’s big discount airline, Ryanair – as threatened earlier – will begin putting coin-operated pay-toilets (or pay-lavatories) on its aircraft.
The airline is said to be “working with Boeing to redesign the cabin and develop coin-operated toilets on 168 of its planes.” No date has been set.
To add insult to injury, Ryanair wants to reduce the number of its onboard lavatories – so there would just be one available to as many as 189 passengers (which means Ryanair could shoe-horn in another six seats or so).
What will it cost? One euro or one British pound, which works out to about $1.33 or $1.52 respectively.
One comment on the Daily Mail website: “The only answer if for everybody to refuse to buy any drinks!” Actually, that might hit Ryanair where it hurts, because according to the airline’s menu, they charge about $3.50 for water and about $2.70 for tea.
I was mentioned in a recent Bloomberg news article – which began by noting that a nonstop airline ticket from New York to Paris on the first weekend in May actually cost less than a nonstop to Omaha, Nebraska – the scene of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting.
You know, the event that some refer to as Warren Buffet’s “Woodstock for Capitalists”.
However, the picture the reporter painted was a little dark for me – so I’m going to give some advice: if any of you financial wizards out there still want to go, but worry about the cost – here’s one of my Top Five Secrets to Finding Cheap Airfare:
In the article, I point out that when seats are selling out, prices go up – but apparently they didn’t all sell out; and the article does note that fares can and do change – boy, do they ever! And I’ll add that shopping starting on Tuesday afternoon is a smart thing to do – in fact, it’s one of my Cheap Airfare Secrets (because Tuesdays are when you often see a flurry of sales).
Of course, a lot of this will be moot for some BuffetFest participants – those arriving on their private jets.
I was reading an article on Hipster Travel that mentioned FareCompare in the headlines, and it was all about how the writer failed to score a cheap airfare that he/she was alerted to.
In fairness, the author realized his mistake, which was waiting waaay too long to take advantage of the alert.
Nope, this wasn’t a U.S. airline playing dirty – it was a Danish carrier – but it’s still a good story (courtesy AirlineReporter). Here’s what happened:
Norwegian Air Shuttle was celebrating a new route with an incredible sale – seats were going for just 19-cents each. Except, hardly anyone got those seats.
And that’s because the employees of Norwegian’s competitor – a Danish airline called Sterling – bought most of the tickets. These employees used phony names like Donald Duck to buy literally hundreds of tickets. Climber’s CEO eventually publicly apologized.
But in the meantime, there were ultimately a bunch of cancelations for these cheap flights – perhaps because the fake buyers knew the cancelation process would cost Norwegian time and money, and it did. Other fake buyers simply didn’t bother to show up. Either way, the competition deprived Norwegian of the chance to bond with new customers – which is ultimately what this incredible sale was all about.
What do women (men, too) want for Valentine’s Day? Forget roses and chocolate* and give the gift of your time. People are so busy these days, that getting away together is a very big deal – but getting together in just the right spot is key.
Rather be skiing in the Rockies or savoring a charming bed and breakfast in New England? Then visit out “Where-to-Go” GetAway Map – with prices and Twitter – and have a wonderful time.
Tip: If the prices aren’t right for travel on Valentine’s Day or the immediate surrounding dates, there’s no law that says you can’t wait a couple of weeks. Just slip the itinerary in a nice card and give that on the 14th.
* Actually, don’t forget the flowers and candy altogether – these things tend to be expected. A true romantic, however, will kick it up a notch – with travel.
