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reckedracing

TTIWWOP
VIP
do airlines get desperate when its almost time for the flight and its not filled?
i'm looking for extremely short notice plane tickets, but they seem to be lots of money

any advice?
i know they are usually cheaper if you order well in advance, but at some point the price needs to start dropping right?
 
i wish i could help but i wouldn't know. :( i know that travelocity or one of those places was doing a 'last minute' vacation promo a few weeks back (when i was looking to book vegas) but it was a promo so i doubt it's good anymore. try priceline?
 
Fly on standby. You show up at the airport, and wait until they have a flight that's not full.
I think you might have to be an employee or something to do that... I dunno, my friends mom works at the airport so he does that some times, but I'm not sure if just anybody can.
 
i've had the opposite experience - bought a car on ebay, needed to fly out to get it; booked a flight at 10:30pm and flew out the following morning at 11:00am for $185 one-way, across the country. i've made the same flight roundtrip probably 15 times in the last 10 years, and i could never find the roundtrip for less than $380 and that was months in advance--and typically the flight was more like $445.

i remember that a few years ago it seemed like airlines wanted to dissuade one-way travelers because their one-way fares were the same price as the roundtrip fares. i think they wised up to the fact that they'll get more seat-fill (read: gas money) if they offer a value. blah anyway..

the short story is this: there seem to be two tactics being used by airlines:

1) rape the last-minute planners that try booking less than 21 days in
advance by charging double or triple the 21-day-in-advance standard
rate

2) get some bodies on the plane at a low price to help at least offset fuel
costs. oh yeah and toss 'em 4 peanuts in a bag ;).

i got lucky with the second scenario last month. but i've been victim to the first one several times too.

final suggestion: check out all of these sites because sometimes one quotes a cheaper price than the others, though orbitz is my personal fave:

Orbitz: Cheap Travel, Flights, Hotels, Vacations, Car Rentals, Cruises
Travel: Airfares, hotels, vacations, cruises, car rentals and more at Travelocity.com
CheapTickets: Cheap Flights, Hotels, Vacations, Last Minute Trips, Rental Cars, Cruises
 
i tried priceline and its $$$$

and i need to start an 8 hour drive in about 2 hours
ooh well
thanks for the responses
 
i saw on a commercial where they wait to see if the persons cancels or something and you get it for cheaper?? i forgot what website it was.. sorry not much of a help.
 
air line tickets are wack, pain in the ass. so far the basic 2 weeks seems to be the best, but even that is never 100%

bottom line airline tickets are always a gamble, if you go last min and they have a lot of seats open and need to make back some cash, maybe you'll get lucky, then again they might stick it to you just because they know you need to fly anyways.

I hate buying tickets.
 
well if you fly southwest you can be a standby passenger for really cheap... it worked for me beacuse almost none of their flights are completely booked
 
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