In Part 1 of Conrad Stanley’s personal guide to flying the ultra-low-cost carriers, he introduced his five-part strategy for buying airline tickets so inexpensively that it almost doesn’t pay to stay at home. In this installment, we delve more deeply into the details of his strategies.
As you might recall, the first rule of thumb is to avoid the “convenience fees” of buying tickets online or over the phone.
This fee has various names. Allegiant calls it an “electronic carrier charge,” Spirit a “passenger usage fee,” and Frontier an “electronic interface charge.”
“I would encourage people to research flight prices online, going partially through the booking process,” Conrad explain. “But before entering any credit card information, click on Flight Price for a breakdown on the different amounts for the fare, fees, and taxes that arrive at that total. When you see one of these three names for the convenience fee, you know that if you go to the airport, you can bypass it. The airlines aren’t allowed to charge it at the airport.”
He gives us an example. “I recently researched a flight online that was $84 and change. By buying my ticket at the airport, I saved $45.98 on the fees of $22.99 each way, which is typical. My airfare was $38 and change — almost half-off.
“My understanding is that because it’s a convenience fee and technically not part of the fare, the government can’t tax it. So research online, but buy at the airport to forego that fee.”
In addition, there’s no magic time to buy your ticket. “I’ve gotten these deals more than a month out, as well as just days out,” Conrad says. “Usually, less than seven days out, the price shoots up, but not always, as I’ve booked super-cheap flights on one- or two-days’ notice. My personal experience with Spirit has been a week to a few weeks out; less than a week before your flight, the price can really shoot up.”
Fares also depend heavily on demand. “I rarely leave Vegas on a Sunday or return on a Friday. Everyone else is doing that and it drives up airfares noticeably. It’s easier and cheaper to do it opposite: leave on a Thursday or Friday and return on a Sunday or Monday.”
In Part 3 of this series, we’ll take an in-depth look at seat selection, saving on the boarding-pass fee, and the big one: luggage for free.
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These “fees” are nothing but a rip off, just like “resort fees”. They offer nothing to the consumer and ONLY pad the profits of the seller. I avoid this fee- and ALL of the nonsense that goes with it – by flying ONLY on Southwest Airlines.
I flew roundtrip to Miami superbowl weekend for $28.64. And similar other trips there and other destinations. You couldnt get close to that with Southwest. No way.
This is like saying I will never pay a resort fee in Las Vegas and instead book an off-strip chain like a Marriott or La Quinta. So instead of paying $30 room rate plus $40 resort fee, you get an $89 room with no fee and pat yourself on the back for not giving into corporate greed.
Conrad is right on with these, I book the same deals sometimes online, sometimes at the airport and get the types of fares people can’t believe until you show them the receipt. Good luck getting Southwest to fly you from Denver to LAX for $42 round trip this month, I did it on Frontier and didn’t even have to go to the airport to buy it. I have gotten as low as $10 round trip on Spirit buying at the airport following the leave on Friday and come back Sunday strategy as well. The “fare” portion of the trip was 1 cent each way, the rest was taxes. They aren’t really that hard to get and in a city like Las Vegas where the airport is relatively easy to go to and parking costs a couple of bucks for a quick stop in its usually, but not always, worth it.
Willy,
And I as well agree with much of what you say. However I am going to go on record as saying these penny fares and fares not needing going to the airport to save a good amount are a far and few between. Now I too have flown on spirit on penny fares each way but required going to the airport.So the total RT fare is 2 cents plus taxes and fees. (Scratch tax as 7.5 percent federal excise tax is impossible to charge as it would be less than a penny). Now for the govt fees on a 1 way flight and lets assume this is a non-stop:
9/11 security fee-$5.60
Passenger facility fee-$4.50
Segment fee $-4.30
(A segment fee is described as a takeoff and a landing).
As part of the Cares Act the segment fee has been suspended til Jan 1st 2021.
The Federal excise tax of 7.5 percent of airfare amount has also been suspended til Jan 1st 2021.
So Wayne that is why you got the fare for $10.11. Each way and not a penny less.(by the way I challenge you to post an online purchased receipt in that amount) Has to be in your emailed receipt. Betcha cant, but maybe you will suprise me.
Fare- a penny
9/11 fee $5.60
Pfc fee-$4.50
Total-$10.11
The segment fee was suspened on march 27th and is scheduled to resume Jan 1 so $10.10 in fees each way goes to $14.40 each way.
Yes I have recently seen flights on Spirit to chicago for $17.10 each way where i would only save a couple bucks at airport so I just bought it online. But when it gets down to it readers, and you have a destination and time frame you need to travel within research it online and i bet 80 to 90 percent of the time it will behoove you to buy it at sirport. I know this gets convoluted but the fees described above are govt fees we must all pay. Going to the airport to book Spirit,Frontier or Allegiant will save you on theyre fees which are typically much higher and can be avoided.
Does Conrad shop fares through a consolidator, or always directly through the airline?
RE Last Minute Fare: Is Conrad traveling solo? My brother can almost always snag a single last minute bargain ticket (by searching), but not usually if traveling with one or more others, i.e. spouse, kids.
I Dont go through a consolidator. Direct through Spirit,Frontier or Allegiant and buy it at the airporI I fly solo and with others. Booked at the right time there are many cheap seats at the same price. I think your brother has just had some bad luck. Keep tryin and he will get multiples!!
I’m still not getting the “need” to go to the airport to book. I’ve flown all three of the discount airlines listed in the past two articles – paying as low as $15 for a one way ticket – and I’ve only booked them using the airline app or webpage. What am I missing here?
Good for you. Sometimes they dont charge the full fee but they usually do. For example I have recently gotten several 1 way fares on line for $17.10. In these instances it didn’t make sense to go to to the airport as i would pay $14.30 and only save less than $3.00 so didnt make sense. But this is pretty rare. More often than not you will experience roundtrips that are say approx $84.00 on spirit especially. But by buying same ticket at airport I have skipped a $45.98 fee bringing price down to $38 and change. This is all on a case by case basis. As time goes on you will experience flights with these fees and to get price down super cheap will need to go to the airport to buy it. Trust me i have flown spirit over 100 times. Again you need to partially go thru booking process online to see what that fee would be and then determine if it makes sense to back out of that and go to airport to purchase the ticket.
I am struggling with how to purchase in advance vs buying at the airport to save a fee. How do you buy at the airport and get the flight you want?
Doug,
When you buy it at airport you are buying it in advance just like you would online. So you still want to go online in advance like always to look at potential flights. When you find a flight that works, instead of paying for it online (Booking it).
Go down to your airport and purchase the flight at the airlines main ticket counter. This way you save that conveinence fee you saw online that they cant charge at the airport. This savings can often cut your entire ticket price in half or more.
Hope this helps.
How do you get enough luggage on Spirit for say a 4-5 day trip without paying baggage fees?
Bill,
Stay tuned. That is focal point of next installment coming very soon.