cheap flights

[randy41]

i'm thinking of visiting my son in Oakland next month. i live in VA south of Roanoke.
i don't travel much (1999 is the last time i went anywhere by air).
how do i find cheap airfares? is it cheaper to book one way or round trip? i will be going there for just a couple of nights or so since i have a farm to run.

 

[Sigarms]

Go to travel websites like kayak.com or expedia, type in where you want to leave from, to where, and what dates. You can book everything online.

I did a quick search for next month on Kayak, looks like round trip from Roanoke to Oakland is in the $1,000 range. You can save $200 by driving to Greensboro, but the 2 hr drive and extended parking fee may not make it worth while.

If you have diffiuclty navigating the travel sites via computer, don't hesitate to ask your son if he's more computer savvy. I've booked my father on flights more than a couple of times when he calls asking me (he's pushing 85 and HATES computers lol)

Becuase I'm only a max 1.5 hour drive from Raleigh/Durham, Charlotte or Greensboro, I'll check all 3 airports where I'm departing from so see if something cheaper makes it worth the hassle of driving to one airport over the other.

Not sure what airport you could check from other than Roanoke?

I double checked expedia…

Expedia | Flights From ROA to OAK

Looks like if you can push it back to July, round trip for under $700 (scratch that, that's for a months stay LOL)

Generally, the more time you have to leave, the better rates you can find. Next month is coming up rather quick. Hindsight is perfect science, but if you wanted to leave in June, you might of wanted to start looking in Feb or March.

I do think if you push the flight back to July, you will save more due to the time frame.

 

[3930dave]

We don't fly much anymore either, but my wife uses TripAdvisor a lot for checking out cost and reviews on hotels and motels - it's been very useful for that.

You can search for flight info on Trip Advisor, and they also appear to have Ratings for the airlines themselves. Unfortunately, since '99 the airline "experience" has deteriorated, so it's probably worth doing the research to avoid the problem airlines today - there are worse things that can happen while travelling than paying a few dollars more, IMO..... (and, I'm on a tight budget).

I believe Reviews of Hotels, Flights and Vacation Rentals - TripAdvisor should work for you. (If I type that in at my end, it bounces me over to the tripadvisor.ca site).

Good luck, Rgds, D

 

[brin]

My wife and I just returned from a trip to Old San Juan , Puerto Rico....We flew Delta and booked it through Expedia...about $700 Round trip coach for the two of us....WE had not flown since the mid 1990's , I could not get over the process to even get on the plane...the security lines...We were prepared and had read all the regs so we had no problem but the crowds and shoes coming off etc...I was singled out to be scanned... The seats are really small now compared to what they used to be...I had a tall , 6'6" young guy in his 20's sitting in front of me and he slept the whole way with his head way back over the back of his seat so the back of his head was about 8 inches from my face most of the flight...I will try to never have to fly again....and back in the day I flew weekly for years....way different now...I found out even if you bring a carry on there is no assurance you won't have to check it...they board you by zones in coach so if you are toward the end of any zone they may make you check your carry on so be sure not to leave any meds or valuables in your carry on...Good Luck

 

[randy41]

i am a bit apprehensive about flying but it couldn't be any worse than the megabus. I live but 2 hours from Charlotte (Roanoke is 1 1/4 hours) and i found that its cheapest to fly from Charlotte to San Francisco. I guess they don't have stand by anymore and they don't pick up hitchhikers.

 

[aczlan]

Its generally cheaper to fly midweek, looks like a couple of options leaving in mid June are around $660-770 (I used KAYAK Search Results and set the "nights at destination" to 2-5)

Aaron Z

 

[randy41]

that kayak site is good. if you change it to charlotte and san francisco it gets into the $500-600 range.

 

[Sigarms]

i am a bit apprehensive about flying but it couldn't be any worse than the megabus. I live but 2 hours from Charlotte (Roanoke is 1 1/4 hours) and i found that its cheapest to fly from Charlotte to San Francisco. I guess they don't have stand by anymore and they don't pick up hitchhikers.

You flying one of those F15's out of Seymour down 220?. I was up in Roanoke last week from Greensboro and it took me 80 minutes on 220.

 

[randy41]

You flying one of those F15's out of Seymour down 220?. I was up in Roanoke last week from Greensboro and it took me 80 minutes on 220.

cept i don't live in roanoke but more than an hour south of it. 20 minutes to Hillsville and jump on 77. from here it takes about the same amount of time to get to greensboro as it does to charlotte.

 

[Sigarms]

cept i don't live in roanoke but more than an hour south of it. 20 minutes to Hillsville and jump on 77. from here it takes about the same amount of time to get to greensboro as it does to charlotte.

Sorry, makes sense now.

I have a office in Charlotte and Greensboro. The only problem with 77 is it's russian roulette with traffic depending on time of day (morning or afternoon), right around exit 23, Huntersville.

If it's no more than $150 out of Greensboro compared to Charlotte, I'd take that (Greensboro) airport anytime of the day over Charlotte, for both getting in and out speed wise. Only nice time getting out of the Charlotte airport IMO (coming home) is if you have a late flight in and you're on 77 north late evening. Have a flight in the morning out of Charlotte and you're on 77, you better give yourself PLENTY of time depending on traffic.

I was just out in Oklahoma from Greensboro. By the time I parked the car (at the airport) to the time I made the gate was no more than 35 minutes, and that was a 0900 flight.