<p>Anyone have any great tips on finding deals on last minute airline trips?</p>
<p>H was supposed to be in D.C. this at the end of this week for a meeting, and from there was going to rent a car up to Allentown to pick our D up for her three weeks at home this summer (they’re driving her car back).</p>
<p>Trip to D.C. got cancelled, so now we have to find him a one-way trip Newark from Chicago (he has a previously standing airline reservation from Newark to Allentown he can still use).</p>
<p>What are some websites you guys have used for situations like this?</p>
<p>I use the airline’s websites. I just did a quick check, and US Air has flights for $170. You can check other sites, too. I find the airline sites to have better prices than travelocity, etc. — but it’s always worth a try to check those, too. Good luck!</p>
<p>dmd77 - that’s what we ended up doing. The fight to Allentown is a bit higher, but this way D doesn’t have to drive down to Philly to pick him up.</p>
<p>OK… this was interesting. H’s original plans were to fly from Manchester to Newark, then get a connecting flight from Newark to Allentown (he originally had a meeting in NH that was to end Friday, but then that was changed to D.C.; so that’s why he switched his plan to fly into D.C., do his meeting there, rent a car, drive to Allentown, drop off the car, and drive back home with D2). </p>
<p>After I posted, his concern became whether or not he could get on the flight between Newark and Allentown, since it was the second leg of a flight. So he called the travel agent; it ended up that ‘leg’ of Newark to Allentown was actually a coach bus. He was not happy to say the least, and would have been much unhappier had he flown into Newark only to find out he had to take a bus to Allentown. </p>
<p>So he got a one-way to Allentown with a stop in Philly for $285.</p>
<p>Kind of frustrates me, though, because had we known four weeks ago he was going to fly in from Chicago (as opposed to from a business trip destination), we could have booked earlier, and gotten a better fare.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I had to make a change on a flight I was scheduled to take tomorrow into Harlingen, TX on Southwest Airlines; changed it to Friday with no penalty, no problem (well, unless I get there and there’s no power, but that’s a different problem). Guess what I’ve been doing all day?</p>
<p>Kayak.com is sometimes helpful. The choose your own price thing on priceline is not good because your timing is usually not so flexible when it is last minute and you are in a rush.</p>
<p>If you do use priceline, in my experience Betterbidding has better tips than Bidontravel.</p>
<p>Betterbidding.com and biddingfortravel.com are 2 sites that provide a lot of info and assistance for bidding on priceline and hotwire. They contain lists of hotels that typically come up in the various cities/zones/star ratings which helps you make an educated guess at what you’ll end up with if you bid. And there are many posts by winning bidders telling you what they got and for what price. That helps you determine what you should bid for a particular zone/star rating. Check them out – they’re extremely invaluable sites if you’re going to use priceline or hotwire.</p>
<p>[ITA</a> Software](<a href=“http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch]ITA”>http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch) is used by travel agents and shows every flight available between destinations. You cannot book directly through the site, but you can give the info to a travel agent for booking, or research the flights on individual airline web sites.</p>
<p>We ended up on that Continental “flight” from Allentown to Newark once. Checked in early at Allentown, and asked where gate “bus” was- the agent smiled and pointed outside to the curb.</p>
<p>Hope the travel went smoothly, and that you have a terrific couple of weeks with your talented D.</p>