Rainy Monday reflections

So, here I sit, my office again in total disarray after emptying out of storage fully. I await Ra-wub's arrival to move some things home and some things here. Then, everything has to be re-hung and .. Lord, have mercy.

So, yesterday I re-connected with two law school friends. One - my best friend from law school days, with whom I ran the streets until we both graduated and he moved back north. The other, a stalwart friend with whom I lost contact more than ten years ago.

It was good to catch up, and it was affirming to find that with all that has transpired since we last spoke - the uniform comment was that there just wasn't that much to talk about. No one was feeling enthusiastic about where we were in life - just looking for what's next.

Today, I was perusing employment opportunities - and finding that the job market has swept the value out from under the advanced degree I have. 25+ years of experience is worth about $22/hour, unless they're just lowballing.

Interesting article that I caught a day ago that suggested low cost airlines (specifically Ryanair) were charging the unsuspecting so much in fees that they were paying more than a full service airliner - and then today, another article complaining about the fees being assessed by the US network carriers which "may exceed the cost of the ticket!"

I had a hard time with the credibility of that last - not the least reason of which being that he couldn't spell worth a flip. But, today, I was researching some airfare for a friend (not that I don't do THAT several times a week) and discovered that American Airlines offered what looked like a lower fare than did Continental between the same two cities. However, in looking at the FINAL price (with fees), the American itinerary was between $6.00 and $8.00 HIGHER than the Continental price and required a stop and change of equipment in each direction.

So, when you're wondering how I work my airfare magic - I'll tell you. First, I tap into my vast, stored knowledge about which airlines travel between which cities (for instance, I would rarely suggest US Airways for travel to anywhere leaving Houston and going to the Midwest) and then check the following:

Kayak.com
Southwest.com
JetBlue.com (limited opportunities from this market, but great if you live near NYC)

If the travel includes a city into which Continental (or whatever your favorite airline travels) flies, I also check that airline's website directly.

With Kayak.com, you can search their site along with travelocity, expedia, priceline and hotwire simultaneously. Be sure to check those boxes to search all of the sites.

NEVER EVER EVER buy tickets from some website called "cheapassedairlinetickets.com" or something. EVER. When you buy through any website that is not operated directly by the air carrier onto which you are booked, any disruption in your travel will likely be handled by the booking website, and not the airline.

That means when you're stuck in New York City, booked on the last Delta (Comair) flight from JFK to Houston on a Sunday night and Comair cancels the flight because of a crew misconnect (which happens a LOT - seasoned travelers will avoid this flight like the measles) you will find that Delta will NOT help you. They invite you to call cheapassedairlinetickets.com and good luck with THAT.

Why check all of these different sites?

#1 - in any city pair market in which two of the airlines directly compete, you'll find that the airfares are nearly identical - UNTIL someone runs out of seats for that travel time.
#2 - if you find that is offering a lower fare, but you'd rather fly your preferred carrier, you can call them on the phone and ask them to match the lower price. They probably will.
#3 - each of these sites have different deals with rental cars and hotel operators - and sometimes you can find a lower airfare between your two cities by ADDING a hotel. The total cost is actually lower than the bare airfare.

And, never, ever try to back haul on a connection to save twenty bucks.