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Flying to PAX
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In the interest of getting to Seattle by air in the cheapest, most comfortable, and least stressful manner, I'd like to have a thread where people can share their previous experience:
And what people are doing this year:
To start, I'll be flying out to PAX this year from sunny Phoenix, Arizona. Last year I flew with US Airways, arriving early Thursday and returning Monday night for a total of $289.99 (all taxes and fees included). Both ways nonstop. I bounced around a few different sites and ended up with Orbitz, and bought my tickets May 20th (about 100 days before the show).
All told the trip went smooth. Flights were on time and I was even able to get some 4' tall flowers on board from Pike Place on the way back (though I did need to drain all the liquid from the base at the checkpoint)
I just checked a few sites, and the best flight available now that followed last year's plan (Arrive early Thursday, leave late Monday, non stop) is currently going for $388 with US Air via Travelocity. There was a flight with a layover for $320 round trip, but layovers are notoriously finicky and I try to avoid them.
My fellow fliers! Let us share information and bask in the warm glow of combined knowledge.
- Where you're flying from
- Which airline you flew with last year
- When you booked your tickets
- How much your tickets cost
- Any horror stories (lost luggage, crashed somewhere in woodland Montana)
And what people are doing this year:
- What booking sites you like to peruse
- Any special bargains you care to share
- Alternative transportation methods (Blackhawk Helicopter, Slightly Used Concorde, 1920sesque Aerogyro)
To start, I'll be flying out to PAX this year from sunny Phoenix, Arizona. Last year I flew with US Airways, arriving early Thursday and returning Monday night for a total of $289.99 (all taxes and fees included). Both ways nonstop. I bounced around a few different sites and ended up with Orbitz, and bought my tickets May 20th (about 100 days before the show).
All told the trip went smooth. Flights were on time and I was even able to get some 4' tall flowers on board from Pike Place on the way back (though I did need to drain all the liquid from the base at the checkpoint)
I just checked a few sites, and the best flight available now that followed last year's plan (Arrive early Thursday, leave late Monday, non stop) is currently going for $388 with US Air via Travelocity. There was a flight with a layover for $320 round trip, but layovers are notoriously finicky and I try to avoid them.
My fellow fliers! Let us share information and bask in the warm glow of combined knowledge.
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As for last year, I flew Virgin America out of LAX, and plan to do it again this year. Booked the flights near the end of June because they were having a sale, $213 for the whole trip, including taxes. Nonstop, about 2 hours 30 minutes each way.
My plan is to go up Wednesday morning and return Monday afternoon. Right now it's looking like $259 on any airlines flying out of LAX, with taxes, though the prices wildly fluctuated last year (it got as high as $200 each way at one point on Virgin America).
No bad stories from me, just stupid LAX security checkpoint checked my bag for explosives for 20 minutes. Though, it may have had to do with the fact that I had 7 bottles of "Mana" in my bag, though they were all in the 1 quart plastic bag. Still, everything in my bag got swabbed, including my laptop and external hard drive. I won't be lugging my laptop up this year, unless I get a netbook.
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This year I plan on doing the same thing. With Southwest you can only book about 3 months in advance, so I won't have my tickets until June/July. I've seen fares at $99 one-way pretty reliably from them, so hopefully I'll be able to pounce on one of those! (last year was $119 one-way when I bought)
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Looking to this year... round trips on Kayak are under $450... might have to book that soon.
[X] Train tix
[_] Finish Vivi costume
[X] Anxiously wait
Good info, Shugarae! As a test, I went on southwest.com and did three searches: 1 month out from today (March), 3 months out (May), and 6 months out (August), each looking for a flight from Phoenix to Seattle arriving on a Wednesday and returning on a Monday. Both the one month and three month searches found nonstop flights each way for $97, and the 6 month search came closer to $150 each way.
Including fees flying with Southwest and booking 1-3 months in advance comes to $217, about $70 cheaper then what I paid last year and a good $200 cheaper than what I can find online today.
So assuming there isn't a great fluctuation in price in the coming months and there's no premium for flying on Labor Day, the best time for me to book this year would be mid to late June.
Thanks again for the tip!
Also a good tool to use is http://farecast.live.com/ as it tracks trends in ticket prices and will help try and predict when to buy. I am hoping for sub $200 with tax this year!
I am ready.
Damnit Moe, we talked about this already. I need the cheapest option for PAX possible with my current fiscal state.
Long story...
I am so excited for PAX, my god it seems so far off.
We're 165 days from the last PAX, and 203 days until the next PAX.
"Low Tide" for PAX this year (The day that is the furthest away from any PAX) is March 3rd. It is the day where we are no longer getting farther away from the last PAX, but getting closer to the next PAX...
I like that, lets officialize it.
it also works as the days leading up to PAX seem longer and longer.
Thats so true. God help us all, how can we wait for so long?
Think of it this way: breaking up long waits into smaller bits makes the time go faster.
For example, now there's only two weeks before the PAX Winter Solstice! So little time to get your greeting cards and holiday plans in order...
Damn, now I want to throw a PAX Winter Solstice party..
* Flew from BWI (Baltimore, MD) and had one layover in Milwaukee, WI.
* Flew on Airtrain on their Aircraft Boeing 737-700
* Book 2 tickets months in advance I believe May.
* Total price for 2 tickets - $761.02 ($380.51 a piece)
* No horror stories. We packed our things in carry-on luggage. When we landed in Seattle we took the bus downtown with no problems. And, when we need to get back to the airport for an early morning flight we took the bus back. We stayed in the hostel nearby -- The Green Tortoise.
This Year:
I've found a few flights from BWI to SEA on Airtrain for $210 and under! All direct flights so we'll be booking these tickets soon especially since we had a great experience flying with them previously. Sometimes I'll use Fatwallet for possible cashback. I haven't checked to see if this would apply to Priceline just yet.
So, this year flying, bus (public transportation), and hostel again.. ..so that'll keep the total trip under $800.
I've been checking on Alaska/Horizon website and it's only about $1.00 cheaper than Virgin.
Similar to Alaska/Horizon, Virgin has limited destinations and limited flights, but from all the folks who took it last year, Virgin was good.
Sadly, due to tight budget, The Boyfriend and I will have to take flight both ways instead of train one-way, flying other-way.
Virgin was awesome last year, but it was really crowded on the flight back home. And FYI, Seattle is a hub city for Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air, and also deal with American Airlines.
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Usually, I fly Southwest or United. Southwest is no frills but I have enough junk to entertain me. I'm a premier member of United which makes them pretty good since I get upgrades and what not. I don't know if either of them go to Seattle.
I'll probably won't schedule my flight until August since I have no idea where I'll be flying in from yet.
I was going to fly out of Burbank last year until I found that it would be anywhere between $10 and $50 cheaper flying out of LAX. Van Nuys Flyaway makes getting to LAX much easier.
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The Boyfriend's luggage got to the airport before we did on our way back. We got to the airport SUPA early and went on the flight to SFO before our scheduled flight.
But by the time I got to the airport, it was closing (yes, tiny airports do close) and my luggage was apparently locked up in some magical mystical lost and found area. So I filed a report with one of the remaining employees and crossed my fingers.
Believe it or not, but Priceline got me the best price. Thank you, Bill Shatner.