anyone have links to share, home air is Dallas

[happy cruzer]

Hi,

 

I would like to set up some links to monitor to help me find airfare for my cruise next OCT.

 

I would like to monitor Southwest, AA, and others for an open jaw or one trip. Dallas to Vancouver or Seattle, then return San Diego to the same airport in Dallas.

 

How many links do you think I would need to monitor? Any ideas on how to get alerts emailed to me. In the past I have just manually gone out to kayak and other sites for airfare. But since I have time to start looking early, I hoped someone would have ideas on how to do this more automated.

 

Thanks.

[parody]

I don't believe that there are any websites that will automatically monitor airfares on Southwest Airlines. For them you will need to do it manually. You can also sign up for emails from airfarewatchdog.com which does include WN.

 

For general fare changes in a market you can sign up for monitoring at various sites such as Orbitz's Deal Detector. However, I don't find them useful for cruising as one tends to get notifications for fare changes for undesirable off-peak flights.

 

Yapta.com is a very useful site for monitoring fare reductions for a specific flight(s). This can be very useful for cruisers as one can select particular flights to monitor that meet one's overall needs.

[FlyerTalker]

I would also suggest Fare Compare, which coincidentally is HQ'ed in the DFW area. They have an add-on for Firefox called FareFirst that I have found useful for some planning.

 

One thing to remember. There are differences between a "fare" being offered and the "price" of your ticket. "Fare" means that a specific type of ticket has been loaded into the GDS computers for a specified price for a city pair. Whether or not that fare will be available for the dates/times you want is another issue. I have often found a great "fare", but it is for dates that don't work, or times that are impossible. Or there simply is no inventory.

 

Yes, the automated systems will check for "fares", but nothing will replace good ol' fingers on a keyboard to see what's best for you.

 

My favorite tool is still ITA, but it takes work to get the most from it. Plus, it is not tied into any booking sites, so you have extra steps involved.

[pcur]

For Southwest download Ding! for your desktop. You'll get daily alerts based on your preferences.

 

I dislike Yapta intensely, and I uninstalled it last week. It activates when you go to ANY air travel web site, and I was constantly having to turn it off.

 

I use airgorilla.com to check my costs for airfare.. I was trying to find one for a friend, and the route was pretty unusual. I checked everywhere, and airgorilla had the lowest price and the best schedule choices.

 

I compare theirs to mobissimo, kayak, ITA, sidestep, and bestfares. Although I have purchased really good deals on bestfares, they require an annual fee, so the savings has to be over $60 compared to the next cheapest site.

[happy cruzer]

Thanks for all the info. I too tried yapta and fare compare they did not seem very easy to use.

 

I will keep trying the other suggestions.

 

Thanks.

[FlyerTalker]

I use airgorilla.com to check my costs for airfare.. I was trying to find one for a friend, and the route was pretty unusual. I checked everywhere, and airgorilla had the lowest price and the best schedule choices.

And you are purchasing consolidator/wholesale fares with all of the attendant benefits and risks. No refunds, no changes, no nothing. I assume you have read all of their terms and conditions, and then read between the lines on statements such as "wholesaler's mark-up" and separate charges. Along with wierd routings, separate charges often indicates multiple tickets put together into one itinerary -- without protection should you get delays on the first segments.

 

If the price savings are worth it to you....go ahead. Recognize that these kinds of tickets are fine IF everything goes OK. When things head south, then the drawbacks show up. Your choice as to whether the potential savings are worth it -- a traditional cost/benefit analysis.

 

To ignore the risks is foolhardy, IMO.

[parody]

For Southwest download Ding! for your desktop. You'll get daily alerts based on your preferences.

 

I dislike Yapta intensely, and I uninstalled it last week.

 

When Yapta first came out it was necessary to download a program to use it. As Yapta has evolved and improved, that download is no longer required. Actually, because of some small issues with Firefox 3 (and maybe SP3), it doesn't always open up automatically as it is suppose to.

 

When Ding! was first introduced, it had some attractive specials on Southwest Airlines. Alas, that doesn't seem to be the case today. Some have argued that it is hardly worth the effort anymore.

 

I too tried yapta and fare compare they did not seem very easy to use.

 

I've never had problems using yapta for tracking specific flights. If problems persist, I find that they respond very promptly to help requests.

[pcur]

And you are purchasing consolidator/wholesale fares with all of the attendant benefits and risks. No refunds, no changes, no nothing. I assume you have read all of their terms and conditions, and then read between the lines on statements such as "wholesaler's mark-up" and separate charges. Along with wierd routings, separate charges often indicates multiple tickets put together into one itinerary -- without protection should you get delays on the first segments.

 

If the price savings are worth it to you....go ahead. Recognize that these kinds of tickets are fine IF everything goes OK. When things head south, then the drawbacks show up. Your choice as to whether the potential savings are worth it -- a traditional cost/benefit analysis.

 

To ignore the risks is foolhardy, IMO.

 

I am well aware of what you mention above, and so was my friend. As long as she could get in and out on the same days, she was flexible with any time changes. The cost was very good, too, since she was flying out of Bakersfield instead of LAX, and flying into McAllen, TX (ever heard of it??? :D). She is on a VERY tight budget.

[pcur]

When Yapta first came out it was necessary to download a program to use it. As Yapta has evolved and improved, that download is no longer required. Actually, because of some small issues with Firefox 3 (and maybe SP3), it doesn't always open up automatically as it is suppose to.

 

I've never had problems using yapta for tracking specific flights. If problems persist, I find that they respond very promptly to help requests.

 

My problem with Yapta was it was constantly nagging me to use it, and opening anytime I looked for an airfare on any sight. Got very annoying, so I zapped it off my computer!!

[parody]

My problem with Yapta was it was constantly nagging me to use it, and opening anytime I looked for an airfare on any sight. Got very annoying, so I zapped it off my computer!!

 

Yes, that's the right thing to do since it doesn't need to reside on your computer anymore in order to take advance of its tracking capabilities.

[kenish]

The cost was very good, too, since she was flying out of Bakersfield instead of LAX, and flying into McAllen, TX (ever heard of it??? :D). She is on a VERY tight budget.

 

The *price* is very good. Hopefully everything will go uneventfully and the *cost* will be good too. When things go amok on a consolidator fare, the cost can become very high!