Here's a little FYI about air travel these days:
1) Air capacity is reduced but flier confidence has returned. Therefore there are fewer seats flying more buttocks than in the past few years.
2) Airlines have matched Southwest's business model in turning planes more quickly. This means shorter connections.
3) It's summertime. Summertime means thunderstorms. Thunderstorms means delays. Delays mean missed connections.
4) International flights SOMETIMES are once or twice a day only from hubs.
5) cheap ticket web sites get booked into a particular fare bucket. These fare buckets are known to gate agents. When delays happen (and the point of #1-4 are that delays are more prone this year than last year) you're on the BOTTOM of the list to help re-book and re-arrange. Also, these regional jets are weight restricted. If they need to bump someone involuntarily you are going to be on the top of the list.
6) cheap ticket web sites sometimes find air fares crossing airlines that do not have alliances with each other. This can mean leaving security to get your bags then re-checking them. With #3 going on, do you really want to hope that airline A will put your luggage out quickly so that you can re-check it in time to get back through security and back onto airline B? The cheap ticket web sites do not know security checkpoint times or peak times per hub airports.
7) Cheap web sites will also (similar to #6) book one way on one airline and return one way on another. One way ticket will have a good chance of getting you a *S* on your boarding pass - this means SPECIAL SEARCH by TSA. Meaning more delays in security. Be sure to wash thoroughly including those buttocks!!
8) you really are not going to save THAT much money. Domestically on priceline you may save $20-$30-$50.
My suggestion for cheap travel is to get an airline credit card and book a trip on it through a LEGITIMATE web site that does not include these cheap sites (or priceline.) Pay a little more money. You'll be upping your chances for having a successful trip. That one trip will net you lots of bonus points and may also give you special status with the airline involved. For a recommendation, currently USAir's two credit card companies, Juniper and Bank of America, are 'duking it out for customers' and offering some sweet deals this summer for airline credit cards. If you want more info PM me, i won't hijack this thread.
Sometimes super-cheap is not really how you want to spend your money. I strongly believe that with air-travel you're throwing the dice. You may have a fine experience - or you may not. Of course, you still may have a crappy experience on a 'regular' ticket. However, these super-cheap tickets up your chances for having a bad experience.
ALSO I don't work for any airline, never have, nor have any friends or family members. I have flown around this world every other week for about 4 years as a consultant, so I'm exposed a bit more to life in the air.
Take care out there and good luck.
