Cheap tickets to California

[Cheap dude]

As they say gotta have money to make money.

[Cheap dude]

Any website for very cheap tiks

[steve2]

Any website for very cheap tiks

 try Orbitz,kayak,travelocity I like orbitz since they will put say a DL there and a AA back  as 1 tkt usually under Multi Carriers, also if you click to, they will say have you leaving EWR and back into LGA. if you arent parking a car at at the airport this may work out

 the same for your destination which if FL isnt too bad as most Car comps dont have a drop off fee in FL. Most any where else the drop off fee can be more then the rental itself

 so for  a NY area flight Check LGA,JFK,EWR,HPN (very costly parking and limited),SWF and even PHL but befoer jumping at the cheapest work out what it mau cost in gas,tools and parking as they can very easily off set any savings on the fare itself and make it more expensive in the end. If I can park for free at say LGA or JFK or get someone to drop me and pick me up then it doesnt pay for me to save say $30 and go via PHL. As it will cost me more then my savings. If I was going to park at LGA which is over $20 a day then PHL is OK as I can park there for $6-8 a day

 also check into alternative airports for where you heading so if FL, PBI,FLL, and MIA for Southern FL. For Orlando Id look at TPA,MCO,MEL(limited service) or JAX and where a car will be the cheapest . no sense flying into PBI and saving say $20 if you spilt of teh car will be say $35 more then if you went into FLL

 Unfortuantely there is no simple way to work it all out but by trail and error, it will be time consuming and might gte on your nerves or to those of us who enjoy it its all part of the Game

 But do get out of your head that you will find something for under $100

 

[moish]

you need to find another game to play,LoL

 those of us who are status junkies have some disposable income, our Game is how to spend the least yet reap the most.

 so for me its not I cant afford the $1000 to go say NY-BKK (Bangkok) but rather how can I do it for less. and get my EQMs down to as little as possible. Meaning getting what I pay per mile in the air for as little as I can. so if I can get that NY-BKK for $800 great but it means Im paying .10 cents per EQM (mile) I aint gonna go its too much.

 I wanted to go to Madrid from EWR its $354 and I would earn 7700 miles, well if I fly from SEA (Seatle) its $433 and 14k+ or for $80 more I will earn an extra 6k. BINGO, so I work on getting to SEA for as close to $200 as possible.

 So EWR-MAD for $354 means Im paying .046 per mile by going via SEA its .0348 per mile so worth flying to SEA, but since I have a $200 CS cert it means I will pay only $513 NY-SEA-NY & SEA-MAD-SEA or .025 per EQM (Mile). So yes it means spending more $$ but it also means getting each Mile at a very cheap price thusly its very worth spending the $$$. this is what we do on FT (its not how can I fly for free or stay for free perse although thats apart of it) its maxing out each $

 FT was started as a means of Road Warriors helping each other out in the pursuit of Status in carriers and hotel programs. also to exchange different promos to yield ever more Miles &/or Pts, and went in all directions from there. it was far from being a DD or FW or SD


you are playing an entirely different game and are trying to play without the necessary equipment to boot

can u explain that madrid thing in laymans terms?

[Dan]

can u explain that madrid thing in laymans terms?

He's just saying his strategy to stay elite at a low cost.  For those who don't care about elite status or get elite status via matching or credit card spending it doesn't really apply.

At any rate anything under $200 to Cali is a great fare.  There are occasionally loweer fares like the $39 tix to san jose, but those are the exception.

Sign up for the Dansdeals facebook and twitter accounts and you'll be able to grab those price mistakes when they happen.
Unfortunately those kinds of price mistakes are getting harder to find as the airlines are getting more sophisticated in stopping price mistakes from occurring.

[steve2]

can u explain that madrid thing in laymans terms?

 which part?

 let me try an example of another kind to help you

 a 20oz bottle of soda is $1.39 and a 2 liter is $1.89 . Well the 2 ltr costs more $$ for to buy , but at the same time it will cost you alot less per oz if you buy the 2 ltr

 = flying EWR-MAD-EWR will cost you less $$ (just like the 20 oz soda) but SEA-MAD-SEA will cost you more $$ out of pocket but each EQM (mile) will cost you less $$ (just like the 2 ltr )

 If say a EWR-MAD-EWR was $180.35 then it work out @ .025 and no reason to run out to SEA since the cost per EQM would be the same

 I just reran my #s and it seems I used the miles to BCN and not MAD in my post above , I was playing with both BCN and MAD and BCN is 7700 and MAD is 7200 from EWR. But the concept is the same

 Now if all a person wants is to get to MAD for as little as possible then EWR-MAD would be the way to go or if the person couldnt care about earning EQMs, just fly EWR-MAD.

Since I want/need to do my 100k with UA and maybe CO as well. I dont mind flying West in order to be somewhere East. A Status seeker looks for a routing between 2 cities like a < or > or v or upside down v rather then a  - (straight line)

 hope it helped you if not just ask away

[steve2]

He's just saying his strategy to stay elite at a low cost.  For those who don't care about elite status or get elite status via matching or credit card spending it doesn't really apply.

 Well Matching is a 1 time occurance for Life, so what do they the 2nd yr?

 As for CCs yea but I dont know of a single CC that wil give you anything above the 1st level which in most cases today isnt worth really that much. Basically just gets rid of Bag fees, (I know elite access at TSA and for Boarding but TSA is worthles with so many Elites today, and some places are calling the Elites level by level so that too isnt what it once was)

 AA for ex has LifeTime Gold and Plat but not LifeTime Exp Plat that has to be earned every yr and thats where the best benefits are, same with UA I think CO has a LifeTime Plat. also all except AA the only to get there is by flying CC miles and miles earned any other way dont count towards LifeTime status

 If Top level is needed is a per person calculation depending on how much they fly and why

 IMO with all the DEQMing done last yr if aperson wont be top level about the only difference between them and a non-elite wil be the free checked bags and the 25% extra RDMs . Otherwise it will be mostly worthless in '10

[Dan]

As others have said on the forums, matching isn't once per person, but once per mileage account.  I've never done that but others claim to do it every year.

I have AA lifetime Plat via credit card spending and am actively rooting for AA to make their upgrades free to all elites.

Also I've got 35,000 EQM's on CO this year (along with some 75,000 "fake EQM's" flown on award tickets this year but they don't earn anything of course)  but I also have 20,000 flex EQM's from spending on the CO Pres. Plus card.  If I want I can use that to bump up to gold...not sure if it's worth burning all those in a DEQM year though.

[steve2]

As others have said on the forums, matching isn't once per person, but once per mileage account.  I've never done that but others claim to do it every year.

I have AA lifetime Plat via credit card spending and am actively rooting for AA to make their upgrades free to all elites.

Also I've got 35,000 EQM's on CO this year (along with some 75,000 "fake EQM's" flown on award tickets this year but they don't earn anything of course)  but I also have 20,000 flex EQM's from spending on the CO Pres. Plus card.  If I want I can use that to bump up to gold...not sure if it's worth burning all those in a DEQM year though.

 I will have for '10 AA Plat no EQMs (LifeTime Plat appx 5 yrs now) closing in on 3MM but w/o the CCs its gonna be a long way off

 CO Plat once again too many yrs to count over 80k EQMs this yr very few from DEQMs

and 1st time UA 1k over 125k EQMs w/o DEQM appx 80k so either way I would have gotten 1k just didnt have to spend anything extra to get it

 free tkts mileage well over 50k never kept count that doesnt include Bonus EQMs for Biz or FC seating

 Now assuming the coins wont be able to be played like it was in '09 can you still count on that 20k from the Pres CC?

 I dont have a biz ongoing so all my charges are my own Dime = w/o the Coins or TCs not much to charge.

 since I change my plans constantly I need the No Fees for redepositing or changing of Award tkts = Top status Level saves me some $$$ every yr on avg. Also I dont care for Airports and dont have any Club memberships (a waste of $$$ IMO or at leats till 12/25 it was) so having Top level allowed me to push the envelope when others couldnt (getting with Things that I shouldnt have been able to do) also nice to know I can check in 3 bags w/o fees @ 70 lbs each, needed at times.

 Id say most people on DD wont have the need for Top Level, unless they fly for Biz and that the Lowest level should be enough. Main concern not having to pay baggage fees which is going up every so often. So for them a CO or UA CC can take care of that or at least 1 bag which if they fly a couple of times a yr on the same Carrier will more then off set the Annual Fee of the CC. Or if B6 (Jet Blue) flys to where they are going then save the AF and simply stick with B6

[Devorah]

How do you get elite status via credit card spending?

[Dan]

How do you get elite status via credit card spending?

There are many credit card that give elite qualifying miles for spending. I know for sure that Continental, Delta, and United all have such cards though they're not necessarily cheap.

On AA once you hit a million lifetime miles from any source you get lifetime elite status.

[Devorah]

Is there a first year fee free CO card?

[Dan]

Is there a first year fee free CO card?

Those are very hard to come by. 

[steve2]

Is there a first year fee free CO card?

 The best Ive seen is $35 for the World MC

 heres how;

 go to cool (continnetal.com) log in (assuming you have an acct) and proceed to book a flight

 after you have selected the flights you want it will give you the details and total price look at the top left hand corner and you will see where it deducts $50 from the total. what that is , then and there apply for the CC and after you get it it will deduct $50 off the statement that has your 1st charge on it. so the fee is $85 - 50 = $35. you do NOT have to purchase the tkt you were looking at nor is the $50 refund based on having purchased that tkt or due to having charged something from CO to the CC

 Just make sure you dont click "Purchase Now" if you do you just got the tkt you were looking at

[Devorah]

The best Ive seen is $35 for the World MC

 heres how;

 go to cool (continnetal.com) log in (assuming you have an acct) and proceed to book a flight

 after you have selected the flights you want it will give you the details and total price look at the top left hand corner and you will see where it deducts $50 from the total. what that is , then and there apply for the CC and after you get it it will deduct $50 off the statement that has your 1st charge on it. so the fee is $85 - 50 = $35. you do NOT have to purchase the tkt you were looking at nor is the $50 refund based on having purchased that tkt or due to having charged something from CO to the CC

 Just make sure you dont click "Purchase Now" if you do you just got the tkt you were looking at

That is for the 25,000 mile offer.  Is there any way to get the 35,000 mile offer + the $50 statement credit?

[Dan]

That is for the 25,000 mile offer.  Is there any way to get the 35,000 mile offer + the $50 statement credit?

The best I've seen is 30,000 miles, and it's not combinable with the $50 credit.  The rest of the miles only come if you pay the annual fee for a 2nd year.

[Cheap dude]

Dan , any california ideas?

[Devorah]

The best I've seen is 30,000 miles, and it's not combinable with the $50 credit.  The rest of the miles only come if you pay the annual fee for a 2nd year.

The current offer on continental.com is 30,000 bonus miles after you make your first purchase plus 5,000 bonus miles after you make your first purchase and sign up an additional authorized user within two months after opening your account.
Is it worth to pay $85 for that or go for the 25,000 miles for $35 after $50 statement credit?

[steve2]

The current offer on continental.com is 30,000 bonus miles after you make your first purchase plus 5,000 bonus miles after you make your first purchase and sign up an additional authorized user within two months after opening your account.
Is it worth to pay $85 for that or go for the 25,000 miles for $35 after $50 statement credit?

 I dont think theres 1 answer for everybody. say you want to go to Hawaii and dont mind Coach then its 40k so the 35k means only spending an extra $5k. now if you have a biz or expense acct and run up $1000s per month anyway then maybe youd rather save the $50, if you dont charge much then youd want to grab as many miles as possible for the Bonus ,Or ask youself is 10k worth $50

 Too many things where what is best for me might not be for You, w/o someone knowing all your personal Financial standings I thuink its hard to tell aperson which way to go or at least knwoing for what type of award they want to use the Miles for

[Dan]

35K is an incredible offer.
Definitely worth taking the 35K offer instead of 25K as 10K CO miles is worth well more than the $50 difference.