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Better Bargains
Cheap Charlie · November 3, 1999

OK. I get it. I understand. I admit that that the Northwest coupon I highlighted last week isn't the best possible fare for every possible city pair in America and Canada. There are other better bargains available here and there.

But I defy anyone to find a better deal for Boston to El Paso or for Miami to Vancouver. I haven't found it yet.

The lesson to learn here is that even when you think there is a big bargain, make sure to do your homework and check alternative prices. Keep an eye on advertisements.

The most important part of that column was the fact that there are now airline coupons on the Internet. These coupons are only redeemable through the Internet as well, which means that airlines now may be limiting coupon matching to coupons available only over the counter.

The world is changing.

There are new bargain opportunities. In the meantime, that coupon is still available. It is good for tickets purchased by the end of October for travel completed by the end of February 2000. You can find it at www.coolsavings.com.

When you are flying on denied boarding compensation coupons without reservations, flexibility is key. In fact, flexibility is key whenever you are flying standby. I was heading from Boston to Las Vegas on Columbus Day weekend for a high school reunion. I had a denied boarding compensation coupon. Everything had been overbooked for more than three weeks. However, I managed to get there by remaining flexible and paying attention to bargains here and there that helped out with overbooked situations.

My flight from Boston to Philadelphia was fine. But I knew the Philadelphia to Vegas flight was overbooked by eight passengers. I asked the gate agents about the standby situation. They said, "Every passenger checked in." The gate agents were going to have to call for volunteers. No luck today.

I had already planned my attack. I knew that a flight was leaving from Philadelphia to Los Angeles approximately a half-hour later than the Vegas flight. I walked to the gate where the Philadelphia-LA flight was boarding and spoke with the gate agent. I explained that I couldn't get on the Vegas flight and asked whether they would put me on the LA flight. She said, "Sure, if I have a seat."

There was a seat and I was on my way to LA. Now this may seem crazy since I started out heading to Vegas, however, LA has two different airlines that fly almost hourly between LAX and Vegas. And thanks to Southwest, the walkup fares are less than $100.

Heck, I didn't get to Vegas for free, but making the trip for less than $100 didn't seem so bad. My flight home was non-eventful and I, together with everyone else on standby, made it from Vegas back to the East Coast.

Without flexibility, the denied boarding compensation pass would have been worthless. With flexibility and a bit of creative travel planning, the trip was salvaged.

Charlie Leocha is the Boston-based author of Travel Rights: Know the Rules of the Road and the Air Before You Go. Cheap Charlie appears every Monday on this site. E-mail him at charlie@ticked.com or access his Web site.