Expedia.com is a great source for cheap tickets.
Written: Jun 21 '01
The Bottom Line
Like the birdies say: Cheep Cheep!
A great resource if you have departure time flexibility.
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Introduction
So, my friend Mike asked me to marry him....to his fiancé Kelli. I'm an ordained minister and a good friend, and they thought it would be cool to have a Not(Stranger) performing the ceremony.
Turbulence
I was also in the middle of a job/life transition from Atlanta, GA to Rochester, NY. My life was a little hectic, and I kept letting the purchasing of the plane tickets slide until 2 weeks before the ceremony.
Searching for a Connection
This probably wasn't the best approach. Des Moines, Iowa is a pretty expensive airport to land in...You can figure $300 to $400 just for landing there. Once I'd gotten to Rochester, everyone pretty much said the same of the Rochester airport. I went to 5 or so websites, from airline sites to the various ticket sites. The lowest 2-way ticket from ROC to DSM was $809. Mike and Kelli are good friends, but that's a little steep.
Site
So, I went over to Expedia.com.
Right there on the homepage you can enter in all of the relevant information: From Rochester, NY on Friday 6/1 to Monday 6/4, to Des Moines, IA, 2 adults, returning flight, too.
Click
There, in the first slot, $215.38 per person. Well, compared to the next best price of $809 each, that's tremendous. So, you proceed through, realizing that you don't get to choose the scheduled departure time, you just select the day...they’ll TRY to match your Morning/Noon/Evening times, but there's no guarantee. Luckily Pookie and I had the flexibility of time, so I clicked and bought the two tickets. And they were for my desired times (leaving in the morning, arriving in the evening).
Ground-based Transport
I also then used expedia.com to get a $16/day 100-miles/day rental car signed up with a DSM car rental company.
Take Off
So, we flew out of Rochester with our carry-on luggage (not an expedia requirement, but we didn't need much luggage for 4ish days), landed in Chicago O'Hare and rushed to make the connection (and then sat on the plane for another 30 minutes...we'd rushed more than necessary). Then we landed in Des Moines, got the rental car in one painless swoop, and were soon frolicking at our Alma Mater with the bride and groom.
Ceremony
The ceremony was beautiful. But I need to work on my projection so the people in the back can hear. Maybe having a little more time to practice would have helped, too. But everyone loved it and appreciated my bit about personally knowing them and being able to see them interact as friends. The mead I made for the couple really helped get the after-party into full 'people are literally dancing in their chairs' mode.
Dorkiness in Paradise
I was a big dork, and didn't bother checking the departure time of the flight. I KNEW it was 6:45PM. Enroute to the airport, I casually asked pookie to check out the departure time on the printout in my bag. *SCREAM* 6:14. Well, I guess we'll just about make it to the airport when it's taking off...
So, we returned the rental, and then started talking to the nice people at 'our' airline check-in desk. We could maybe fly out tomorrow. Since it was an expedia.com ticket, the airline couldn't exchange it for a ticket on another airline...we knew that and accepted it. You're not supposed to miss your flight at any time, let alone when it's a really cheap ticket.
Duh
So, I paid $300 each for my screw up and got us on another airline from Des Moines to Chicago, O'Hare,(*) where we were able to make the second half of our expedia.com flight. So, even with my screw up, we still paid much, much less than any method of flying.
Conclusion
Expedia.com worked great for me, with the route I needed in the time frame I started looking for tickets. We had enough flexibility in our schedule that the indeterminacy of departure times didn't matter. Of course one should never be a dork and miss a flight, but realize that no one is going to help you(*) if you screw up on these tickets.
Use expedia.com as a part of your ticket-search. No single method of obtaining tickets is going to be the best every time. Check at least 5 different sites, and make expedia.com one of them if you have the flexibility of time. Expedia.com does Flights, Hotels, Cars, Vacation Packages, Cruises, etc.
* Pookie saved the day, noticing a flight on another airline to O'Hare as we were approaching our airline's desk....It was her idea to catch that flight and get to the second half of our return flight.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
roymeo
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Location: SF, CA
Reviews written: 79
Trusted by: 105 members
About Me:
pseudo-intellectual altie-poser taken to self-deprecation
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