Travel Planning

[KiaKat]

My cousin is getting married in northern California (Humboldt County, for reference) the first weekend in August. I'm starting the trip planning now, to give myself time to find a good deal.

Other Half and I are possibly going to turn it into a mini-vacation, with a few extra days on one end in SF. I was out in Cali last summer for a bit, though it was mostly business, because of the wine-tasting. Yes, yes, I know, how terrible that my business trips involve consuming tasty, tasty wine. :D

Anyway, I guess what I'm asking is does anyone have advice as to what sites to check for flights from NY/Philly area to SF/Sacramento? Or, what airlines might be having deals? I'm not totally sure what I'm doing, because mostly I just use either Southwest or JetBlue, and travel on the east coast, or to Europe. I'm not certain what a good price for a transcontinental flight would be. I didn't plan last year's trip, so I don't even really have that for reference.

Someone said that Virgin America was running a deal, but when I checked, it looks like it's almost $900 for two people. Is that considered good?

Gah! I am *not* good at this.

[persephone]

I always start by going to Cheaptickets.com and using them as a jumping off point. THen you can go to the individual websites and see if you can get a better deal or something comparable with better times. I've found it works pretty well.

I'll do some looking around and see if I scrounge anything up!

[KiaKat]

Thank you!

I currently have Orbitz and Expedia numbers, and I was going to hit Fodors and see if they had any coupons or special deals going.

My mom is so much better at this than I am, but she's planning for herself and my sister, and they're not going out of the same area.

And she's not picking up her phone, so I can't even get advice from her. Though she did recommend a site the other day....bah. Can't remember. I have it bookmarked at home.

[Evil Queen]

The third party reservation lines (Cheaptickets, Hotels.com, Orbits, Expedia, excetera) aren't always the cheapest (or the best) way to go. If you want to get your plane tickets now, fine. But let me tell you, it's always cheaper through the airlines a month before you depart. That's how I got a ticket for $99 back east when the tickets at the other places were $139. Pertaining to SouthWest, their Hub Airport is Chicago's O'Hare so expect to be routed there; no matter how short or how close the destination is. (I was stuck there for 3 hours on one trip, waiting for a stop over. The Airport was under construction at the time. Gah.)

Hotels on the other hand are great if you book between two months and 6 months in advance. Usually you can take advanage of any discounts or deals that is currently going on. This is how several people I know managed to get real special cheap discounted rates back before OTC (http://www.otcnet.org/2009/) (otherwise known as Hell Week) was scheduled. $69 for rooms that ranged between $250-600 a night? Count me in. :D
Weekends (Friday Nights and Saturday Nights) tend to be cheaper as well because it's the slow period for hotels. Sunday Nights, the rate goes back to it's normal week-day rate (usually called a Rack Rate).

[Jester]

Gah! I am *not* good at this.

I, however, am. Hell, when I went to San Fran in September, I nabbed myself a roundtrip ticket from Miami to SF for only $237 total, after taxes. Even with the rental cars I got from KW to Miami and vice versa, it was still far cheaper than it would have been from KW directly.

PM me with the relevant data and I will put the Jester's magic touch to work for you, as I do with many of my friends. I guarantee nothing, but I have won far more often than I have lost in this arena.

[ibor132]

Taking a quick look, I see fares from NYC to Sacrmento running about running about 300 or a little less...Philly is similar 300, though the range is much wider (as little as 181, as much as 355). Philly to SF is about 350 across the board, NYC is similar.

Obviously this will vary quite a bit based on dates. I generally start with a search on Kayak (www.kayak.com) which searces most of the airline's direct websites, as well as several of the more popular agencies. I would suggest avoiding Orbitz and Expedia, they are notorious for poor customer service, and I have heard horror stories about both of them selling impossible itenraries (either because they violate airline fare rules, or are just a pain - my dad inadverdently bought an itnerary that had a connection in New York - from JFK to LGA...not necesscarily a bad thing, but not a nice suprise either).

Also, to clarify, Southwest's Chicago service is though Midway Airport, not O'Hare. Midway is much smaller and less congested, although because of that there are also fewer options in the event of irregular operations.

ETA: Also, Southwest doesn't use a regular hub/spoke system. I have been routed though anywhere and everywhere on them...again, not a bad thing necessarily. Although they are not my first choice for transcons either.

[digilight]

Not sure on pricing, I know that my Mother In Law flys down from Sacramento to Burbank Airports at least once a month. There was a period of about 3-4 years that she was doing it twice a month. She always used Southwest's website to get her tickets, now granted after doing it for so long she got used to learning how to get the best deals and then buy ahead.

I can tell you though, that Sacramento Airport is alot easier to get around then San Francisco, San Francisco is a International Airport and is much bigger then Sac. But if you are going to Humboldt area I'm not sure which is closer (or if it is close enough to make much of a difference that way even). But my personal preference would be to fly in/out of Sacramento.

[KiaKat]

Thank you, Jester. I'm pinning down dates right now, a lot depends on whether we're taking a few days in either Napa/Sonoma or SF. I'll PM you with the info as soon as I do that, should be sometime before Monday.

[Jester]

Okey dokey. I'll get back to you when I can.

I have Saturday and Sunday off, but keep in mind, I plan on watching women play football all weekend.

Yes, I'm serious. No, I don't mean soccer. No, this is not pay-per-view. I'll be there AT the field. :D

[KiaKat]

UPDATE:

After checking my budget for this year, and finding out that neither my mother, my sister, nor my aunt will be able to go, I'm probably not going. I was planning on sharing rental car and hotel suite with them to save money. If Other Half and I do it on our own, we're looking at about $1500+, not counting the gift or fancy clothes. It's just not feasible right now.

Which is really frustrating, because I was looking forward to this. I like my cousin and his fiancee, more than most of the rest of my generation of the family.

Thank you all for the advice, though. I will probably put it into use for another trip in the near future.

Now I have to figure out what to get them to make up for none of the East-Coast side of the family going to the wedding.

[Jester]

If Other Half and I do it on our own, we're looking at about $1500+, not counting the gift or fancy clothes.

Not necessarily.

If you really want to go, PM me with the pertinent dates/places, and I will try to work some Jester magic for you.

I make no guarantees, but I have had great success for myself and my friends in the past.