clueless infrequent flyer needs help w/ booking flights & car

[Bertha Venation]

First, my $95 jetBlue fare for my outgoing flight is gone. Now I can't find another non-stop itinerary to LAX or LGB for less than $250. Any pointers -- like when to book?

Second, I want to rent a car. Why do all the car rental places say "$175 for the week, $260 for this reservation" -- I'm only renting for a week plus one day! Friday 9 AM - Saturday noon (8 days).

Third, any hints on finding good, clean, inexpensive mo- or hotels w/ breakfast & jacuzzi tubs?

Can someone help me?

[EstimatedProphet]

1. As far as the car goes

Some places will count that as a week and 2 days-those 3 hours being considered an extra day. Also there's registration fees, so that may be why the price is different.
Hotels I usually try to priceline, and you can find a room like that, but you have less choice in the matter. Sorry.
As far as your flight, try AirTran.

[Bertha Venation]

4. 3 hours, eh?

:eyes:

Thanks, EP.

[EstimatedProphet]

7. Yeah, fraid so-I've run into that one myself.

[sandnsea]

2. When are you going? n/t

[Bertha Venation]

3. Leaving Fri., 2/18, returning Sat., 2/26 -- WAS to LGB or LAX. n/t

[amazona]

5. why don't you use sidestep.com ?

Install sidestep. CHeck your destination and prices every day. There are cross country sales from WAS all the time.

You can also sign up with yahoo for free, and they'll send you an email when the price drops to your target price.

Check air-fare.com every day. Here's the ex-WAS page:
http://www.air-fare.com/was.htm

Priceline may not be any good for air travel but you can still get decent prices on hotels by bidding there. Check at biddingfortravel.com so you know what hotel you are going to end up in...BEFORE you put in the bid.

As far as rental car, you save on airport fees by staying in a hotel with a free shuttle the first night, so you don't need a rental car when you arrive. Then rent a car from Enterprise in the morning (they have free pick-up and delivery). But this only works if you are not picking up/dropping off your car on Sunday since a lot of Enterprise offices are not open on Sunday. This is because they are catering to people who are renting cars because they were in an auto accident rather than catering to travelers.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[sandnsea]

9. $250 on Delta

Roundtrip, into John Wayne. PM me if you want, if I had more details on where exactly you want to stay and how many are going, I could maybe be more helpful.

[TreasonousBastard]

6. I see that Southwest has...

nonstops from Baltimore to LA, and fares as low as $99 one way. Don't bet on finding a seat or fare for the flight or day you want, but that's a start.

All airlines have promotional and standby fares if you can catch them, and a lot depends on your flexibility or willingness to make a stop in places like Las Vegas on the way. I usually fly Continental because I live so close to Newark, and after looking up fares on their website, I've been known to call them and ask "Is that really the best price?" Sometimes it's not and I get a better deal.

Hotels I almost never book in advance because there's almost always a clean room somewhere. You're landing at a huge airport, and there are a hundred hotels advertising with free phone service and another hundred on the main roads around the airport. Andanother thousand or so off the other main roads. The chains are usually reliable, and even if you get screwed for the first night, you've got all day to look for the next night. Airlines are also sometimes handy for hotel reservations if you must, and you can even book a car rental through them with one visit to the website.

I will say that using a decent travel agent can help a lot. They're getting tough to find because the airlines and hotels are screwing them on commissions, but the ones I've used have found things I never would have thought to look for on some trips, and saved me tons of money.

[amazona]

8. that is not a good option in my humble view

$99 ONE WAY on Southwest plus taxes comes close to the $250 she has already been quoted. For that, she should go with the legacy airline and at least have an assigned seat since she is going coast to coast. Being crammed in a "bad" seat on Southwest to go that far sounds like a recipe for DVT to me!

Your experience may vary, of course.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72