We are finally done booking our holiday travel! Yay us!
Thanksgiving flights were booked some time ago, we talked about it here back in September. Not a day after we booked those same tickets were at least $100 more and have been creeping up ever since. So we’re quite happy with our purchase still.
We’re flying United on a direct from Los Angeles (LAX) to Chicago O’Hare (ORD). Even though United just retired the last of their 737s, their fleet still comes across as tired and somewhat outdated considering the route we take. I’m sure you could hop on something new if you were flying outside North America.
The flight from Chicago back to Los Angeles is operated by US Air.
It’s actually the same deal as last year – going out with United and back with US Air. As a matter of fact we have a tight connection in Las Vegas for less than an hour. Last year we had a chance to grab something to eat but the time constraints this year mean we might have a few minutes to do some airport gambling only.
Christmas tickets were an adventure to say the least.
I’ve been trying to use a good chunk of our miles to book tickets since September but nothing was available. There is an Asian airline carrier that allows you to see what available flights you can use your miles on so long as they are a Star Alliance partner. I looked every day and nothing.
Back in September flights into Toronto were in the $800 range before settling in between $523-527. When I say settling in I mean settling in – they were in this range from October until mid-November. I suppose it isn’t a terrible deal considering the value of the US dollar these days but it’s still more than $100 greater than what we paid last year. I’ve read all the articles and I know airlines have taken planes out of service and scrapped some routes in an effort to increase passenger load and actually make some money.
We were starting to get nervous when last Saturday morning I sat down to conduct my daily Star Alliance search and *boom* – tickets! The exact dates we were looking for. I ran over and woke H up to make sure we were good with these days. The direct flights from Los Angeles to Toronto are with . . .
I like flying Air Canada, it’s a pretty good airline. I wish we were on one of the new Embraer planes but what can you do.
Anyhow, I called up United Mileage Plus and booked the exact flights we wanted. The total with taxes and fees came to a little more than $100. That’s more than $1,100 savings when compared to what we were looking at spending with regular priced seats.
I don’t know what happened in the airline world but prices shot up the last week. Although they are still in the $500-550 range some of the Air Canada flights are more than $150 more than a week ago. United? Don’t even bother considering to look.
So we are booked and ready to go, what a relief!
Is it wrong for me to wish we were flying first class? If the flight was an hour or two I wouldn’t care but 4+ hours in first just makes life a little easier/nicer. We were spoiled a long time ago while dating because H had a friend that worked for United and hooked us up with “buddy passes” – we paid taxes of $45 or so and flew standby, but 90% of the time we flew first class.
Christmas shopping has begun, it’s a cool Sunday and we’re off to the beach! …. or the observatory.
“What’s up party people? Thanks for all the comments about wanting to see some pictures of me while my step-parents decide what to do with their blog. They say there is always something to talk about living in Los Angeles/Southern California but they also want to share some more personal stories, pictures and video. I suggested Facebook and a Flickr account but what do I know, I’m just a wheaten terrier.”
“My step-parents like to change the sheets on the bed from time to time. I don’t think they do it as often as they should but whatever. Anyhow, they put the top sheet on the other day and then stepped away for a few seconds. That was my chance to jump up and stake my claim. Sneaky huh?”
“I get in trouble a lot for doing this but let me tell you a story. One day we went for a walk and the next thing I knew I was in a doctor’s office. All of a sudden I was sleepy and later on my parents picked me up. I went home and noticed some things were missing down there. So now I like to check on things as often as possible, just in case.”
“Here I am hiding, tricky huh? Anyhow, I will talk to you all later and thanks for wanting to see more of me!”
