Last weekend I took the cheapest flight of my life. I was going home to surprise my mom and spend the weekend with family (she was epically surprised when I showed up at the house: success!), so I was traveling light. I was only planning to bring my backpack; the bag I usually bring to work every day in fact, so nothing fancy. And it was only for the weekend, so I didn’t need much anyways.
I was also traveling alone, so any discomfort I may have had would really only be affecting me, and that’s a risk I’m willing to take for a great deal. So I planned my course and made it from Chicago to Boston and back for a grand total of $117. That’s $39 fare each way! Add in all those taxes and 9/11 fees and there you are. $117. Here’s how I did it.
Shop around, and try Bing!
Turns out Bing is pretty dang good at travel searching, better than google even. The greatest feature of all is the ability to type in “flight from Chicago to Boston” and the thing starts a massive, full-on internet search blowout to get you the best deals.
Yes, you could hit up Kayak to get all the travel site deals, and I always check Southwest, Air Tran, and Jet Blue (I don’t care what anyone says about them, I’ve flown them all and I’ve never been disappointed). Most of the other major airlines give the same deals and prices on Orbitz and Priceline, etc.
But this time, my quick Bing search turned up a $39 flight on Spirit Airlines.
Flying the Ultra-Low Price Airline
Yea, I never heard of them either. So a quick yelp search turned up some shady reviews… I was more than a little hesitant because everyone was complaining about poor service, cramped seats, and nickel and dime pricing on everything.
Being the kind of nonchalant folk that I am, I decided to give it a go anyways. Like I said before, the only one I’d be inconveniencing if it absolutely sucked was me, and I don’t care.
So here’s the tricky thing. They do charge you for absolutely everything, meaning even a carryon bag that would go in the overhead bin is $20 (if you pay before you get to the airport, at the airport the price shoots up to $35). Additional checked bags would cost more. In-flight snacks and drinks were a-la-carte (and almost no one ordered anything). The seats were indeed small, but even being the super-long-legged freak that I am, I found it only as uncomfortable as any other airplane I’ve ever flown in.
Travel light and bring food from home
Since I was traveling light, I only had my backpack. Purses/backpacks that can fit under the seat in front of you are considered personal items, and they ride free. So the first $20 were “saved” by only bringing what I absolutely needed for the trip.
As for food, I do like to have a snack on the flight, so I just brought a couple granola bars and pop tarts with me from home and had them on the plane. If you want to be especially frugal, bring your own not-throw-away water bottle—empty—and you can take it right through security and fill it in a water fountain when you’re through. Now you’ve got free water for your flight (no water is worth $4 a bottle, unless you’re dying).
So that’s pretty much it. I usually prefer to fly Southwest, but I’m not airline-centric—I just want to get a great deal. Don’t be afraid to try a new service, AND as my paranoid sister informed me, Spirit Airlines (and Southwest and JetBlue) is still on the rather short list of North American airlines without any fatal accidents. Don’t see American Airlines / United / or Delta on that list… hmmm.
