Best way to get Cheap Flights

[eriehiker]

There was one time that the fare on Frontier was so cheap that I bought all three seats in a row and just had a very pleasant flight. It was something like $45 for a round trip to somewhere.

[dfrecore]

One thing to beware of with Spirit & Frontier is that they trick you with low fares, and then make you BUY seats.  Seriously, the price you're quoted is for getting on the plane, and then you have to purchase seats for each leg of the journey.  So I've not found them to have great prices when all is said and done.  Plus it is SUPER irritating to be nickel & dime-d to death.

I've flown both Spirit and Frontier and you don't have to purchase seats. But if you don't you could be separated if you are flying with a group. I've flown both as a single traveler so it didn't apply to me. I just chose the option to randomly give me a seat for free and of course it was a middle seat in the back of the plane, but I didn't mind.

I recently tried to book a flight for my dad, and the price quoted did not include the seat - I had to choose a seat, and they all had prices.  He would have sat in the middle seat, back row, whatever - but it was a separate price for the seat, and it was 2 legs there and back, so it turned out to be less expensive to go on another airline.

---

Southwest may be the best bang for your buck, but being very frugal, I can do without a soda.  Also, depending on the flight, they may charge more than spirit/frontier would have charged with an added bag and then give you your "free" bag.

Last thought:    don't limit yourself to just your local airport.    For example,  I have Atlanta, Charlotte, Greenville, Ashville, Charleston, and Myrtle Beach near me.   A friend I'll be backpacking with later this summer has Long Beach, Burbank, LAX, Santa Ana, Ontario, San Diego, and Palm Springs.   Sometimes the extra drive time is worth it (or if you have friends/family that can take you the extra mile).

Southwest has never charged me for a bag, but United did.

Yes, local airports can be faster to get to, so it's worth your time to check around.  But honestly, we've found that trying to fly out of airports further away were just not worth the extra time in the car.  After hours of flying, it sucks to have to drive 2-3 hours home instead of 30 minutes.  I'd rather pay more (although I don't usually have to).

[tesu-acct-student]

I fly regularly domestic, and use Southwest. Right now it's easier since I live a lot closer to Midway than O'Hare. Drove to O'Hare once to get a cheaper flight with Spirit, and that's not an experience I will do again if I can help it. I like that can change my flight with Southwest without any penalty/fees. Their point system (via Visa) is pretty good overall, I'd say.