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Flying my Marine home :0)

britishfields

britishfields

@jfields wife :-)
Joined
Dec 3, 2008
Messages
156
Hello Everyone,

My hubbie, jfields suggested I post this question to all of you for your input! My brother is in the Marines, he is secretly flying home for Christmas (Yeah!) and I am trying to book his ticket. No one knows, this is going to be great! He will be flying home on Christmas Eve!!! Do any of you know how I can get a cheap airfare! So far the cheapest I have found is on Priceline.com but it doesn't allow for me to choose Military discount. Any ideas? Time is of the essence as I need to book the flight this am to ensure getting him home. He is currently stationed at Camp Pendleton in California (LAX) and will be coming home to the Fredericskburg Va area. (Washington Dulles, Reagan National).

Thank you for your help,

britishfields

PS: a military hop isn't an option as he only has 6 days leave and its Christmas, so time doesn't allow for the wait associated with hopping!
 
Try Southwest. Call them. I've been treated well by them.

Merry Christmas!!!
 
Maybe try to get some in the family in on it so you can pool your resources.

I know it's not the best idea but making it happen seems to be the most important thing.
 
ilikefishes said:
Call the airlines and explain to them. They will help you out.
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britishfields said:
Tried that! You'd be surprised how many won't help ;0(
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In my experience dealing with the airlines (and this may sound REALLY bad), but if I get a guy on the phone, I hang up right away. Next, once you get the "right person" on the line, the next words you utter should be "I really need your help." If you don't get the answer you want, call back....several times. Worst case, ask to speak with a supervisor.

In the end, most of the folks on the other end of the line will want to help you. Tell them a story, talk to them like a friend and ask for help, IMO, works like a charm.

Some quick google-foo came up with this article on the subject: http://www.military....,239275,00.html

Good luck and happy holidays!

*edit: spelling
 
Priceline is as cheap as I've found except for Space A.
 
I am a former PAX weenie from my days in the Air Force in another life. I'll tell you straight up, Space-A is not an option at this time of the year. The only other worse time is in June right when schools get out and everyone wants to take their 14 member family on that vacation to Hawaii. Especially with only six days of leave, you are threading a needle to try and rely on Space-A. You are exactly right, BF, it's just not feasible.

As for a military discount/government rate/bereavement rate, or most any other "discount", you are usually better searching around through Priceline, Orbitz, or the like. Even calling the airline and giving your sob story might net you a better deal. Most of these discounts are based off the full-fare ticket, and will often be higher post-discount than you will find from an online search engine. They are usually already as low as you are going to find them (which is why most of the competing sites are often exactly the same, or within a few dollars of each other), so any further military discounts, or the like, usually aren't offered. Keep in mind that not only is it a holiday, but it is also on a high-travel day for the weekend, so prices are usually a bit higher than if you want to travel on, say, a Tuesday or a Thursday. If it is feasible, try searching around with a day or two each way and see if that changes it.

Are you calling the airlines at the airport, or to their advertised numbers? If you are calling to an airport, both LAX and R-D are super busy ports, and most likely you are going to get someone curt and just trying to get you off the phone. They deal with a bazillion people an hour, and are still behind. Try giving a less-busy place a call (or try an odd hour of the night) and see if that will net you anyone more willing to talk to you. Gem has a good plan, too.

Good luck!

*EDIT* Gonna throw Gem's link up again here: http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,239275,00.html. There's some stuff that is totally at the heartstrings discretion of the agent/supervisor for the airline, but overall there's a lot of good info in there. The waived-bag fee is a PR thing that some airlines have recently decided to open up to any and all holding active duty ID cards traveling for any reason, while others still only waive the fees when traveling on orders (some only waive it when the orders specifically state "excess baggage authorized"). So, don't bank on that one, but definitely look into it for him. As it said in the article, the discount is typically 5%-65%, but that is off the full-fare ticket, not the price you would already find on Priceline, or wherever. So, on the low end, you might be better online. On the high end, this might be significantly better. Good luck and Merry Christmas to your (soon to be) whole family!
 
This might be late, but check Kayak.com. Also, one you get an airliner that looks good, call or go to the website to try to book directly off of them.

I do that and it works like a charm.

Also, use some of your British voice and charm, you're sure to be helped! :p
 
Also be sure to check with Jet Blue. They have some fares that are often pretty darn good.
 
You guys get something figured out with this, yet?
 
ironpeddler said:
Let's start a pool and just buy the ticket at whatever price you find!

I'm in....
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I wish I saw this thread sooner. That's exactly what I was thinking as I began reading this thread!

How much is the ticket? I'd gladly donate towards helping you purchase the ticket.
 
Thanks to my stupid bank in the States and their transfer limits, I unfortunately cannot do ANYTHING financial until after the 1st of January. If someone would care to put in a little extra on my behalf, I would be more than happy to PayPal you back on either the 2nd or the 3rd (I'll be out of town for the New Year and offline) as soon as I can transfer some more fundage from my savings account. I'm definitely in with the idea, though.
 
Thank you so much for all of your responses! I ended up purchasing a full price ticket on priceline for $600. All of you are so fabulous in offering the pool. With Christmas around the corner I couldn't ask for such a thing. I will say this, I am not surprised by your generosity. As my husband jfields always says, you'll never find a better group of people than the ones on CP!!! I would like to apologize in my delay in responding back to you. We have had so much going on the last two weeks, I hope you can forgive me!

As always, I am forever grateful!
 
Thank you guys! Your offer to start a pool and help my wife and her brother out is very touching, but not surprising. At first I told her I did not think it was in our means to pay for him to fly home right now, but told her to post here to see if anyone knew of any crazy good prices............200 minds are better than two.

We ended up trying Priceline (Thanks Ray) and found a direct flight from California to here in Virginia for $619.00 total. I don't think it's too bad considering the short notice and time of year. It's our Christmas surprise to Donella's, Mum and Dad. :cool:

Merry Christmas Everyone!
 
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