Last night I was laying on my sofa. The TV was on mute, images flashing by in quasi-meaningful ways, my laptop perched on my knees while I investigated what wonders the internet had on offer. In the process, I reran an old search on kayak that I had been eyeing about a week ago.
Sometimes I like to check flight prices or routings; see where I can go and how much it's going to set me back. Sometimes I'm lucky and a truly ridiculous route pops up, one of the ones you just have to shake your head at because no one in their right mind would ever book it.
For example, did you know you can go from Toronto to Belize via London, U.K.?
Really! Thank you British Airways!
Of course these crazy options come with equally crazy price tags, but they're useful to know about when it comes to booking an award flight where cost is less an issue and crazy routings make for cool layovers.
When I reran my search, I took a quick glance at the cities and dates but didn't look at much else.
The flights came up. The lowest cost was $868 CAD from YYZ to BZE with one connection in IAH.
I was a bit disappointed. You see, two weeks ago I could have gotten that flight for just shy of $600 CAD. The Avianca option via SAL had been $622 CAD just the other day. Now I was looking at over $200 CAD more. I could argue that the flight with Avianca wasn't really an option for me, that I was looking at the United flight which had jumped to $741 CAD earlier in the week, but a 50% increase in price over a two week interval was pretty stunning.
Then I noticed the booking class.
$868 CAD was the price for business class.
Well!
Well, well, well! Not bad! My $741 CAD United flight wasn't gone, but for $127 CAD more I could take that same flight in business class. Of course it's only North American business class so it's nothing spectacular, but there is food involved, larger seats, and 50% more qualifying miles which will push me into their next tier. Definitely worth it for me!
As it turned out, the friend joining me from the west coast was able to book the sale prices and we are set to meet in IAH. A beautiful solution to a girl's getaway!
So my advice is this: play with your flight options before you make your choice. You would expect that the results will be consistent, but sometimes you'll be surprised. It's a bit of a treasure hunt, but if you strike gold you won't regret the time spent.
Sometimes I like to check flight prices or routings; see where I can go and how much it's going to set me back. Sometimes I'm lucky and a truly ridiculous route pops up, one of the ones you just have to shake your head at because no one in their right mind would ever book it.
For example, did you know you can go from Toronto to Belize via London, U.K.?
Really! Thank you British Airways!
Of course these crazy options come with equally crazy price tags, but they're useful to know about when it comes to booking an award flight where cost is less an issue and crazy routings make for cool layovers.
When I reran my search, I took a quick glance at the cities and dates but didn't look at much else.
The flights came up. The lowest cost was $868 CAD from YYZ to BZE with one connection in IAH.
I was a bit disappointed. You see, two weeks ago I could have gotten that flight for just shy of $600 CAD. The Avianca option via SAL had been $622 CAD just the other day. Now I was looking at over $200 CAD more. I could argue that the flight with Avianca wasn't really an option for me, that I was looking at the United flight which had jumped to $741 CAD earlier in the week, but a 50% increase in price over a two week interval was pretty stunning.
Then I noticed the booking class.
$868 CAD was the price for business class.
Well!
Well, well, well! Not bad! My $741 CAD United flight wasn't gone, but for $127 CAD more I could take that same flight in business class. Of course it's only North American business class so it's nothing spectacular, but there is food involved, larger seats, and 50% more qualifying miles which will push me into their next tier. Definitely worth it for me!
As it turned out, the friend joining me from the west coast was able to book the sale prices and we are set to meet in IAH. A beautiful solution to a girl's getaway!
So my advice is this: play with your flight options before you make your choice. You would expect that the results will be consistent, but sometimes you'll be surprised. It's a bit of a treasure hunt, but if you strike gold you won't regret the time spent.
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