Job Discussion Forums

[JonnyBravo]

Most of the good flight threads are a bit out of date, so I thought I'd try and get another going. I'm looking for flights from Detroit to Quito. Direct routes seem limited but flights nearby are plentiful.

Spirit Airlines (spiritair.com) flys from dozens of US cities to most major Central American and Caribbean destinations as a low-cost carrier. They seem to be consistently the cheapest way to go according to many comparison sites.

Example round-trip flights:
Detroit-Lima $500
Detroit- San Jose, CR $323
Miami-Cancun $283

I haven't comparison shopped other destinations, but I have for Lima and their rates are hard to beat. If you sign up for their e-mail alerts, you'll get info on their sales which they have very frequently (48 hour $48 off sale, 72 hour $72 off sale, $9 fare sale, etc.) They aren't much good for me because I'm trying to get to Quito and they don't fly there, though I'm debating the merits of flying to Lima since they beat the best Quito flight I've seen by $150.

Anybody else have any current fare tips?

[Ai]

I would check out http://www.exitotravel.com/
andhttp://www.allcheapfares.com/

They usually have good fares.

Good luck!

[nineisone]

I will be flying out of Detroit the next go around, as well. Thanks for the info. A big factor on international flight costs can sometimes be the tax an individual country levies for a flight arrival. Peru and many other L.A. nations have been quite high in the past, so the 500$ rt to Lima looks like a good deal out of DTW.

C.R. is ALWAYS the cheapest to fly into Central America. In past years, I have consistently started my sojourns into the region through SJO as flying direct into El Salvador or Honduras almost doubles the cost of the ticket.

Mexico, where I am considering an offer, is also quite cheap to fly into. Monterrey and Guadalajara are usually cheaper than the D.F. out of the American midwest.

As far as South America, the Miami-Venezuela run used to be absurdly cheap. Sometimes you can piecemeal a trip together by 1 waying to a gateway city(Miami, Houston) and then hopping an rt out of that city. Sometimes worthwhile, sometimes not.

With the proposed Delta-Northwest merger likely, possibly a United-Continental one right around the corner, and the current oil prices likely to rise even more, we may be recalling these airfares as "the good ole days" in the near future.

[JonnyBravo]

Nineisone,

I've looked around a bit and Detroit-Bogota is also a very cheap route.

Check out Farecompare.com

Spirit sells their fares as individual legs, so you just buy both legs if you're doing round-trip or one leg if you aren't worried about onward travel. You aren't charged anything extra, though the one-time taxes make the cost slightly more than half. You could get from the Midwest to Peru for $250 if you wanted.

[naturegirl321]

Spirit Air lookis good, but you have to pay taxes and for baggage, and they only fly to a few cities.
Try delgadotravelusa.com

Also , American has sales on the off season as well.

[JonnyBravo]

I was sure tax was included in that price...

I rechecked. Their flights from Detroit-Lima are $212 each leg if you fly during the week. The tax takes it up to about $250 a leg. I looked around and didn't see any luggage cost mentioned...

[nineisone]

Thanks, those fares are almost irresistable, but I am (as always) short on money, so I likely will need to arrange a job in advance. Peru is a tough nut to crack without investing the time hunting down positions, so for me it will have to wait

I've got some leads in Mexico , as well as a potential return to Asia , so if you see any astronomically great deals on airfare to either out of Detroit or Chicago, PM me.

[naturegirl321]

[JonnyBravo]

Sorry, I replied by editing the post.

The Detroit Lima is $212 a segment. After the taxes are added it's about $250 each way. I didn't see anything about luggage cost.

[MELEE]

American has some deal right now, all from Florida, so look for cheap Detroit--Miami flights and buy two separate tickets.

http://airfare.travelzoo.com/international-airfare/371715

[ajarnlilly]

CHECKED BAG CHARGES

Effective February 20, 2008 and beyond $10 Online/ $20 Airport

Overweight (51- 70 lbs. / 23 � 32 kg)
$ 25.00

Overweight (71 � 99 lbs. / 32 � 45 kg)
$100.00

Oversized (62+ linear inches / 158+ cm)
$100.00

Oversized (80+ linear inches / 203+ cm)
$150.00


FOR 3 � 5 BAG AND SUBSEQUENT PIECES:
Within weight and size
$100 Online or Airport

Overweight (51 � 70 lbs. / 23 - 32 kg)
$ 25.00

Overweight (71 � 99 lbs. / 32 � 45 kg)
$100.00

Oversized (62+ linear inches / 158+ cm)
$100.00

Oversized (80+ linear inches / 203+ cm)
$150.00

[naturegirl321]

Right, but Spirit makes you pay for ANY baggage

[ajarnlilly]

Right, and they don't mention that fact until you book a flight. You have to dig out the info from the small print.

Before handing over any money, you might want to check out some other people's experience with Spirit: http://www.alexrudloff.com/2007/08/04/do-not-fly-spirit-airlines/

[JonnyBravo]

[ajarnlilly]

Check out the link above. The price is undeniably good, but apparantly dependability and customer service when they screw up suck big time.

'Dependability' as in cancelling your flight the day before and then making it impossible to contact them re what to do about it.

Getting a cheap deal that isn't dependable would qualify for the 'penny wise, pound foolish' award, it seems to me. Or maybe we should say euro from here on out...