tonrob

By acting quickly (i.e. within the next week or so) you can get a return on US Airways for their low-season (Jan/Feb) for $808 in economy or $1347 in business by using this little trick that they've been using on the Aussie forum for quite some time now.

It's not the deal it used to be - the economy price is a bit meh (not really worth the effort) but if you fancy a splurge then that's still a steal for business (roughly one third of the current published fare for random dates that I plugged in for February).

jopavi73

They would do that?!!! Fie for shame!

I do a general "housekeeping" about once a week and clear clutter like that. The idea of cookies has always mystified me, you're damned with them and damned without.

SEL_boy

This is excellent, crucial advice.

vikingsail

I second that. Clearing browser caches is a must when buying flights. Apparently internet marketing tends to offer you the lowest price the first time you visit a website as they know you are 'surfing' and have the best chance of a 'hook,'ie you buying their flight on your first visit. By leaving your 'cache' full you are reducing your chance of getting offered that best first time price.

Egon

Wow, had no idea about the cookie thing - thanks folks, I'll be doing that on my next attempts.

callowman

The one thing that is really pi**ing me off with fares is the taxes and fees

I am pricing a trip home now, and have found some very reasonable prices for the air fare BUT its the taxes/fees etc add on that kills it.

ie the seat price return to LGW is 550 then they add the taxes/fees which is 650 !! the taxes are more than the seat !!

so it becomes 1200 return !

now Math was never a strong point but to me its looks like the taxes and fees are over 115 percent of the seat cost !!

Grrrrrrrrrr (I even wrote my congresswoman about it-waiting for a reply but I know it will be yes I agree its high but this and that etc , in otherwords pay up or shut up) its putting the cost of flying outside the reach of many families

Giantaxe

It's too bad that European (in particular) airlines are allowed to play this game. By far the biggest "fee" is a fuel surcharge that imo should be rolled into the ticket price. This isn't a optional item and treating it separately is a scam, especially as they then go and charge it even on frequent flyer tickets. That last bit is part of the reason they do it, of course.

Edit:

Here's a breadown of "taxes and fees" from a Virgin Atlantic SFO- LHR return flight:

Description Code Amount
Operating Airline Fuel & Insurance Surcharge YQ USD 438.00
USA Transportation Tax US USD 33.40
September 11th Security Fee AY USD 2.50
USA Passenger Facility Charge XF USD 4.50
USA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service Fee XA USD 5.00
USA Immigration Service Fee XY USD 7.00
USA Customs User Fee YC USD 5.50
UK Air Passenger Duty GB USD 101.90
UK Passenger Service Charge UB USD 54.10

vikingsail

I agree. Thats why despite some of the excellent resources for flight checking given here I usually opt for Kayak or the cannot go wrong Cheap Tickets (been using them for 20 years now). At least at both of these the price you see is what you get. None of the smoke and mirror addition of taxes and other fees. Plus your less likely imho and experience to be left lingering when a page updates saying the flight price is no longer available... just saying.