snailpoo
05-22-2008, 07:51 PM
I'm going on vacation overseas to Destination A. I want to stop by my grandparent's house on the way home for a few days. My grandparents live in a city, Hub B, that is a hub to a major airline.
A package air/hotel from NYC to Destination A is $3,500.
Air and hotel seperately from NYC to Destination A totals $4,400.
So I definitely want the package, right? Fortunately, the package has me transferring flights at Hub B on the way to and back from Destination A. Great, so all I need to do now is to change one of the three hour layovers into a three day layover...
Can't do that. Call the travel website. No go. Every single travel website has the exact same deal. Even the airline has the exact same deal. Call every single other travel website. No go. Call the airline. No go. Call another airline. No go. A long layover = "multi-stop trip."
Fine. Can I package a multi-stop trip with hotel? Nope. Nobody's systems are built to price that. What? Everybody has the exact same deal, but no one has someone who can build in the discout into the flight?
Cost of multi-stop trip and hotel = $5,000.
Time to get creative. What if we had a package deal from Hub B to Destination A and just bought round trip tickets from NYC to Hub B?
Cost of package air/hotel from Hub B to Destination A: $3,480.
Cost of round trip tickets from NYC To Hub B: $600.
It's amazing, isn't it? The difference between the $3,480 package from B to A and the $3,500 package from NYC to B to A is a round trip flight from NYC to B. The price of this round trip flight? $20 or $600.
More fun. Time to call the airline. Q: What if we took the original package from NYC to A, and on the way back, at the stop over in B, intentionially missed the flight? A: Missed booking fee of $200 to get on another flight.
Q: so, why wouldn't .... A: uhhh,... assorted other costs. Q: Ok, what is the costs of two one way tickets from B to NYC? A: $200. Q: So what you're telling me is that, if I buy the Multi-stop trip, I'll spend $5,000, but if I buy the package and an extra ticket and completely waste an airline ticket, I'll save $1,300? A: Yep.
A package air/hotel from NYC to Destination A is $3,500.
Air and hotel seperately from NYC to Destination A totals $4,400.
So I definitely want the package, right? Fortunately, the package has me transferring flights at Hub B on the way to and back from Destination A. Great, so all I need to do now is to change one of the three hour layovers into a three day layover...
Can't do that. Call the travel website. No go. Every single travel website has the exact same deal. Even the airline has the exact same deal. Call every single other travel website. No go. Call the airline. No go. Call another airline. No go. A long layover = "multi-stop trip."
Fine. Can I package a multi-stop trip with hotel? Nope. Nobody's systems are built to price that. What? Everybody has the exact same deal, but no one has someone who can build in the discout into the flight?
Cost of multi-stop trip and hotel = $5,000.
Time to get creative. What if we had a package deal from Hub B to Destination A and just bought round trip tickets from NYC to Hub B?
Cost of package air/hotel from Hub B to Destination A: $3,480.
Cost of round trip tickets from NYC To Hub B: $600.
It's amazing, isn't it? The difference between the $3,480 package from B to A and the $3,500 package from NYC to B to A is a round trip flight from NYC to B. The price of this round trip flight? $20 or $600.
More fun. Time to call the airline. Q: What if we took the original package from NYC to A, and on the way back, at the stop over in B, intentionially missed the flight? A: Missed booking fee of $200 to get on another flight.
Q: so, why wouldn't .... A: uhhh,... assorted other costs. Q: Ok, what is the costs of two one way tickets from B to NYC? A: $200. Q: So what you're telling me is that, if I buy the Multi-stop trip, I'll spend $5,000, but if I buy the package and an extra ticket and completely waste an airline ticket, I'll save $1,300? A: Yep.