The Find A Flight gamble!

With a convention coming up, it’s that time to play the Find A Flight gamble.  Y’all, I’m cheap (should I say frugal? does that sound better?).  I like to travel for as little as possible.  I’d rather have a layover and wait an extra 2 hours then spend $100 more.  I know some people like the convenience of a direct flight, but I’d rather have the extra cash to do something fun while I’m away.

For this trip, I want to get there on the 1st and leave on the 6th.  I want to get there around lunch/early afternoon on the 1st and I want to leave around lunch/early afternoon on the 6th.  I can find flights on those days for around $400 return.  But that’s getting there after 10PM and leaving at 6AM.  To get the times I’m looking for, the flights jump almost $200 extra!  I do have flexibility for leaving on the 31st instead.  I’m even willing to do a red-eye.  However, for some reason those flights are almost double! If I want to leave earlier on the 31st, there are return flights for the lowest $400 that I mentioned earlier.  I don’t have access to the hotel room until the 1st though.  It IS Las Vegas I’m going to though – so I could always just spend the night in the casino.  There’s always the option too of seeing if any other con friends are getting there a day early and maybe one of them has room for me for the 1 night too.

We are getting our hotel room on the cheap already.  Fortunately my partner in crime… er.. business is awesome at finding deals and has some comped rooms from previous visits and we’re getting the nights for just the resort fee.  That allowed us to double our stay and turn it into a partial vacay for a few days after conference.  Unfortunately, there are no comped rooms available to extend the trip one night early and I sure as heck don’t want to pay the prices they’re asking for that one night!

But back to the flight!  I keep stalking the usual sites and apps – expedia, redtag, kayak, hopper as well as going to the actual airline sites.  One of these times I’m going to have to bite the bullet and just choose.  Because as we all know, waiting can be a huge gamble.  You never know when the seat prices might just skyrocket!  Airlines know that business people are last minute fliers a lot of the time, so that means they’re fine paying whatever the cost is to fly last minute.  So I don’t want to wait too much longer.

What things have you done to find cheaper flights?  What would you do in my position?  Just pay the higher price and get there the preferred times?  Go the night before and just stay up in the casino all night?  Try and find someone to room with the night before?

Update:  I ended up booking from the 31st – 6th for $370!  I found some awesome ladies to room with who are also coming early and I only have to spend $25 for my spot in the AirBnb with them – perfect!  Is it the end of October yet? I’m ready to go!!

Until next time, xoxo