Friggin' flight prices!?

[bomber]

Was using this to get some flight prices: http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

Seems to offer cheaper flights for some destinations than kayak.

Anyway, priced a return flight Cuzco to BS in September, around US$370 return. Not bad.

Then did the same flight but reversed the destinations, for someone to visit me instead. Flight price was double. WTF?!?!?!

 

[EBA]

That happens for lots of destinations, depending on the date. Same with Argentina (sometimes), happens to me all the time when I go to Peru.

Matt
ExposeBA

 

[BXpat]

Was using this to get some flight prices: http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

Seems to offer cheaper flights for some destinations than kayak.

Anyway, priced a return flight Cuzco to BS in September, around US$370 return. Not bad.

Then did the same flight but reversed the destinations, for someone to visit me instead. Flight price was double. WTF?!?!?!

Welcome to the world of airfare routing and rules!

matrix is used to find prices but you need to check what fare class you are looking at and find the same one on another booking site.

Of course just because it is on matrix does not mean it is available for purchase. They make tons of fares that may not be able to be bought on one of the OTA's like expedia or orbitz.

As of right now you can't actually use matrix to buy airfare even though they were bought by google and google has their own google.com/flights service.

Maybe one day.

A good hedge against these prices are frequent flyer programs.

Great program for South America is British Airways Executive Club and their Avios points.

It would cost about 29,000 Avios points for EZE-LIM-CUZ R/T economy class.

 

[bomber]

I've actually found that usually the cheapest flight deal makes better financial sense than frequent flyer. You don't get as much for your points as you used to, and there are a lot of restrictions.

 

[BXpat]

I've actually found that usually the cheapest flight deal makes better financial sense than frequent flyer. You don't get as much for your points as you used to, and there are a lot of restrictions.

I definitely sympathize with the devaluation of miles programs over the years and the limited award space.

Award flights have become harder to book and award charts have changed since when we first met them.

But I still find that frequent flyer miles make perfect sense for when you make them have perfect sense.

Nowadays you should have a redemption in mind when you are looking to earn miles to ensure you get the value you want.

I got great return on my miles investment using them for JFK-EZE.

To each their own.

 

[bomber]

I think much depends on what flights/destinations you're flying.

 

[BXpat]

I think much depends on what flights/destinations you're flying.

100% agree.

As well as your choice airlines, how many connections you are willing to take and many other personal tastes.

If you would provide any details maybe we could collaborate to find you the best flights for EZE-CUZ.

I would be more than happy to help.

 

[Ceviche]

skyscanner

is also a good competitor to "kayak" for cheap flights.

 

[bomber]

Some of those flight apps don't include all flights/airlines, especially in South America it seems. Costing Cuzco - Lima, I had to go to Peruvian Airlines site to find the cheapest price. I recall costing a Lima - Bogota flight and had to do similar, though don't recall what airline was the cheapest,

 

[scotttswan]

http://hipmunk.com/ is pretty good too