greatam

Send them out to be pressed. $3-4 per shirt and they do a MUCH better job than you will ever think about doing. Your time ironing is worth more than that small amount, even if you had 5-6 shirts.

When my husband and I used to cruise (he died 2.5 years ago), we sent EVERYTHING out for cleaning/pressing BEFORE we left the ship. CHEAPER than I could ever find in Phoenix and my Oscar de la Renta silk dress with yards and yards of silk organza was ironed better on the ship than even the most upscale cleaner in Phoenix. Phoenix cleaner charged me about $50.00. On the ship, IIRC, it was about $15.00. We always took all clothes home in nice cleaner bags and didn't have to mess with laundry or taking stuff to the cleaner when we got home. Just hang them up and they are ready to go the next time you need them. JMHO

If the fish are running, you can catch them off the beach...you need a rod and a license...

I'd go with this. Is there someplace to rent poles in Seward?? I know there is in Homer. License can be purchased online or available at most any store in Alaska.

That's interesting. I suspect that since the majority of their ships base out of Florida, their main suppliers are there, so they can continue to get the bulk contract rate on provisions, rather than go to a new supplier in NYC. Though with our road system, trucking to NYC from Florida for those ships in NYC and Boston that don't call in Florida would also likely save money.

Just curious why you think trucking stuff from Florida would save money. The largest wholesale food market in the USA (veggies, fruit, fish and meat) is in NYC. Produce trucking rates out of Florida most of the year are higher per mile than rates out of CA/AZ. There is little fresh meat in Florida. NYC purveyors get the creme de la creme of meat from packing houses in IA,MO,NE,KS on a weekly basis. 78% of the PRIME beef in the USA is shipped to NYC. The best fish from overseas is sent into either the NY ports or JFK. Steady stream of small trucks bringing fish to the fish market in Hunts Point from JFK.

We do a lot of provisioning for ships out of NYC and NJ, all refrigerated food and mostly specialty items (chocolates, cheese, wines). We do some out of CA but the LA port authorities, the unions and CA CARB (the environmental state regulatory agency) have made it very, very difficult to do business in the LA ports.

Fascinating to watch all the behind the scenes stuff. On provisioning day, it is a total zoo getting our trucks into the Manhattan cruise port. Not so bad in Brooklyn and easy in NJ.

OP-if you have specific questions, I can probably answer because we are one of the companies who actually bring the product to the ships.

Since 95% of cruisers fly....maybe this off topic post will survive.

We use to fly Delta and AirTran,

 

Our choices are fewer....

 

What are your opinions on Southwest?

 

On no reserving seats?

 

And quality of service?

I'll just stick my nose in here as one who really dislikes WN. Other than a fare sale and all the hype, WN is very often higher priced than the legacy airlines, even adding in baggage fees (which are very easy to get rid of with an airline credit card).

Why, you might ask. Because the Southwest' business model is to be the CHEAPEST on the day they open the schedule. BUT other airlines have been selling cheaper tickets for about 3 months.

I run an international logistics company. We book at least 600 tickets per year for our trade show customers. I personally fly over 100,000 miles per year. The two biggest trade shows domestically are in San Francisco and NYC. Lots of airports to choose from with departure from any place in the country. There are a couple of smaller trade shows in Florida, so covering most of the bases for cruisers. We have huge databases full of past flight prices. And using our computer modeling analyst's figures, WN is more expensive when they open their schedule 78% of the time. The cheaper seats have been sold by other airlines months before WN opens their schedule.

In addition, you get Rapid Rewards. Oh, goody, a trip to Islip NY or Fargo, ND. May be where you want to go but sure isn't the pizzaz of flying to Europe, Alaska or South America with another carriers award tickets.

And the seating situation-ugh. I want to be able to pick a seat, not have to pay extra to get in a line to HOPE you get a good seat. Try getting on a WN flight at a stop. The seats are 1/2 full and you are left with the dregs of what is left over. Happened to me in Baltimore on a flight from Kansas City to Providence. When I boarded in Baltimore, there were only middle seats left. Yuck.

Never in my life have I seen so many rowdy, drunk passengers with waaay too much crap as carryons. PHX Sky Harbor, terminal 4, which houses both WN and US, is like a big block party. People getting smashed before they get on the plane. And most seem to wander to the WN gates.

And the FA-they can keep their happy, happy comedy routine for some other time. Just sets the wrong tone when their message should be safety. Glad there aren't too many incidents where people need to bail out of planes because most are not paying attention to the FA during the safety briefing. They are waiting for the comedy and wouldn't have a clue how to get the doors open or the chutes deployed. Years ago, on a WN flight from LA, the FA allowed a couple of party hardy 16 year olds to sit in the exit row. When I brought it up, I was told their Dad was sitting behind them. So put Dad in the exit row and them behind him. Well, he has a 9 year old. What an unsafe situation. Thank goodness, it is only an hour flight.

I like my first class (available free on most domestic flights because I fly AA a lot). I like being able to buy the CHEAPEST ticket I can find and still end up in First Class. I like the drinks, I like the food most of the time. I like Priority boarding and Priority security lines. Even if I fly coach, I still get free luggage and Priority boarding. I don't want to fly into NYC (once a month trip) and end up in Islip NY, 50 miles from my NYC office. LaGuardia doesn't have enough flights to fill demand. And they can't produce more flights unless they buy slots from another airline

I like the way AA bends over to make my trips very, very pleasant. WN kept cancelling the 7AM flight from PHX to LAX some years ago. After being consistently late for meetings in LA, I said NO MORE. There was no compensation for all the canceled flights and they sure didn't act like they cared about my business, even though I was flying to LA at least 3 times per month on the same flights.

Keep drinking that blue kool-aid. It really isn't all its cracked up to be.

greatam -

 

I recall reading a post of yours somewhere that referenced paid websites (?) that show the airlines flights well in advance. Is that just for business customers or would that be available to travelers?

Are you referring to Expertflyer or KVS? Both have a fee, both provide very useful information, particularly when trying to figure out fare codes and match prices to what you see on ITA. Also, very valuable to get upgrade or award tickets.

http://www.expertflyer.com/

http://www.kvstool.com/

And totally off this subject, since you travel to S America, would a quick flight to Iquitos for an Amazon experience from Lima for this time period be doable/advisable? :

 

4/7-Thurs Callao (Lima), Peru 12:00 p.m. ---

4/8-Fri Callao (Lima), Peru --- ---

4/9-Sat Callao (Lima), Peru --- 5:00 p.m.

 

Sorry for hijacking your thread...but maybe it provides a diversion - and I will listen!

I don't know why you couldn't do it but AFAIK, there is only one flight per day-5AM in the morning. 2 hour flight. I took that flight a few years ago to go stay at a tree house lodge. BIG DISAPPOINTMENT for the money. But you could leave Friday early morning and come back Saturday early morning. Doesn't give you much time to see anything. AND to go to Iquitos, you MUST have a yellow fever shot or waiver. They very often check because Iquitos is deep jungle with frequent outbreaks of yf.

If it was my trip, I would fly to Juliaca if you haven't been to Lake Titicaca. Leave Thursday evening, get to Juliaca about 9PM, go to your hotel on the banks of Lake Titicaca. Friday, take the all day tour around Lake Titicaca, and fly back Saturday about noon to Lima. Should be back in plenty of time for the cruise departure at 5PM, especially considering the airport and cruise port are very close. The only problem with this suggestion is altitude sickness because Lake Titicaca is as high as Cusco, if not higher. If you are not bothered and take it SLOW, it would be a different day with something to see.

A flight to Arequippa (the white city-bldgs are made of white stone) is also a possibility. You can see the giant condors on Friday but the trip would be strenuous to do in one day. And again, it is about 15,000 feet over the pass to Colca Canyon (the Grand Canyon of South America).

Lots of possibilities-I take it you have been to MP. The trip to Juliaca/Puno/Lake Titicaca offers probably the best airline schedule for your time frame and the least amount of strenuous walking so you don't get too sick from AMS.

Let us know what you decided to do.

Very sad.

As someone who has been on two Yangtze cruises, I can certainly see how this could happen. The river is crowded and a lot of the ships/boats look as if they are barely sea worthy.

Boarding night on the second Yantgze cruise with the ship docked in Chongquing, I was outside watching all the river traffic. I was astounded at the haphazard way Captains were running the CHINESE boats-not to be confused with the joint venture Western/Chinese boats Western tourists use to cruise the Yantgze. The boat in the article that capsized was definitely CHINESE. And was having financial problems. In addition, that night in Chongquing, one of the CHINESE boats pulled alongside our boat. What a piece of crap. Looked like a lot of those junks cruising the Mekong in Vietnam which are neither safe from a structural standpoint nor mechanically worthy.

Very few safety rules and very lax oversight in Asia. Boats capsized/run aground/out of commission on the Yangtze are just a fact of life in China. If you take the cruise, you will see at least a couple between Chongqing and Three Gorges and there are a couple more between Three Gorges and Wuhan.

People do it frequently on the FLL to Santiago repo cruises along the West Coast of South America. They get off in Lima, which is the gateway to Machu Picchu. In fact, Dec 2006, Celebrity Infinity was having pod problems and Arica Chile (the gateway for the very overpriced X excursions to MP) was going to be bypassed. About 40 people got off the ship in Lima to make their own way to MP.

Done very frequently in Asia also. People very often get off the ship in Saigon or Hanoi and make their own way back to the ship (or not). Can't use the ship visa for land travel in Vietnam but it is a very easy way to see Angkor Wat out of Saigon and rejoin the ship in Bangkok.

After we booked our cruise out of Vancouver, I checked to see what EZAir had to offer for our flights to and from San Juan. They showed me flying out of Seattle and I could not change the itinerary. After complaining about it over 2 weeks ago, it still has me coming out of Seattle.:mad: I am probably better off getting my own tickets.

EZ Air doesn't book tickets specifically for you as a general rule so you can ask all day and still get told NO. They bulk purchase tickets from the most frequented airports which will serve the largest number of their customers.

It appears they have no bulk purchase/consolidator tickets out of YVR. But they do have some out of Seattle. So you are essentially STUCK with Seattle.

Get your own tickets although it is late in the game for YVR tickets if you are on an Alaskan cruise and you may pay a hefty price.

Good luck.

I was checking out flights on ita matrix and there was an excellent business fare over the Christmas period on Emirates in (O) class. I couldn't find any information on this particular fare class? Is it a promotional special :confused:? However when I checked on the Emirates site, it wasn't offering me the same combination of flights - all were more expensive :confused:.

I posted this for someone who asked essentially the same questions. You MUST match the EXACT flight, fare code and any other particulars to get the same price. And checking Flyertalk, it appears that Emirates uses some web only and special codes that are not available at all times. In addition, a specific fare class booking on Emirates requires either a TA or a call to EK.

"The booking codes and fare codes are the key to your problem. PLUS you must match the EXACT flights and times and have seats available in the specific fare class. What I find on Matrix is a Z class fare on the return from AKL. I believe this is the discounted business fare and MAY NOT be available on the specific days you looked. Or on the web, it may not be showing. You may have to call AirPacific (oops, Fiji Airlines) or have a TA book it. For the amount of money you are saving PLUS very often you can stay in Fiji for a few days at no upcharge on the ticket (READ the fare rules), using a TA on this airline may be beneficial if they can get the price.

You need to go to the details section on Matrix and match every one of those segments. And every fare code and any other information to get the right price. This is even in the details section provided as advice for TA's.

"Make sure to provide the exact booking and fare codes shown."

Sometimes it is rather difficult to match the ITA price without using ITA, book by schedule on the airline website AND Expertflyer. Expertflyer is a real time saver when it means finding specific fare codes and how many seats are available in that fare code. Also, the BEST for finding upgrade award availability. Very inexpensive in the scheme of things.

Hope this was helpful. Good luck and let us know how you do."

Hmmm....interesting thought for a "road trip". Is there a similar situation on the return, or are you stuck with regular pricing?

I doubt it and have no one to ask. As you well know, other than Emirates' specials, they are not cheap. And with all the "local money" (meaning the government subsidy paid to Emerati citizens), most can afford the high dollar flights. I don't know how much the Emirates pay to their citizens yearly but Kuwait gives their citizens about $60,000 per person per year. Plus a free piece of land for a home plus subsidies on building that home. I would guess the Emirates participate similarly. I know Saudi does (SIL was married to a Saudi sheik for a lot of years-stayed till her kid was out of HS and came to the USA for college, then left Saudi permanently) as does Qatar.

In addition, there is little product or any kind of freight coming out of Dubai so freight isn't going to pay for the flight TO the US.

Sorry-good thought for a road trip but iffy.

Thanks -- I will contact a TA on Monday. I don't usually use a local TA -- I use an UK agent who books all of our Seabourn cruises.But I do some times use the local AAA travel service so will print out the detailed fare code info and see what they can do.. Looking at at many options ( we are very flexible time wise ) for about a month long stay I found booking a one way Lax-Syd on 2/16 and alone way returning from Akl-Lax on 3/17 the fare the total for both flights was just under $3500 USD per person. I absolutely have no problem paying some one to book the air at those prices.I consider that a very good fare given it is pretty much peak season.Will report back and let you know if I was able to book it. In the meantime I may try Expedia. Thank you for your help.

That is an absolutely spectacular price for a business class flight to OZ. Keep trying TA's until you get one to price it out.

Good luck!!!

Another thread mentioned the numbers or letters on a booking, and I was curious, so I looked up the fare classes for United http://www.flyerguide.com/Booking_Classes_%28UA%29

 

It's interesting, but what do they really mean? For example, If I have an S class ticket, would I be bumped before someone with a Y ticket? And if that's the case, are you able to choose a "better" class before you purchase the ticket as a form of insurance?

( In fact my next flights for a cruise in July are S,S outbound and Z,V on the way home)

 

I bought my tickets directly from the United web site. Does that make a differences?

 

I'm clueless, but just wondering how it all works.

 

Thanks.

While FARE CLASS determines generally how much you paid, whether you get free luggage and sometimes how much, free seat selection for "premium" seats, can you upgrade the ticket, your standby position or can you sit in the exit row seats free, the FARE RULES (which are in the letters and numbers after the fare class designator) determine what "rights" you have with your ticket. Will you be able to change the routing, is the ticket endorsable (good on another airline), is the ticket part of the vacation/cruise package rules, etc. etc. Many, many variables and until you read the fine print in the fare rules for your particular selection, you really don't know.

But if your main fear is getting involuntarily bumped, don't worry. Doesn't happen very often. The airlines offer some BIG incentives for people to give up their seats-sometimes FC on the next flight and cash up to and above the cost of the ticket. It is like an auction-if they can get people to give up their seat for a $50 voucher, it's done when they get the number required. But if they have no takers at $50, they keep raising the stakes and benefits. Cash is ALWAYS better than a voucher (vouchers force you to fly the same airline and use the voucher within a year generally). IF you have the time, it is usually advantageous to let the gate agents KNOW you would voluntarily give up your seat. I do it on every flight where I don't have to be someplace at a specific time and very often come out well ahead of the game.

Buying directly from the airline in general assures more help from the airline than if you bought from a discounter if there is a travel glitch. You are the AIRLINES customer, not a third party. So one step above the rest.

You will have to read the fare rules for your particular flights to find out any restrictions about mileage earning, endorsability, non reroutable, change fees, layovers, etc. etc. If the United fare codes are correct (I don't fly United), you have two heavily discounted flights (the S and V) and a discounted business class ticket (the Z class). Your chances of being bumped off your return flight (the Z class ticket) are probably none. And not much chance of being bumped with the S class tickets.

You should be fine. Don't worry. But thanks for asking and posting the United fare codes.

I've also found (ironic but true) that sometimes Expedia can ferret out ITA-like fares when you can't find them on airline sites.

 

Affordable business class to Oz/NZ at that time of year is a rare thing. What dates are you looking at and what constitutes "very good fares" to you?

On ITA, for the dates above, fare in business on AirPacific was about $4700 on the open jaw ticket. But trying to book online resulted in everything from $7800-9100. BIG savings if you can really get that Z class ticket from New Zealand.

Maybe you should suggest a RTW fare for this if the OP is going to do more traveling in the next year. I love your explanations and examples of RTW fares.

Just an FYI. If you need an international phone, Mobal offers both phones and SIM cards if you have an unlocked GSM phone. AND if you buy the phone, they send you a VERY handy adapter set free. I have three of them from phone purchases and use them all the time. Kind of hard to see the different countries on the top of the adapter box but a good magnifying glass shows clearly which adapter belongs to which country and then I marked them with magic marker.

My favorite adapter is a one piece one but as maryann ns posted, they are heavy and very often come out of the wall.

If anyone uses mustache trimmers or hair clippers to get that bald look, WATCH out. Unless they are specifically designed for travel, they are 110 voltage if purchased in the USA. My dear departed DH fried two or three of them before I broke down and spent the money for a converter. Back in the late 90's-early 2000's, converters were about $100 so had to weigh the difference between buying one and just replacing the $20 hair clippers. But now you can buy all kinds of converters from Amazon for under $40.00.

Listed below are the example of Singapore Airlines Pricing dynamics as shown in their website today:

 

Route: Economy, LAX / Denpasar ( Bali) / LAX

 

1) Outbound: July 10 2015. Inbound: July 25 2015

Flexi saver: US$ 1,79.22 Flexi: US$ 2,052.22

 

2) Outbound: Sept. 10 2015. Inbound: Sept. 25 2015

Sweet Deal US$ 814.22 Flexi saver: US$ 1,052.22 Flexi: US$ 1,764.22

 

3) Outbound: Dec. 10 2015. Inbound: Dec. 25 2015

Sweet Deal: US$ 1,244.22 Flexi saver: 1,292.22 Flexi: Us$ 1,814.22

 

This example shown that SQ pricing can varies from US$ 814.22 to U$2,052.22 per return ticket for the same economy cabin,

depending on the date and Cat you want to travel irrespective of cookie.

Thank you so much for posting this and taking the time to look it up. It just proves if you know what you are doing, you can very often match the online discounters heavily restricted tickets and still buy direct from the airline where you are much more likely to get the help you need in case of a travel glitch. Just takes some work and research. Thanks again.

The booking codes and fare codes are the key to your problem. PLUS you must match the EXACT flights and times and have seats available in the specific fare class. What I find on Matrix is a Z class fare on the return from AKL. I believe this is the discounted business fare and MAY NOT be available on the specific days you looked. Or on the web, it may not be showing. You may have to call AirPacific (oops, Fiji Airlines) or have a TA book it. For the amount of money you are saving PLUS very often you can stay in Fiji for a few days at no upcharge on the ticket (READ the fare rules), using a TA on this airline may be beneficial if they can get the price.

You need to go to the details section on Matrix and match every one of those segments. And every fare code and any other information to get the right price. This is even in the details section provided as advice for TA's.

"Make sure to provide the exact booking and fare codes shown."

I just tried a couple of times using Feb 16 outbound and March 3 inbound. I couldn't get the price because Fiji Airlines doesn't have a book by schedule (where you can pick the individual flights). Kept kicking me to different flights that were not the price on Matrix. Can see it in our company GDS, which means a travel agent can book it. In addition, I can see only 1 seat available on Expertflyer in Z class on the return so if you are trying to book two tickets together, it will kick you into the business unrestricted class. Only difference I can see besides price (and that is a LOT) in the two classes of business tickets is Z is not refundable (only 50%) while C class is totally refundable if cancelled prior to the flight. There are also change fees (minimal in the scheme of things) attached to Z class (which I believe is the business saver class) while there are none in C class.

Sometimes it is rather difficult to match the ITA price without using ITA, book by schedule on the airline website AND Expertflyer. Expertflyer is a real time saver when it means finding specific fare codes and how many seats are available in that fare code. Also, the BEST for finding upgrade award availability. Very inexpensive in the scheme of things.

Hope this was helpful. Good luck and let us know how you do.

If all of you bashers could write all of these lying, misleading writers, and prove to them why their theories don't work, that might be a first start instead of writing generalized and hypothetical comments on this thread that don't really say or prove anything. And when you write them, tell them that it was just a fluke that I have travelled to over 164 countries in the past few years, (because I get my flights so cheap), and never had a problem with my "cheap" online flights, even when I have missed a flight or my flight has been delayed, by following their instructions to clear the cache and cookies when finally going back in to book a flight.

 

http://gadling.com/2010/02/15/airline-tip-clear-your-browsers-cookies-before-booking-flights/

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/columnist/seaney/2013/04/30/airfare-expert-do-cookies-really-raise-airfares/2121981/

 

http://www.wikihow.com/Buy-Cheap-Airline-Tickets

 

http://www.independenttraveler.com/travel-tips/travelers-ed/seven-mistakes-to-avoid-when-booking-a-flight

 

http://dotcomplicated.co/content/2014/01/save-money-on-flight/

 

http://www.happyschools.com/tips-find-cheap-flight-tickets/

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travel-advice/10658392/Do-airlines-raise-fares-while-you-search.html

 

http://www.smartertravel.com/photo-galleries/editorial/seven-more-dirty-little-secrets-of-the-travel-industry.html?id=710&photo=64623

 

 

http://www.johnnyjet.com/2013/02/why...ooking-travel/

 

http://travel.stackexchange.com/ques...t-ips-result-i

 

http://www.theguardian.com/money/blo...booking-online

Did you REALLY read the USA Today article? Did you comprehend it??? Do you understand the dynamic pricing, the different fare codes, the different this, this and that. I don't think so.

It DEBUNKS your entire theory about cookies and repricing flights. Two or three times in the article the author states your cookie theory is MYTH, which is what we have all been saying.

This from the 4th paragraph in regard to clearing cookies:

"Before determining whether you need to do this, though, let me address this myth (and myth is what I strongly believe it to be) by starting off with a couple of geeky facts:"

Posting on the Asia boards forum, spewing the same, illogical junk and challenging everyone who posted to challenge the travel writers.

BONKERS is right.

Wow, very interesting, I would never have guessed. Thanks for sharing! I'll have to remember to leave for Dubai on a Thursday next time I go ;)

That Thursday Emirates flight is stuffed FULL of freight. And most of it is fresh, perishable product. Because it lands on Friday and a lot of Muslim countries have Friday Night Market, it works well to get fresh product. After the religious requirements that occur on Friday, families very often go the the markets, so fresh product is needed. Most of our meat goes to high dollar restaurants in Dubai but there is one distributor who is selling it at the Friday Market. His orders have been increasing, so it must be a viable market. At $46-54 per pound for Prime US halal meat in Dubai, it is not a market for everyone. But he must be finding buyers. Yesterday, he took three full pallets (about 5400# of meat). That is a lot of beef to sell at that price.

SOMETIMES you can get a bargain flight online with Emirates on Thursdays. But the really cheap tickets are offered at the airport so you take your chances. Just an FYI.

In addition, keep in mind that airlines make a LOT of money off of cargo, especially on international flights. You will never know how much cargo (or what) is sitting beneath you in the plane, to the point where it can go out empty in the cabin and still make decent money.

 

An example is that American operates a Raleigh to London flight with a 767-300 that used to be a larger 777-200. Raleigh used to be an AA hub (or at least a focus city, not sure), but that was long ago, and AA continued to operate a 777-200 on that route long after they de-hubbed Raleigh. Why? They had a contract with (I believe) GlaxoSmithKline to transport product between North Carolina and the UK on a daily basis. So the plane was often going out fairly quiet up above, but packed to the gills down below. It's still the case, but they have downsized a bit from 777-200 to 767-300.

There very often are bargain flights to the UK on this flight. And it is GlaxoSmithKline. For their executives and sales people, it is almost a private jet experience even though anyone can book. The freight pays for the flight.

Another one is the middle of the week, particularly Thursday, Emirates flights out of JFK to Dubai. Our halal meat goes on that plane every Thursday night. Very often, our guys at JFK report the plane is less than 1/2 full and they are selling walkup tickets for the unheard of price of $350-450. This plane does not get a lot of local traffic because it lands on Friday, which is the Muslim Holy Day. So local Middle Easterners either book on the Wednesday flight to get home or stay in the USA until the Friday night flight (which is packed).

To the OP: they won't cancel for all the reasons posted. The airlines NEEDS the plane at the other end of the flight, seat maps are unreliable and freight may be heavy on the flight.

I am stunned that you say you book over 800 flights per year yet haven't discovered that travel agents and consolidators charge more for the same flights as the online companies do. That is so unfortunate for your clients.

 

You really have NO IDEA what you are speaking of and you certainly don't read posts very well. And I resent the idea that we are ripping off our clients. We try to make this a win/win for everyone and the last thing I want to see is too much money spent for these trade shows because it impacts our freight business (and payment from clients) in the end. We make NO money booking flights or hotels for clients for trade shows-it is merely a courtesy because we have the expertise and hope by their participation in the trade show, they get new business and our freight business increases.

We don't use any travel agents or consolidators which YOU do use to get your heavily discounted tickets but you can't understand that. CheapoAir is a consolidator as is ChoiceAir/EZ Air, Vayama, BestFares.com, 1-800-FlyEurope, Mobissimo, etc. etc. etc. There are hundreds of them.

Just as an example- referencing the Fancy Food Show in NYC the end of June https://www.specialtyfood.com/shows-events/summer-fancy-food-show/. We have clients coming from Kashmir and Afghanistan and their 4 sales agents here in the US. They sell fresh saffron. Do you really think I would trust someone who doesn't understand the intricacies of a REFRIGERATED trade show to MAKE SURE those clients reach NYC in a timely manner? It's only for two days and a large outlay for small specialty food manufacturers. They NEED to make the most of their investment and not overspend for airline tickets or hotels unless they can actually afford it (and most can't-they are small startups just trying to increase their business).

To make sure everything goes as it should, we book everything ourselves. We don't use any outside help. Getting our client out of Afghanistan presents the most problems. But since I have lived and worked in Afghanistan, I know the lay of the land pretty well and getting the ticket was rather easy, even though darn expensive. I am hoping saffron production in Afghanistan increases. The price of pure fresh saffron is higher than heroin, so maybe a saffron crop will bloom instead of opium poppies. But I digress.

This particular client will need 12 airline tickets from various worldwide points. The part owner out of Kashmir is bringing his wife and two kids. The gentleman out of Afghanistan is bringing his wives (2 so far). Two of the sales agents are bringing their wives, one is based in MA and is driving and one is a single guy. All different airport departure points although most will land at JFK. They were all booked on a one off basis but before we booked, we presented the clients with the prices, airlines and connections. They had 24 hours to make up their minds.

It's our service to our freight clients because we have to move their freight into the trade show and keep an eye on it if it needs refrigeration. Very often, if the coolers are full or access is limited to only certain times of day, we bring in one of our own refrigerated trailers to provide only our clients with access to their products anytime during the show. We have an organic butter customer out of Northern CA that used to have to abide by the trade show access rules to her product. With our trailer on site, she can now access her product about every two hours so the people at the trade show see as fresh butter at 3PM as they did at 8AM. Her displays look considerably better the last three years. It has really helped her and increased our business in the end. These things we make money on. BUT NOT airline tickets or hotels.

So please DO NOT state that my small company is RIPPING OFF PEOPLE. You really pushed a hot button there.

I read the thread you mention. If we could find the old thread from the boards about the couple on consolidator tickets that got stuck somewhere in the Midwest because their consolidator tickets wouldn't help them get to their cruise after an airline issue. That might be a good example to use.

Do you mean this one-the poor lady and her party got stuck in Omaha when others on the plane left, was routed on the ORIGINAL routing through PHL due to the restrictions on her tickets and ended up going home. I felt so sorry for her. Most of the others on the same plane got out of Omaha and were only delayed by a couple of hours. She had a two day marathon trip and still had to go home. I wonder if she ever got anything other than $500 and a refund of her airline ticket???

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1398770&highlight=us+airways

Can you provide a link. The read will be interesting. I"m not the one to challenge her but I'm sure others can and will. Clearly she has no clue about you or she would know that you have vast knowledge far exceeding most of us. Same with Globaliser. It took me quite some time to get through to my brother on the exact same thing. Where did I get my best knowledge on the subject? Here from you guys.

Here you go. Thanks for your help.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2193936

On the thread that you are talking about, if you click on the red triangle at the top right of one of these posts, that is a "Report Post" button that takes you to a way to alert the moderators that you feel the post is a violation of Cruise Critic rules.

Nothing she has posted is a violation of the CC rules. She just keeps reposting over and over totally erroneous information. Someone listening to her may find themselves in deep doo doo if there is a glitch in their air travels.

She cannot grasp the concept of NON ENDORSABLE and NON REROUTABLE which is very often prevalent on heavily discounted tickets. And she doesn't seem to understand the concept of FARE RULES and how they might affect a flight. Nor is she looking at the T & C for some of the discounters she is so heavily in favor of. Reading all the T & C fine print very often is an eye opener. It's where I found out that BestFares.com absolutely WILL NOT change your airline ticket due to a schedule change even if it means you are still on the ship and absolutely could not make the changed flight. You fly the original flight number no matter what time or your ticket is no good.

Thanks for your help.

post: "I booked a flight for $900. to Bali and return, that was listed at a price of $1600. and my flights were identical to those I met on the plane that did pay the $1600". You have ignored that fact and rambled on incessantly that the flights I booked aren't the same as the $1600. flights, which is totally false. Quit dreaming up false scenarios to try to back up your false statements.

POST the ENTIRE FARE RULES and I will show you the difference. Also post the T & C's of the company you booked with.

Obviously, if you book 800 flights a year for others, you are somehow connected to the travel industry or a consolidator business for profit.

I have absolutely NOTHING to do with the travel industry or a consolidator. We are basically a US based trucking company that does a large international refrigerated food business. And we cater to the food trade show business by moving their product to the trade show, making sure they have the refrigeration capacity at the trade show to keep the product and expediting product into the trade show. In addition, we book airline tickets for vendors that are actually manning the booths at trade shows. A lot of times, this includes spouses. And sometimes we even get asked to book hotels.

We present our best prices for the entire package-move product to trade show, keep an eye on refrigeration capacities, expedite entry of product into trade show and airline tickets/hotels if needed. Airline tickets are primarily done on an individual basis because it is mostly sales reps that man the booths and they come from all over the world, so different departure airports for most.

Please stop misquoting me and twisting around what I am saying by trying to post here that my $900. flights were not the same as the $1600. ones on the airline's website, because they were. That is why I am going back to Bali and booking the same flights again. You don't know what flights I had taken before, or will take in future, so for you to write a long rambling post trying to convince the readers that cheaper flights are no good and not the same routing or type as the more expensive flights, is very unethical. I am sure any intelligent reader can ascertain whether the flights they book online are the same as other higher priced flights. It is not rocket science to compare flights on an airline's website with flights on an internet booking site, and know if they are the same or not.

 

You are entitled to your opinion but do not twist my words around by deliberately quoting me out of context to try to make your point, or make false statements and hypothetical assumptions about my flights.

No one misquoted you. It was your words via cut and paste or the quote feature on CC.

AGAIN, POST YOUR ENTIRE FARE RULES for the flight you booked. And the T & C's from whomever you booked with. That will show the differences.