Absolutely. At one minute after midnight on Tuesday (12:01 am Wednesday) you can often strike your best deal. Airline fare wars are most often started by the weakest competitor over the weekend. By Monday, many of the majors match the fares. Then the fare war starts with an even lower fare offered by one of them on Monday. By Tuesday, the fare has been matched, and then, at 12:01 Wednesday, any of those fares that have been reserved but not purchased within 24 hours come back into the inventory -- briefly -- and that's when you strike.
Have e-tickets made paper tickets obsolete?
Just the opposite. E-tickets have made paper tickets more necessary than ever! I hate e-tickets. They absolutely limit your options as a traveler. If you're flying on an e-ticket and there's a flight irregularity, a delay, cancellation, or labor slowdown, you might as well go home. At best, you'll have to stand in a very long line in order to get the very paper ticket you should have had in the first place. That's the only way you can get yourself endorsed over to the next flight. Always fly with a paper ticket.
What should travelers know about flying standby?
While there are very few, if any, standby airline fares, the actual standby flight status does exist. Remember, when an airline tells you there are no seats available for a particular flight, what they are really telling you is that there are no seats available at the fare you want to pay. If you're holding that paper at the discounted fare, there's a reasonably good chance there are plenty of empty seats on the flight you want. If you're a little flexible with your schedule, then go to the airport and simply stand by for the flight you want. This also applies to frequent-flier award tickets.
Why do 75% of all frequent flier miles go unused or expire?
Because the airlines increasingly make it difficult to redeem those hard-earned miles. Remember, frequent-flier programs were created to reward you for your loyalty to an airline in an intensely competitive environment. With fewer airlines and growing consolidation among carriers, there is decreasing incentive for the airlines to have such programs. While they will probably never eliminate them, the airlines continue to devalue them, up the ante for award eligibility, and increase blackout dates each year.
Does being first in line guarantee an "upgrade" to first class?
Absolutely not. There is a definite caste system when it comes to upgrading. It all depends on your status in the airline's frequent-flier program, the amount you paid for the ticket, and yes, what time they put you on the list. But the time they put you on the list is the last consideration used by the airlines.
What is the advantage of taking what you call a "secret red-eye flight"?
A 10 pm red-eye flight from Los Angeles to New York means you cannot really have a decent evening in Los Angeles -- you're racing for the plane. And then, when you get to New York in the morning you get stuck in rush-hour traffic. But a secret red-eye flight that leaves at 11:45 pm or midnight -- and most airlines have them, flying through their hub cities -- means you can have a relaxed evening in LA and arrive in New York -- LaGuardia, not JFK -- in time for lunch. The key to understanding secret red-eye flights is to fly an airline through its hub city to Newark or LaGuardia. Even the smaller carriers have them, Frontier through Denver, Midwest Express through Milwaukee, and so on.
What are the advantages of "backing into a fare"?
When you back into a fare you are paying what you want to pay, not what the airline wants you to pay. This is how you do it: when you call to make a reservation, tell them where you want to go but not when you want to go. Instead, ask the person helping you to call up all the published fares on the route, then go to the bottom of the list, where the cheapest fares are. Ask for the lowest fare and the restrictions and then move slowly up the list until you find a deal you can back into. Otherwise, you'll almost always pay more.
Airlines allow infants to fly free if they sit on a parent's lap, but is this safe?
Absolutely not. In repeated tests of simulated survivable hard landings and crashes, no one holding a "lap child" was able to maintain their grasp on the child. Seat belts only work if the child is more than 40 pounds. But for children under the age of two weighing less than 40 pounds, if you want to be a responsible parent you need to put your child in an approved restraint seat. It's unfortunate that when confronted with the same incontrovertible research, the airlines and the FAA haven't acted responsibly in providing these seats. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't do the right thing. Most manufacturers of child safety seats for automobiles can tell you if their seat -- many are removable from strollers -- is FAA-approved.
What are your tips for avoiding jet lag?
In my experience, jet lag is a state of mind. Wanna beat it? Don't eat airline food, drink plenty of bottled water, and don't drink alcohol. If you can avoid being injured by beverage carts in flight, get up and walk around. Then, the whammy: when you arrive at your destination, you must stay up until at least midnight local time. Do anything to avoid succumbing to the urge to take that 4 pm nap. If you can push yourself that first day, you'll totally cycle by the second day. Repeat this process on your return trip.
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