I actually booked three separate flights yesterday, and each of them was a fantastic deal!
I love booking flights. It makes me excited about the upcoming travel. Especially when you wait forever for a great deal and then finally get to jump on it.
Originally, I was looking for a deal to Puerto Vallarta because that's where our motorhome is currently stored. But we know that we want to visit some friends further south and finally decided that we didn't really want to drive the motorhome all the way down (1,300 kms) to Puerto Escondido. We've done that drive quite a few times, plus gasoline has gone up in price quite a bit. I decided that it would actually be cheaper to fly.
But it's not easy to get to Puerto Escondido. It's just a small airport and it's not serviced by any international flights. The only regularly scheduled flights come from Mexico City or Oaxaca.
Puerto Escondido
Our return flight from Korea connects in Seattle so we're just going to get off the plane and stay there. We were thinking of making our way south exploring San Francisco and Los Angeles along the way, so I was looking for flight to Puerto Escondido from any of those cities. But they wanted between $350 and $400 per person.
So I started looking at local Mexican flights to go on sale. If I could get a deal from Mexico City to Puerto Escondido then it should (in theory) be fairly easy to get a deal to Mexico City from the western coast of the United States.
Yesterday, I found a deal. Mexico City to Puerto Escondido for 1,525 pesos ($130) return! Fantastic price on sale with a local Mexican carrier, VivaAerobus. So, $65 each way per person.
So I booked it! We arrive in Puerto Escondido November 11 for a two week visit. Our favorite Mexican beach town and we get to see our friends at the same time.
Then, I had to find a way to Mexico City. I had been watching a fare from Oakland, California (just outside of San Francisco) and had seen it drop the other day from $184 to $160. I had tried to book it at the time, but missed it by minutes and it had gone back to $184. Sure enough, yesterday around suppertime I checked and it was back to $160. A US Airways flight that connects in Phoenix.
Booked!
So we fly from Oakland, Calif to Mexico City November 9th. Two nights and one full day in "the big tamale" before our flight to Puerto Escondido on the 11th.
Hmm. But somehow we still have to get to Puerto Vallarta and the motorhome. So I looked for flights from Mexico City and they were all around $100. That's too much, I thought. So I checked to see if any flights leave from nearby Toluca and sure enough there was one from Interjet for $58 each. Ha! That works even better because now we can also visit our friends in Valle de Bravo!!
So we fly from Toluca to Puerto Vallarta on December 2nd. That gives us 6 days in Valle de Bravo.
Then, we will hop in the motorhome on December 2nd and slowly make our way north over the following five months. We have never properly explored Arizona and southern California and want to spend some time making our way to Utah in March and April.
So, our winter plans are taking shape!
Only one thing left. We have to find a way from Seattle to San Francisco around November 5th. That's a pretty popular flight route, so I'm totally confident I'll find a deal for that.
Our Amazon.com deal of the day?
One of readers recommended a book from our post about the elephants the other day. It's not really a great deal, but it looks like a great book and has some really great reviews...
OK cool. Congratulations on all those bookings. My head would spin, but you have it all under control. I guess it would be like someone watching me gibe the spinnaker who has never seen it done before. These things can seem intimidating from the "outside".
ReplyDeleteKevin lives for this stuff and he loves it even more when he books the flight and knows that we got a great deal on it. What's gibe the spinnaker?
DeleteYou just never cease to amaze me the way you make things work out and so inexpensively. Wish I could hire you as my travel agent.
ReplyDeleteJust let him know where and when and he will look for a deal for you.
DeleteSherry has a good point! If you ever get tired of your summer work, you could freelance as Travel Agents!
ReplyDeleteHere's the problem with travel agents...the vast majority of them have no incentive to actually save you money.
DeleteI would gladly help out any of our regular readers...for free. Where do you want to go...and when? If you're serious about it and specific, I don't mind doing some research for you.
It's a wonder you have any time to manage the campground with all the on line flight watching you do... ;c)
ReplyDeleteHey...a guy's gotta have a hobby!
DeleteHow are you going to get to Toluca and how much will it cost via bus?
ReplyDeleteOur flight lands in Mexico City and we'll take the bus from there to Valle de Bravo. Then when we're finished in Valle de Bravo we'll take the bus to Toluca airport. Or maybe our friends will drive us since they live in Toluca. I guess we'll see. The bus is pretty cheap though.
DeleteYou are a booking whiz.
ReplyDeleteHe sure is! :-)
DeleteSheesh, good going...I'm envious!! For some reason booking flights online stresses me out completely!
ReplyDeleteHe definitely has a knack for it!
DeleteWell crap, I posted a reply but it disappeared! Anyway, we will be in PV the first part of December, so maybe a few drinks?! Off to France soon, then Vermont, Cozumel, PV, then back to COZ for the winter! Phew!
ReplyDeleteI hate when that happens! I have now gotten into the habit of coping my comments before posting them, it has happened too many times to me.
DeleteDefinitely would love to get together for drinks and perhaps even dinner, we owe you guys at least one or two! We will keep in touch as the time gets closer.
Sounds like you have some good travels planned, have a great time.
Sounds like some great plans! Did you change your minds about the idea of leading a motor home caravan to Mexico? I may have missed a follow-up post when you were kicking that idea around.
ReplyDeleteFor now, yes. The thing that wasn't very realistic about doing that this year is that our motorhome was already in Mexico. We just couldn't justify driving it all the way back to the border and then back south again. Still want to do it, but it will have to wait for another year.
Delete