www.CostaRicaTicas.com

...sad to report....BUTTTT.....irrespective of what "search engine" you use, ORBITZ always has the least expensive fares (including their service fee) out of MCI. Because MCI is in the middle of nowhere anymore, one is sorta kinda stuck with using ORBITZ UNLESS there is a fare "war" or whatever going down.

I got email from Continental for a $379RT (all taxes, etc.) and had to act pronto to secure. The exact same flights were a bunch more on ORBITZ, but even more on the others.

I do believe those of us in the hinterlands are just screwed when it comes to getting the best fare deals unless we hear directly from one particular carrier, as Continental did this time. *shrug*

Steven1 wrote:


???, are you sure? Orbitz should be getting the fares from the same place as Travelocity, Expedia, Etc.. In any case, just because you find the fare there doesn't mean you have to book it there. In fact there are good reasons for booking directly with alot of the carriers, eg. with Continental, you get their low fare guarantee, 50% bonus on Elite miles on discount fares, and $5 each ticket if you join their travel club.

If you do see a fare lower on Orbitz than on the carrier's website you may be able to get an additional $50 to $100 in the form of a travel voucher by booking the higher fare with the carrier's website and then invoking their low fare guarantee. They'll match the lower fare and give you a voucher for future travel. If not, you should have 24 hours to get a full refund. See individual carrier sites for details.

Steven1 wrote:


Are you sure you got the email directly from Continental? I didn't know they offered that service. Many of the search engines do though. I occasionally get notices of sales for a bunch of city pairs or for a new route though.

Steven1 wrote:


Try http://www.farecompare.com and setup some fare alerts from MCI. New deals may not be bookable for about 3 hours so don't get discouraged if you are not finding the fare on a booking engine. In the past they had problems with fuel surcharges not be calculated into the pricing of their alerts but I think that's been taken care of.

PS: The fact this flight is direct makes it a cake walk....I leave MCI early, but I get into San Jose at or about 11:30am....which sure beats the typical 10pm non-sense AND adds a full day to the routine of getting "psychologically adjusted".....

Steven1 wrote:


You mean direct from Houston right? You'll have to make a stop in Houston, Continental only flies direct to SJO from IAH and EWR.

Steven1,

Can you post me a link to information on the Continental Low fare guarantee? My flight to SJO has decreased in price by $200 since I purchased it. When I called Continental, the only thing they would offer is to change my flight ticket for a $150 charge and give me a $50 credit on future travel. When I searched the Continental website for information I could not find any low fare guarantees.

Lost

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I just purchased another tix from them going through DFW for 306RT. How can you not love these tix prices.

Steven1,

Can you post me a link to information on the Continental Low fare guarantee? My flight to SJO has decreased in price by $200 since I purchased it. When I called Continental, the only thing they would offer is to change my flight ticket for a $150 charge and give me a $50 credit on future travel. When I searched the Continental website for information I could not find any low fare guarantees.

Lost