Since I no longer have my private jet due to the economy, I am now forced to ride with the common folk on a regular old airline. To make it even worse, I have to price shop to try and save a little money. Now that I think of it, I may not have ever had my own plane. It might just be that the people sitting next to me are getting bigger and bigger, there is hardly any room in the overhead, and they don’t serve a lick of food anymore. So I might have just been flying coach all along which felt like a private jet compared to today’s air travel. But at least it’s cheap.
This past week I finally booked my ticket to LA for DomainFest and was pleasantly surprised how cheap Southwest flights are right now. I’m not a shill for Southwest but have to admit I’ve always thought they had the best deals if you are headed west. I was able to get a non stop round trip for $199 from Chicago to LA. Add my $20 to insure I got a good seat and I think I paid less than I’ve ever paid to go to LA. Last year’s flight was over $400 and it had one stop each way. If you are going to DomainFest this year I highly suggest you look at tickets right now if you want to get a pretty good deal. As for hotels, I’ll probably do what I did last year. Share a room with Bob Parsons. He was trying to save a few bucks and he liked the fact I don’t snore.
We love flying with southwest. Never had a problem with them.
CheapOair has round trip tickets to/from Chicago and LA on DomainFest dates for an even better price than SouthWest – $174 with a one-stop, or $195 direct on Virgin America.
I love Virgin America, and the price for RT from D.C. To LA is $290 with taxes and fees. I’m either going to use them, or my free voucher I have on United from getting bumped this year. I’ll check Southwest, but they’re not huge out here. As for the hotel, I have my own budget solution, and I’m quite sure I’ll be the only domainer staying at the Santa Monica hostel for less than $75/night. Bob Parson’s room was booked, and 4 nights at the Faimont add up.
Nadia,
Ha. Looking forward to meeting you. I stayed at the Double Tree in Santa Monica last year. It was cheap, clean, and overall a great deal. Pretty long walk but it’s through the shopping area and I enjoyed the morning exercise. Took a cab half the time.
Good to know I’m not the only one who values budget traveling. 🙂 It’s a 99% done deal for me – just need to finalize some paperwork for the time off work and book the flight, but I’m looking forward to it! A vacation and conference all rolled into one. 🙂