I have a friend getting married later this summer (Hi Phil), and finding a flight back east has become the biggest pain in the arse I can imagine. I’m trying to fly into either Philadelphia or Baltimore, and I almost always start on Orbitz because it lists lots of different airlines. (Kayak does the same thing, but Kayak mainly lists Orbitz fares when I search….)
So I check every day, usually a couple times a day, and have zero luck — prices are too high, or there’s a 10-hour layover in the Great Midwest, or this: crap price information.
I keep finding Northwest Airlines’ flights that are generally acceptable, like this one from earlier today:

Sure, I’ll leave at 6:00 am so I can get in early and relax. Price isn’t great, but Phil is only getting married once so let’s do it! Let’s hit that SELECT button and make that reservation!
I do that, and then I get this:

Ack!! That $619 flight has suddenly become a $1,400 flight. And worst of all, this has been going on forever. You’d think I’d learn my lesson and just skip the NWA listings, but they’re always the best combination of price and schedule … so I keep clicking … and I keep screaming at the computer.
I don’t know if NWA is to blame for this: Orbitz? NWA? The Others? The Dharma Initiative? Halliburton? Hillary Clinton? All I know is that I’m tired of it. Air travel is bad enough; making the reservation is supposed to be the easy part.
2 Comments
Try the same flight dates on nwa.com.
I have, Brian … believe me. I’ve tried everything……