> More than a little irritated by the ridiculously long and expensive flight back to school (Oregon to Texas), I did comparison shopping.
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> It's $200 cheaper and 7 hours shorter to fly to Honolulu, Hawaii. It's 2 hours shorter to fly to Auckland, New Zealand, although twice the price. It's barely cheaper and barely shorter to fly to Tokyo. The flight to Santiago, Chile is half again the price but ten minutes less flying time. To Orlando (by way of Texas, although not the right part of Texas) is half the price and half the flying time. $80 more expensive to get to Moscow. Pretty much identical price and flying time to get to Paris. Eight hours shorter to fly to Bahrain.
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> Ga"less gabby than has been claimed"be

If you are expecting air fares to make sense, I have news for you. There is no formula for calculating fares. On any trip, you could be sitting next to someone who payed hundreds more or less than you did. Both seats leave and arrive at the same time.

Sometimes if you drive a few miles in another direction you can get big savings. People in the area of Knoxville often drive to Nashville and same time and money on a trip. Flying from hub to hub is often cheaper than trips between small airports.

Internet search engines can usually find you a good price but you may wind up on an airline you never heard of, or in a crummy seat. Bargain prices are sometimes available to those who don't mind flying in the middle of the night.

Avoid Monday and Friday when business people fly. Fewer seats are available and discounts are rare.

Best bet is to get someone in your family a job with an airline. They can get you some discounts you won't believe. And if you are family, airline people tend to put you in first class if a seat is available. The downside is that you are flying standby and you can get bumped off a crowded flight and may get stranded for hours or even days.

About that Oregon to Texas flight; did you have to fly an indirect route of two or more legs? That can make a short flight much too long. If I fly to Miami from Knoxville, I go via Chicago? That means I go north, then turn around and fly back right over Tennessee and on down to Florida. Depending on wait time, that can take most of a day.

The rule of thumb is that for every hour of flight, you can expect an hour of hanging around various terminals.

Another way to save money is to find someone near the airport who will keep your car for you while you are gone. Airport parking fees are usually $10 a day and up. Don't ask about parking fees at Boston's Logan Airport. If you have to ask, you can't afford it.

Several years ago, we found that renting a car was about half price in San Jose compared to San Francisco.
Howard