What websites or apps do you use to find cheap late-minute flights? (US)
September 28, 2023 8:34 AM Subscribe
I now have a 100% remote job, and want to couple that with visiting family and friends, most likely with a 1-3 week lead time. What sites do you use to find the best deals?
It sounds like you expect to be able to continue working your remote job during these visits?
If you are a W2 employee, you should check that assumption with HR/Payroll first because they will have to file employment paperwork and possibly pay payroll taxes in every state you are physically working from.
Not trying to be a Debbie Downer but numerous WFH employees have been fired for attempting to work from an unexpected location. The IT department knows where you are, and they'll know if you attempt to use a VPN to hide where you are.
posted by Jacqueline at 9:08 AM on September 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
If you are a W2 employee, you should check that assumption with HR/Payroll first because they will have to file employment paperwork and possibly pay payroll taxes in every state you are physically working from.
Not trying to be a Debbie Downer but numerous WFH employees have been fired for attempting to work from an unexpected location. The IT department knows where you are, and they'll know if you attempt to use a VPN to hide where you are.
posted by Jacqueline at 9:08 AM on September 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: It sounds like you expect to be able to continue working your remote job during these visits?
Yes - my manager is aware and encourages us to take advantage of this perk.
posted by Silvery Fish at 9:16 AM on September 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
Yes - my manager is aware and encourages us to take advantage of this perk.
posted by Silvery Fish at 9:16 AM on September 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
Yeah, my company is totally OK with people working remotely while visiting someplace else (if I moved without asking if it was OK that would be a problem). It really depends on the type/size/leadership of the business.
I use Kayak for flight searches but depending on the routes you're interested in you might want to do more targeted searches. Like, for me, there are certain routes where I am pretty much always going to choose JetBlue, so it makes a lot of sense to just look on the JetBlue site since that's probably where I'm going to end up. Maybe do a quick sanity check on Kayak or Google Flights if the price seems unusually high.
posted by mskyle at 9:25 AM on September 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
I use Kayak for flight searches but depending on the routes you're interested in you might want to do more targeted searches. Like, for me, there are certain routes where I am pretty much always going to choose JetBlue, so it makes a lot of sense to just look on the JetBlue site since that's probably where I'm going to end up. Maybe do a quick sanity check on Kayak or Google Flights if the price seems unusually high.
posted by mskyle at 9:25 AM on September 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
It doesn't work for identifying random deals you might take on a whim to who knows where, but when I know where I want to go and about when, I use ITA Matrix (which is the underlying service Google Flights uses).
posted by solotoro at 9:54 AM on September 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by solotoro at 9:54 AM on September 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
The flight aggregator business is very "frothy", to borrow a business term. Meaning it changes fairly quickly and not always obviously, so sites that used to have deals a few years ago (Priceline, Hotwire, and Expedia to name some high profile ones, are now all kinda the same and don't distinguish themselves from each other in any relevant way ).
The site that I found anecdotally to index low cost flights that other sites didn't catch is Skyscanner, (it also has fairly high and reliable good ratings.)
It's not a booking site, which is a huge plus for me: it sends you to the airline site (or travel agency) directly. Their UI is also clean and not intentionally scammy or laden with ads. For example, their Savings Generator web app is a minimalist experience that at least feels like it cuts out the BS.
Also, whatever you end up using, it may also still be worth checking the Southwest Airline site directly, as I believe they are the only major airline that does not allow their flights to be aggregated, and if you can get past their recent bad PR, may be worth looking at.
posted by jeremias at 2:38 PM on September 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
The site that I found anecdotally to index low cost flights that other sites didn't catch is Skyscanner, (it also has fairly high and reliable good ratings.)
It's not a booking site, which is a huge plus for me: it sends you to the airline site (or travel agency) directly. Their UI is also clean and not intentionally scammy or laden with ads. For example, their Savings Generator web app is a minimalist experience that at least feels like it cuts out the BS.
Also, whatever you end up using, it may also still be worth checking the Southwest Airline site directly, as I believe they are the only major airline that does not allow their flights to be aggregated, and if you can get past their recent bad PR, may be worth looking at.
posted by jeremias at 2:38 PM on September 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
Quick addendum: after I posted this last comment I mentioned it to my friend in the room and she said that not *every* flight search in Skyscanner sends you to the airline's site, sometimes all you get are other booking sites, like trip.com, etc.
Personally, I always try to book directly on an airline site, I've been burned before with booking tickets on third-party sites. So I will take the long way around and use aggregators and then reverse-engineer them to book directly.
posted by jeremias at 2:48 PM on September 28, 2023
Personally, I always try to book directly on an airline site, I've been burned before with booking tickets on third-party sites. So I will take the long way around and use aggregators and then reverse-engineer them to book directly.
posted by jeremias at 2:48 PM on September 28, 2023
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posted by The_Vegetables at 8:47 AM on September 28, 2023 [2 favorites]