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Show Page 6 THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Volume II, Issue X 15 May 2000 Airfare Biology 101: Dissecting Airfares and Airline Lingo By Jane Olson, Adventure Travel You’re happily chatting with the woman seated next to you on a flight to New York when you discover an unsettling fact: she paid $250 while you paid $500 for the exact same flight! You spend the rest of your flight fuming. Sound familiar? The airline industry is a maze of rules and regulations, but you can help avoid such unpleasant surprises by familiarizing yourself with the way airfares work. Here are the main factors that can affect the price of your ticket. Advance Purchase - Buy your ticket at least 14-21 days before your departure date. The least expensive fares usually have advance purchase requirements. So when exactly should you buy your tickets for a trip? A good guideline is if you’re certain about plans and you find a fare that you’re happy with, buy it! You might possibly save a few dollars by waiting, but you could also risk paying hundreds more. Also, even if a sale fare appears at the last minute, chances are there won’t be availability for the dates/times you want to travel. Availability - Even if you’re able to meet all the restrictions of a fare being offered, in order to purchase a ticket at that price you still have to find seats for the dates/flights you want. Airlines basically allot a certain number of seats for each economy fare level offered. So even though there may be plenty of seats in economy class, the cheaper seats may already be sold out. Travel Seasons - Fares to most destinations can vary drastically depending on the season of travel. Basically, expect to pay more if you want to travel when everyone else does. Fares to Europe, for example, have roughly the following seasons: “High Season” (most expensive) mid-June - midSeptember, “Low Season” (least expensive) November to midDecember and January through March and “Shoulder Season” (mid-priced) the rest of the year. Blackout Dates - Some fares do not allow travel on certain dates (usually around holidays). For example, the Wednesday before and the Sunday after Thanksgiving are traditionally blacked out for most of the cheaper airfares. Change/Cancellation penalties This is a big shock to travelers when they wish to change/cancel a ticket. It’s also a thorn in the writer’s shoe because how many retailers do you know who will not refund your money before the service or goods are taken? Anyway, for domestic travel, there is usually a $75 fee. For international travel, the fee is $150 for changing a ticket in any way. In addition, if the changes cause a change in the airfare, you will have to pay the fare difference (often a hefty sum on top of the change fee). Cancellations involve the same fee. You are given a credit for the remaining amount, which can be used toward future travel on the same airline. Consolidator Fares - These are fares that travel agents have access to through consolidators and cannot be purchased direct with the airlines. These fares often do not have advance purchase requirements and have a lower penalty for changes/cancellations (a consideration that is sometimes as important as price). They may allow for relatively cheap one-way travel and include free stopovers. Shop around—-and be careful to check all restrictions if you choose to purchase an airline ticket over the Internet. Attitude is Everything Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, “If I were any better, I would be twins!” Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, “I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?” Michael replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Mike, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life. “Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,” I protested. “Yes, it is,” Michael said. “Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live life.” I reflected on what Michael said. Soon thereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied. “If I were any better, I’d be twins. Wanna see my scars?” I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place. “The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon to be born daughter,” Michael replied. “Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I chose to live.” “Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?” I asked. Michael continued, “...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read ‘he’s a dead man.’ I knew I needed to take action. “What did you do?” I asked. “Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,” said Michael. “She asked if I was allergic to anything. “Yes, I replied.” The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, “Gravity.” Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.’” Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything. How about a Parent’s night out? Enjoy your evening knowing your kids are in a fun and safe environment. Awesome activities, dinner provided!! Friday, May 19th 6:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Old Firehouse Child Care L.C. and Preschool Call for more details 745-5600 Reservations required |