In 2015, I managed to get an impossible plane ticket from Bangkok to Los Angeles for $450 dollars. The story behind it is quite impressive, as it went against all “known” data about booking flights.
Earlier, I wrote a detailed post on how to save money on flights. This story is how I applied the data myself and won.
Originally, my plan for winter was to stay in Kuala Lumpur until the end of December and then meet my brother in Bangkok. We were going to travel around SE Asia for three weeks together, but at the end of November he called me up and backed out of the trip. I had to think fast and change my plans. I decided that instead of him coming out to see me, I would fly back to the States and surprise my family for the holidays.
The first thing I did was move my flight from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok earlier, as I knew Bangkok was the cheapest place to fly from SE Asia to the States. As I had to pay a fee to change the ticket, I picked the cheapest day, which was December 12th. Then I looked for my ticket to Los Angeles. Talk about out-of-sequence! Using Skyscanner, I found that the flight from Bangkok to Los Angeles was $450 on the 11th of December, $650 on the 13th and then went up to over $1000 for the rest of the year after the 13th.
Instead of paying yet another fee to change my Kuala Lumpur ticket again, I decided I would wait for the ticket on the 13th to drop down to the $450 price offered on the 11th. The flight was less than three weeks away, but I was confident it would drop. I mentioned this to a couple other successful bloggers, and they said they were pretty sure it would not drop, as it was too close to the holidays. I checked the flight and there were still about a dozen seats left. I chose to wait.
I had already done extensive testing and concluded that COOKIES DO NOT AFFECT AIRLINE PRICES! Prices change for other reasons, and a higher price will be a higher price for other reasons than your cookies. I tested this by checking prices in incognito mode, on different devices and browsers and even texting friends around the world to see if they were seeing the same price change as I had, both before and after. I have seen that the time of the day and week do have an effect, but not cookies.
Knowing this, for the next week I checked the price several times a day, sometimes hourly. The price fluctuated by a few dollars many times, but always stayed in the $630-650 range. Finally on morning of November 30th, while sitting in the Attic Bar of my hostel in Kuala Lumpur, I checked the price and found my impossible plane ticket was $450.35 including baggage (which weighed a whopping 88 lbs when I checked in for my flight). Two minutes later the ticket was purchased. Two hours later, I checked back on the website. The price had reverted right back to it’s $650 range. Success!
Trip Planning
I’m not a certified travel agent, but I will help you find cheap flights and plan your journey in exchange for a couple ice creams (or other donation amount). You can use the contact form below to request help with your travels, and donate on the sidebar whenever and whatever you feel is a valid exchange for my help once you receive it.
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2 Comments
Well done, takes tenacity.
I hope people you help, pay more than cookies and Ice-cream! Haha
Seriously, a kind donation would be more suitable.
LOL. Thanks! The best donation I do get is the amazing hosts I have all around the world. But most people ask for a coffee or drink, and I personally prefer ice creams. 😉