Cheaper Internal USA Flights

[Lisa1976]

I would like to pick the brains of you US people if thats ok.

We are planning a trip and wanting to visit San Fran, San Diego and a various other places on the west coast. Does anyone have any recommendations / websites that they know of where we can try for internal flights. Unfortunately with us being in the UK we don't seem to be getting very far, we have tried Amercian and United and they are coming up with extorinate prices.

Any help would be great.

Thanks

[OKWTink]

Have you tried sites like Travelocity, and Cheap Tickets? Or even the actual airlines sites, like Southwest and Jet Blue?

Would you be flying within the US (as in you fly into the US from the UK, and then use internal (not connecting from the UK) flights to get to your desired destination within the US)?

I don't know if that would make a bit of difference, I was just trying to be sure I understand what you need.

DCfromVA is wicked good with understanding the air routes and the airlines of this country. If she doesn't see this you might want to drop her a line.

[dcfromva]

'Tink,
:lol: :lol: It looks like I can't add to what you've suggested already. :)

Lisa,
Would you be flying from Orlando?

-DC :ears:

[Lisa1976]

Thanks for the help. Yes we would be flying within the US, basically what we are looking at is flying from London to San Francisco, arranging our own internal flight from San Fran to San Diego and then flying from LA back to London. We just wondered if it would be cheaper to go through an amercian airline / website for the internal flight??

[victorlowe]

I am very fond of Southwest Airlines: www.southwest.com

I am not a travel agent, of course, but I remember SW serves the San Diego to San Francisco route very frequently. It is a bit over 525 miles.

I have another idea. :eek: The Amtrak "Coast Starlight" train from San Francisco to Los Angeles, connecting to the "Pacific Surfliner" to San Diego, is a very scenic route. www.amtrak.com

Just ideas, of course :shrug: When in the San Diego area, go out across the bridge to the Hotel del Coronado. That's the historic resort hotel that was the location of the 1959 film "Some Like It Hot" with Marilyn Monroe (although according to the storyline it was meant to be Florida)

You know, I should not say it, being a native of Florida and all, but California is the better state in all important ways. :oops:

[TimonAndPumba]

Hey Lisa, :thanks: for bringing this up... we too would like information on cheap internal USA flights. On our next trip just before we go to WDW, we're planning on visiting the West Coast and would be looking at a one way flight from San Francisco to Orlando... any information would be extremely helpful! :ears:

[dcfromva]

... but I remember SW serves the San Diego to San Francisco route very frequently. It is a bit over 525 miles.

Victorlowe,
You are quite right that SWA has quite a few flights to San Diego (SAN) from either San Jose or Oakland for SWA. They have recently added San Francisco international (SFO) to their booking schedule, but it is by way of the ATA code sharing and it looks like they don't offer service to SAN from SFO via ATA.

-DC :ears:

[dcfromva]

Lisa1976,
I was looking at the SWA site for prices from either San Jose or Oakland to SAN --just picking arbitrary dates and it was coming out around $98.40 round trip (incl taxes) on an internet fare (They do offer sales from time to time, but I haven't been watching that market lately to see how low they've been going. )

Would it be convenient for you to go to either of those airports to catch a flight? (I am assuming that you plan to do some sight seeing in the SFO area.)

OAK is across the bay from SFO and SJC is south of SFO. Here is a link to Yahoo Maps (http://maps.yahoo.com/) . You can use SFO, OAK and SJC in the address line (where it says airport code) and it will give you some idea as to the relative location of these airports.

While most of the SWA airfares are non-refundable, they don't charge any change fee to make changes to the flights--just whatever the new price is (and in some cases, that means you can get a credit).

They have open seating which takes some getting used to, but it isn't too bad if you get an A boarding card and get to the airport early. You are allowed to pre-board no matter which seating group you are in if you have young ones under the age of 5.
-DC :ears:

[Lisa1976]

Thank you so much for your help DC, this has given me some good ideas. Can't wait to start planning our trip now.

[Whitequeen]

Whilst looking on UK sites, find sites that offer multi-city trips. You put in the cities you want on the dates you want and they give you a price. :thumbs:

[JuniorMickey]

If you are checking orbitz or the like remembe that JetBlue, Southwest and Airtran don't always come up though there, you need to check their individual sites

[Cindernaenae]

Looks like you're covered. Just remember that for the most part, your internal flights in the US won't have the entertainment you're used to. With the seatback tv's and such. ;)

[JuniorMickey]

JetBlue and Song now have seatback TVs with satallite TV :) I love flying Song to Boston and watching ESPN for the flight

[Cindernaenae]

I was going to say Song, but wasn't sure. I just knew it was one of those airlines we don't have in my neck of the woods.

[tajainaz]

Southwest is bare bones, cattle call style. But it's usually on time and, for short flights, that's really all one needs! :)

[Lisa1976]

victorlowe, is it far from San Francisco to Oakland or San Jose as these seem to be the main airport that Southwest fly from?!?!?

[JuniorMickey]

San Francisco to Oakland is only about 1/2 hour or so. Figure about an hour and a half to San Jose

[tajainaz]

Lisa, here is a link to BART (http://www.bart.gov/index.asp), the Bay Area Rapid Transit system. There is a route map you can use to go from SFO (San Francisco/Oakland airport) into San Francisco. Not sure if it serves San Jose--I didn't look at it. :sorry:

I don't recommend driving in San Francisco if it's your first visit. BART, trolleys and taxis are safer until you feel comfortable with the terrain and the city. Parking in the city is astronomical--when it's available. If you find you're comfortable, rent a car for your excursions outside the city. :thumbs:

[victorlowe]

You folks can see why I always preface my travel advice with, "I am not a travel agent", because I had got the details about the airports wrong. sorry. :eek: Looking at my travel log, I do see that I flew out of San Jose Airport to San Diego that year, as SJC was closer to my friend's house.

I like Southwest Airlines, but they are really very plain.. it's like a bus, almost, with first-come, first-served seating.

The Oakland Airport is easy to reach via Bart, but the San Jose Airport is further away. These and SFO are the three airports serving the SF Bay Area.

I have never lived in California, but like to go about once per year . Once I went by Greyhound bus from Denver (tiring, but very scenic), and another time by the California Zephyr (Amtrak). Mostly I go on Frontier Airlines or Delta Airlines.

One time I drove a car across country for Auto Drive-Away and delivered it to a dealership in Cupertino. They made me hand it in as soon as I called to say I had arrived three days early .. they did not want to risk me wrecking their Volvo in the City traffic.

The problem with California is that houses cost too much.

[JuniorMickey]

I couldn't agree more with Taja's advise on driving in San Francisco. If you don't know the area you can (and will) get lost very easily since much of the city is one way streets.

[Lisa1976]

Thanks for all the advice, tips and help, muchly appreciated :)