Loading ...Zen and the Art of Booking Cheap Airfare
One of the absolute greatest things about working in Antarctica or any overseas contract job for that matter is the travel benefits involved.
As I start counting the days until I leave this hunk of ice, fantasies of post ice travel begin flooding my mind. My big aspiration in life is to be a ski bum and I feel that over the past several years I have neglected that goal in favor of gaining other experiences. My time off ice has also been during shoulder ski seasons so catching more than 30 days or so of skiing per year just hasn’t been realistic. It is because of this that I intend on putting the focus back on skiing as I will be off for the entire northern hemisphere prime ski season. There is the southern hemisphere ski season to think about and since South America is the only continent I haven’t been on, I intend on going there - specifically Argentina for the Andean ski season which runs from July through September. While I’m in South America though, I want to explore more of its wonders. Vast distances combined with limited time make air travel necessary within the continent if I wish to accomplish my travel goals during the estimated six months that I will be there.
Complex itineraries make for an interesting challenge when trying to get the lowest airfare. Carrying ski gear for part of a trip and then jettisoning same further complicates matters. The idea is to fly to Buenos Aires, stow ski gear there while I tour Argentina. A visit to Easter Island is in the plan (another plane trip) and if budget and time allow, a Marsha inspired trip to the Galapagos is a possibility (probably another plane ride).
The best way to save money on these flights is to use the frequent flier miles I have earned from my flights to and from New Zealand for work, but that requires a rigidity that I’m not entirely comfortable with. Nonetheless I intend on booking the inter-continental flights this way, as the lowest airfare generally requires the greatest rigidity anyhow.
Interestingly enough it is cheaper to fly from Miami to Quito than it is to fly from Buenos Aires to Quito - significantly cheaper, in fact. It is also grossly expensive to ship ski gear from…well anywhere in South America to my folks’ place. It seems strange from a logical point of view to be thinking of flying from South America to South America via North America but from a financial point of view it makes perfect sense as Miami would be a great place to ship ski gear from.
The take home message here is that if you want to save money on airfare you need to do two things - don’t get involved in sports that require you to carry heaps of gear and keep your air itinerary simple!
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Will @ August 25, 2008
[...] blogdig.net wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt [...]
Snow has been low this season too so check before you commit.
Airfares and baggage surcharges are just silly right now!
We just booked flights with STA travel and — although we’re not students or under 26 — still got a great deal on London > Perth via Malaysia. Maybe check their site.
But why carry the ski-gear along if you might as well rent syour snowboard in a resort? It seems like an expensive and time consuming effort to fly to Miami first and than back to Quito? We always rent our gear. New gear, not to expensive and no extra charges on your flights and no carrying your gear while you are travelling. Girls like to travel light!
A) do you have any idea what the rental fee for three months would be - certainly more than airfare - in fact, it would be less expensive to buy new skis/boots/bindings.
B) It’s a pretty rare shop that rents back country touring setups.
C) There are more than just the skis to consider here - there’s a parka, ski pants, goggles, gloves - you know, all the other associated gear that would be of no value dragging all around the rest of S. America.