We are continuing our samples of how I actually do my flight searches and selections. I had made a claim that one can frequently find better options in terms of price and other factors when one looks to book from a hub, especially going to another hub. I then was proven COMPLETELY WRONG when I, at random, selected some routes. This teaches us a valuable lesson. Don't do in real time research when you write your blog post.
Today, I have done my research ahead of time to demonstrate the point of using a self-transfer going through a hub. For today's search I have chosen to research going from Albuquerque to Dubai, leaving on October 27 Monday and returning on November 19 Wednesday.
Here's what came up
Not particularly great. $5k is barely acceptable on my budget. And it is on American connecting to British through London Heathrow which is a no go for me. I hate British Airways and hate Heathrow. But the other options are $6.5k and 6.7k. Not attractive either.
So I did the same multi hub search I showed you last post. And I came up with this.
OH! Now this is interesting. Two options, one Turkish Airlines, the other Royal Jordanian for around $3.7k. WOW, that's a $3k savings. If two of us are flying, that's a $6k savings. That's nothing to sneeze at.
But wait, there are additional costs. You will have to book a round trip from Albuquerque to Chicago. Fortunately on the way out, the flights leave late so you won't have to do a hotel. Based on experience I know I can get to and from Chicago for about $500.
So which one might I choose. Well, I checked the detail of the two flights. I like Turkish but it is flying an old Boeing 777 that has a 2-3-2 configuration in Business. It means there is a high likelihood you will have someone having to climb over you to get to the toilet or you will have to do the climbing. And there isn't much privacy. I am not crazy about the arrival time either.
So I checked out the Royal Jordanian flight details
They are flying a 787, a much nicer plane in my opinion. I like the arrival time a lot more. What about the seat configuration. I checked it on SeatGuru. It is a 2-2-2. So if you are in the center, both seats have aisle access. Looking at pictures, there isn't much privacy. But saving as much money as this looks like, I would make that tradeoff. One thing I need to do is check what the return flight would look like.
The return is not bad. It gets into Chicago at 3:05pm. With going through passport control and switching terminals for a self-connect, I would stay overnight and make the last leg the next day. That would add maybe $200 in hotel cost.
So in conclusion, if I choose the self-connect through Chicago I would save $3 thousand in airfare, give back $750 in connection to Chicago and hotel for a savings of $2,250. And it would take me another day of travel. Especially if there were two of us and I was doubling that savings, I would totally go this route.
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