Airfare question for Pete C

[Gary Sisco]

Pete being our resident consultant on food and travel, I'm wondering if he can provide me with a good website for looking up cheap airfares. I may be playing a festival in Wyoming in August and need to do some quality research.

[Pete C]

I don't think there are really any reliable discounters any more for domestic fares. The best bet is to first check Orbitz & Expedia, then for whichever airline has the best fares and/or best connections, go to the airline's own website and they may have a better direct price. Wyoming won't be cheap, that's for sure. Depending on where in Wyoming it might be cheaper to fly to Denver & drive from there.

[walto]

In my experience, Orbitz has tended to be a hair cheaper than either travelocity or expedia. May just be a coincidence, though.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by walto

In my experience, Orbitz has tended to be a hair cheaper than either travelocity or expedia. May just be a coincidence, though.

But one should always go directly to the airline's website after checking Orbitz. It will often be even cheaper.

[Gordon B]

Originally Posted by Pete C

But one should always go directly to the airline's website after checking Orbitz. It will often be even cheaper.

When i was booking round-trip to Venice for the summer, I tried airlineconsolidators, orbitz, travelocity, expedia,etc. It turns out the best deal was directly with Lufthansa.

The previous two summers when I booked fare to SE Asia, airlineconsolidators won.

[Ron Thorne]

For what it's worth, Gary, Patti and I always find better prices on the airline's own website, as Pete and Gordon suggested. We've done considerable price comparing with Orbitz, Expedia and Travelocity (among others) and the various airlines we use, and there's often a staggering difference. It's always been lower dealing directly with the airlines, whether online or by phone.

[Monte Smith]

I got a suggestion, Gary. Buy a saddle. Haven't you already got a horse?

[Jazzooo]

No one else is interested that he's playing a festival in Wyoming?

That sounds cool , Gary--have you been playing drums lately?

[Gary Sisco]

Thanks, all, for the info. I'd not have time to drive from Denver, Pete. Those states are huge. If I take this gig, it will be a fly in and fly out thing -- two days on the ground and back again. I'd not be able to hang out or do any rubber tramping, as I'd be paying someone to do my work at home. I'll do some digging. I didn't know which airline to start with at its website, so I'll use the info to narrow it down.

Doug -- Thanks for the interest. There's a thread re my reentry to musicworld in the Other Music forum. "I'm Cheating ...." Playing guitar and singing mostly, though I'd be playing drums in Wyoming if I go. I only play drums behind Michael Hurley. Well, that's not quite true. There's another cat but he lives in Laos now, where he teaches blind kids to play guitar.

[Gary Sisco]

Ouch!

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by Gary Sisco

Ouch!

You checked fares?

[Enforcer]

Excited to hear about your gig, Gary. Glad to hear you're getting reacquainted with playing.

[Gary Sisco]

Pete -- Yeah. Ouch!

Larry -- In a way, it feels like I never stopped. In another, it feels like waking on stage from a coma.

[Enforcer]

Originally Posted by Gary Sisco

it feels like waking on stage from a coma.

Actually describes my last gig fairly accurately.

[MRS]

Where in Wyoming?

[Gary Sisco]

I've been digging it but am running into a quandary about it. I've been out of music so long I'm not accustomed to playing for rooms full of gray-hairs who just want to listen and remember favorite songs of old. I mean, I'd rather play for them than for an empty room, don't get me wrong, and many are old and dear friends as well, some of thirty years and more.

But they don't, um, *party* anymore. We were known in the days as the real outlaws and bad boys of rock and roll and American folk music, and when we came to town, it was time for major good times. Perhaps its my location in Vermont, as my friends tell me it's different out west. Many more young people come out, people dance and drink and carry on and so forth, and on a regular basis, too. Not so here for the most part, at least at most venues in my experience.

My favorite gig, viewed that way, was our first, where the place was packed full with a multigenerational crowd but one that included a prominent percentage of young people who were ready to rock and roll and the room *felt like it* before we went on. Not surprisingly, that was the night we rocked the hardest. I guess I'm saying I need to have that kind of feeling in the room -- and used to get it, regularly, in the days. People really looked forward to our showing up and smashing up the place. Things often got way out of control.

It's that kind of feeling I get from others that pumps me up. But there are few venues for music like mine, here, where people can bust loose and let their hair down (if they still have any) like that first night out.

Musically speaking, having heard the recordings (the first night wasn't recorded, typically, though it was documented with video -- the sound will be shit, therefore), I prefer our last night out, when it was just the three of us, the core of our old band from the days (and still my favorite band). I'd been nervous about just walking out on stage after all of these years with just me, the songs, and Dave playing bass. It can leave you feeling mighty naked out there. But as it was, that was the night I ended up feeling the most relaxed and confident, throughout -- likely because it *was* just me and my main boyz, no one sitting in not knowing the songs, and etc. The three of us always had a good tight communication.

But gigwise, the first night out, when there was by far the larger number of young people -- many of whom already knew the lyrics to songs recorded before they were born -- was the big hit, energywise. I loved it. I hadn't felt that feeling in decades and realized how much I'd missed it.

Like discovering an old, favorite drug, baby.

[Gary Sisco]

MRS -- Somewhere around Laramie, in a small town. I'm not sure of the exact location. This is the festival's seventh year. It's co-run by an oldtime pal of my crew, who used to live in Portland in the days. I'm still waiting to hear if the bass player can make it.

[MRS]

I'm not sure where you're flying out of, but direct to Laramie sounds impossible. Maybe try for Ft. Collins? Really the drive from Denver ain't bad at all, quite lovely actually.

And bring your shitkickers to Laramie, that town's a hoot.

[Lore]

I've only made it out to Laramie once, in 1993. During my 3 day visit, I slept a total of maybe 6 hours.

[Gary Sisco]

That's exactly what I'm hoping for, Adam. ;-)

[Gary Sisco]

MRS -- Ain't much direct from Burlington except NYC and Boston. I really won't have any time for driving, though. The meter will be running at home the whole while I'm gone, paying out hourly wages. I'll keep looking into the various possibilities, though. Switching the search to Cheyenne dropped the price a little, though not much. Less than $75, all told.

Second thought, though, looking at my trusty road atlas (which works better than my memory), Denver might be doable after all. I was thinking Laramie was further west than it is. I haven't passed that way in a quarter century. I'd have to break my longstanding desire never to drive on I-80 again. I did that back and forth across country on that route about five too many times.

[Gary Sisco]

Yeah, I ran the numbers for Denver and that's easier on the wallet for sure. Likely the car rental would make up the difference and then some but on the other hand I'd not have to worry about getting any hippies motivated fast enough to get me back to the airport, either. I've never liked the feeling of being dependent on others for my transportation. A helpless feeling, that.

[Lore]

Gary --- If the timing is right, maybe you could try to get a gig somewhere in or around Sturgis, SD, for the annual Harley rally that happens there every August. That would certainly supply the party atmosphere you're after.

My friend and I stopped there very briefly on our way to Laramie (it was a couple days before the rally was to begin, but Sturgis was already hopping). I don't recall it being too far of a trek, though of course your atlas will give you a better idea than my shoddy memory will.

[clinthopson]

Nice to see you coming out of mothballs, Gary.

I've always found Frontier to be pretty good at getting around the Rockies.

Have you checked out Sidestep.com? It's a pretty useful site.

[Gary Sisco]

Thanks for the assistance. I'm going to fly into Denver, rent a car, and drive. My pal in Laramie says his joint's about 2.5 hours from the airport.

[Ron Thorne]

For low price and friendly service, we've never experienced any airline more accomodating than Southwest . . . hands down!

Southwest doesn't fly in/out of Vermont, but they do from Manchester, NH and other nearby cities.

Here's a link to their interactive route map, Gary.

For grins, I arbitrarily requested rates for departing Manchester on August 10th to Denver, returning on August 13th. A rate quote of $302.00 appeared. Is that competitive with what you've seen elsewhere? Seems pretty damned good to me.

[Gary Sisco]

It's pretty good, Ron. The fare out of Burlington was about 40 bucks more on United. Manchester's about three hours in the car, though, on the other hand. Lots of people used to drive it, though, pre-Jet Blue, myself included, once, when Burlington was madly expensive to fly out of. So expensive that even the three hours to Manchester times two sounded good by comparison. Miraculously, after Jet Blue started flying cheaply out of there, the other airlines' fares somehow came down as well.... Funny how that works!