This category is the keystone to an economical trip.
In the heart of peak season, July prices are nearly as high as they’ll ever be. Moreover, demand for transportation is much higher than supply, so availability is limited and seats go quickly.
The best way I know to achieve low-cost air travel is to redeem frequent flyer miles. I used to travel a bunch for work, but the points on those airlines had either expired or been traded in for trial magazine subscriptions. Katie has flown Delta for many years and even decided to apply for a American Express Delta Gold Skymiles credit card. Over her years of travel, she had accumulated around 80,000 miles. So, when the right promotion fell into my lap, I applied as well for the AmEx, achieving 50,000 points after $1,500 in purchases within the first three months. (It actually came sooner). Adding to the 10,000 miles I already had banked put each of us over the 60,000-mile threshold where Delta starts offering round-trip tickets to Paris (CDG).
We have been planning a trip to France (directly or indirectly) since we were married in November 2013. As soon as Katie and I were given clearance for vacation time from our employers (August 26, 2014), we booked. I agree it is rare for a couple to begin a trip 1 year in advance, but it worked out well for us. We were able to purchase two round trip tickets for 60,000 miles and $100.20 each. Because Delta doesn’t allow miles to transfer freely between Skymiles customers, we had to book independently and then coordinate seat selections. It actually was pretty fun to sit on the couch in our family room and update each other on the status of our respective purchases. We’re spending 17 days in France. The outbound flight leaves Cincinnati at 4:05pm and flies nonstop to Paris. The inbound has one stop, but our overall travel time was not drastically increased.
Later in the year (I believe it was November) while Katie was reviewing our flight itinerary, she realized that our second leg of the inbound flight was scheduled to leave earlier than our arrival to that same US airport! So, we called Delta to dispute. The customer service agent was extremely helpful. She was able to book us an inbound flight a) into Newark in lieu of Detroit (better split of travel) and b) with a more suitable layover time.
Finally, around Christmas, Katie learned through a conversation with a co-worker that the Comfort+ Upgrade is pretty neat. More leg room, free drinks and snacks, and priority boarding status. So, we treated ourselves to a late Christmas present and moved our seats for all legs into Comfort Plus. Total cost was $160 ($90 out/$70 in).