Persistence Pays Off for my Return Flight from Calgary

My husband and I are taking a delayed 20th anniversary trip to Lake Louise in Canada this summer (our 20th was last year). We’re splurging on a few nights at Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise hotel, so I’m trying to keep all other trip costs to a minimum.

I already booked our flights to Calgary last year, but I was still searching for a decent deal on miles or cash for our return flights to DFW. Nonstop flights on AA were running $500-$600 per person in economy and 50k+ miles. Ouch! Connecting flights were cheaper, but had very early departure times and long layovers. Our hotel is over 2 hours from the airport, so waking up at 3 a.m. to catch an early morning flight is not the ideal way to end our trip.

Holding Out for a Better Deal

Since I didn’t like those cash or award prices, I held off on booking return flights. I signed up for flight price alerts on Kayak.com, and I checked for award prices on pointsyeah.com every few weeks. Yesterday, my persistence paid off!

The nonstop flight from YYC to DFW decreased to $335 AND award availability opened up for 17,500 miles. Wahoo! That’s much better.

Using Alaska vs. AA Miles

While the AA flight was 17,500 miles if I booked through AA, it was only 12,500 miles (plus an additional $12.50 in fees) if I used Alaska miles. I own both currencies, so logic says I should book through Alaska, right?

However, Alaska is a partner of Starlux, which I can use to fly to Asia next year. AA is not. So, I opted to book through AA and conserve my Alaska miles for a future redemption.

Final Thoughts

When cash and award prices are high, it pays to keep checking back. It’s also wise to form an alternative plan in case prices don’t go down. For this trip, my backup plan was to fly into Austin, which has lower prices for this route, and take a cheap flight or bus from Austin to DFW.