Airline Tickets

[bensbride]

Okay, so this doesn''t 100% apply to the forum, but it does have something to do with my BF (hopefully soon will be my fiance!)

We are planning a trip in March out to see my sisters, who are older and live in DC. They haven''t met Ben and I''d like them to get to know him before we (hopefully) marry next spring/summer. I''m not sure if I''ll be engaged by the time of the trip or not, but I''m still very excited about them meeting him. So anyway, we just decided to do this and its getting pretty late in the game as far as airline tickets. Has anybody ever bid on tickets like on Priceline? I was hoping to get tickets from a smaller airport closer to my hometown for maybe close to the same price as driving to Chicago (5 hours) or Minneapolis (3 hours). Has anybody done it? Good experience or bad?

Also, if we are engaged at that point, I''d like to ask my sisters to be bridesmaids (matrons? they''re married). They are right around 40 and there is some small drama with asking them. At one point, a few years ago, one of them told me, "when you get married, you don''t have to ask me to be a bridesmaid." She''s fairly overweight and probably wouldn''t even fit in the 0-28 bridesmaid dresses and I''m not sure if she meant that she would feel uncomfortable and doesn''t want to be in it, or that I didn''t have to if I didn''t want to. I would love to have them in the bridal party, but I don''t want them to be uncomfortable. The other sister is a personal trainer and would probably look more foxy than me, which is fine. She''s been in wedding parties of her younger friends recently and is fine with it. I was in both of their weddings, but I was a child. They were each other''s maid/matron of honor. I would never ask one and not the other. Should I just say, "I''d love to have you both, but if either of you are uncomfortable with it, I totally understand."???

Advice on either or both topics would be awesome. I know the second topic is a bit presumptuous, but it will be an issue at some point, if not this trip.

 

[Independent Gal]

Hi Bensbride. I'm a frequent traveler. Used to fly at least once a week, now it's about once a month. So here is my advice.

1) It is definitely NOT 'late in the game' to get airline tickets for march. So long as it is more than 2 wks in advance, the cost of flights fluctuates wildly. They don't start cheap, and get continuously more expensive. So don't worry about that at all.

2) Priceline is one option, but there's a lot of uncertainty. Better options are to check Orbitz.com , travelocity.com , expedia.com and similar sites. once you find something on one of those sites, it's a good idea to check on the site of the actual airlnie you'd be flying on, as sometimes they have the same flight, but without the booking fees.

3) The absolute BEST is airfarewatchdog.com They scour the web, including all the sites above AND airlines' own sites, and you can subscribe with your city, and they send you a list every day (or once a week or whatever you choose) of the cheapest flights from your local airport, and from neighbouring airports. So, when a cheap flight pops up from Wherever, Iowa (or wherever you are) to DC (you just jump on it and away you go. They do the work for you.

Hope that helps.

Oh, and incidentally, we talk about EVERYTHING over on the hangout (under 'Forums' at the top of this page) if you ever want to ask a non-LIW related question.

 

[Sabine]

I can't help you out with the airline tickets, but if you post over in Hangout you might get more responses.

As for the bridesmaid issue, I would be totally honest with your one sister. Tell her that you'd really love her to be part of the bridal party, but the comment she made has you confused, and you don't want to ask her to do anything she doesn't want to, so you'd like her to explain more fully what she meant. Then, if she says she would be uncomfortable, you could find something still special for her to do without making her uncomfortable and still ask your other sister. If she is comfortable, you can have both sisters!

Edit: Indy, we must have been posting about hangout at the same time!

 

[Independent Gal]

Actually, re the second topic if I were 40, I'd be horrified to be asked to be a bridesmaid. I'm closer to 30, and would already be horrified. When my sister (10 years younger) gets married some day, I'll happily help her out and stand up with her and hold her bouquet and everything, and I'll happily arrange showers or whatnot, but if she asked me to wear some stupid matching dress, I would be seriously pissed with her. Luckily, I'm pretty sure she knows that AND pretty sure she wouldn't be a 'matchy-matchy' bride.

I think it would be awkward to have one sister, but not the other, and would draw extra attention to the overweight sister who probably already resents trainer-sister (if you'll forgive me analyzing people I don't even know). So, perhaps asking them to do something else in your wedding might be politic? Hard to say though, of course, since I don't know them.

ETA: I like Sabine's suggestion if you can rely on them both to be honest! Being straightforward is always best if you can.

 

[gwendolyn]

I bought my one-way ticket from DC to London on Priceline and I didn''t have to do any bidding; I just picked a nice, cheap ticket and bought it like at any other discount travel site.

I''ve booked through Hotwire.com before a few times and LOVE them. Gotten really great deals on fantastic airlines, so I use them when I can.

 

[rubybeth]

I''ve heard good things about Priceline, so don''t worry about it. You''ll probably get a fairly good deal, and you actually have plenty of time to buy tickets. When S and I flew last spring, we bought ours about two weeks before we left!

Re: your older sisters as bridesmaids. One of the best things my cousin''s now-wife did when they got engaged was to ask me to be part of the wedding (I sing operatic-style, so they asked if I would perform something during the ceremony) BUT not to be a bridesmaid, but rather to be her "personal attendant." This meant I got to help with the fun things, be in the wedding, listed on the program, but NOT have to: a) feel obligated to throw her a shower in addition to what I was already contributing in time for preparing (voice lessons, practices, etc.) or b) wear a dress I didn''t feel comfortable in. I got to wear a cocktail dress, run around and help out without worrying about a bouquet, and generally felt I had a place of honor for the couple.

I do like the idea of asking her WHY she made that comment, because maybe she''s changed her mind, but maybe having sisters be your personal attendants and having younger friends or cousins be the ''maids'' would give your sisters some freedom but still be able to help you out.