Getting the Most Out of 30 Days for DC

So far, US Airways 30 Days for DC special has netted Keri and I a day at the beach and a cross country trip.  All for the low price (TOTAL) of $190 each.  Holy cow!

I’ve been on top of these deals.  Sometimes even predicting what the deal will be to Keri, allowing us to make decisions about what flights we would like to take together.  How do I do this?

First, I follow US Airways on twitter and facebook to get hints at what deals are coming up.  They never blatantly say what they will do until it is released, but knowing what their new services will be has allowed me to piece together what some trips will be.

Also, I subscribe to US Airways tweets through my mobile phone.  I can turn this off after the promotion is over, and I have twitter set to not text me at night.  Here’s how you subscribe to US Airways:

a screenshot of a social media post

The first day I snagged a beach trip, I had no idea what was coming.  I reacted quickly, but it felt messy. I could do better than that.

But the day after, I had a feeling we’d get a trip to San Diego or Canada or the Northeast.  Why?  The first set of trips followed a pattern.  All routes from their new DCA southern offerings were discounted that first day, and I realized they were planning on releasing all routes at discount rates.

From their listing of new routes:

  • New, daily nonstop flights between Washington, DC (DCA) and Jackson, Islip, Omaha, Birmingham, Fayetteville, Memphis, Little Rock, Jacksonville, Pensacola, Tallahassee, Fort Walton Beach and Ottawa, Canada.
  • Extra daily nonstop flights between Washington, DC and Hartford/Springfield.
  • Daily flights between Washington, DC and Bangor and Savannah (used to be weekends only!).
  • Starting May 2, 2012 – New daily nonstop flights between Washington, DC (DCA) and Cincinnati and Des Moines.
  • Starting June 8, 2012 – New daily nonstop flights between Washington, DC (DCA) and San Diego.
  • Starting July 11, 2012 – New, daily nonstop flights between Washington, DC (DCA) and Augusta, Minneapolis, Fayetteville, Montreal and Toronto, Canada.

Sure enough, US Airways offered up Canadian flights.  Unfortunately, during a time period I couldn’t go.  But I was intrigued.  I figured out what they were doing and I was very interested in a San Diego trip.  The Southern routes were offered at $60 r/t and the Canadian routes were offered at $130 r/t.  I tried to figure out what San Diego would be priced at and thought it might be $230.

The same day, they gave out gifts to people flying from San Diego to DCA.  I told Keri I was almost SURE San Diego would be the next day.  Sure enough, it was, and at $130 a piece ROUND TRIP!

Keri was busy while this was going on, and in the excitement I forgot her birth year, which seems like it should be the easiest part of the birthday.  So I panicked while booking and somehow still got the fare despite flailing along the way.  Another messy booking and one I anticipated.  For shame, Jeanne, for shame!

My prediction is they will do two more days of flights.  I think we will have a Northeast day with flights to Hartford/Springfield, Bangor, and Islip for $60 r/t.  Then they will have a midwest-ish day with Cincinnati, Des Moines, Minneapolis, and Omaha.  I think these would have to be $60 each as well.

So far, all flights have gone on sale around 2pm Eastern, though never exactly at 2pm.  (I almost missed the beginning of San Diego because it posted at 1:55pm)

I think they will have two of the following dates:

Aug 23-28th
Sept 13-18th
Sept 26th – Oct 3rd

Please note this entire post is full of all guesses.  I have no insider knowledge and I will probably be wrong :)   But I will update more as my guesses gain more evidence one way or the other to keep everyone in the loop.

Today, there will be a surprise concert at DCA at 1pm, so enjoy if you are there.  They haven’t posted this as the official day’s item yet, so there’s always the possibility of two things being offered on the same day, though I doubt another airfare will be offered.

 

About Jeanne Marie Hoffman

Former bartender, still a geek. One equal part each cookies, liberty, football, music, travel, libations. Stir vigorously. +Jeanne Marie Hoffman Jeanne on Twitter

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