Does it Always Pay to Take the Cheapest Flight on a Fishing Trip?

Many anglers will never fly to a fishing destination. They either don’t have the desire or the funds, or else the fishing is simply so good close to home that they can drive everywhere they need to go. For those of us with a serious long-distance bug, though, air travel is an absolute necessity. That’s fortunate because it may weed out the casual angler and leave traffic on distant fisheries relatively light, but as flying increasingly becomes a pain in the ass, you consistently have to weigh whether the end result is worth the effort. The global pandemic has repeatedly tested our patience and our flexibility, but the hassle factor was increasing long before we’d ever heard of COVID-19.

For the people still inclined to fly to fish (and we certainly count ourselves as squarely within that cohort), it has become more important that you make the right decisions. A flight that’s too costly can make a trip prohibitively expensive. A flight that doesn’t fit your schedule can make it a pain in the ass. And a flight that’s canceled altogether can ruin everything.

I Prefer to Save Money for Other Things

All things being equal, the cheapest flight is usually my favorite option. I don’t have an unlimited budget and I’d rather spend the extra cash on more tackle. Rarely, however, are all things equal. So when should you consider an itinerary other than the least expensive one? It’s part art and part science.

First, remember that fares aren’t always the same. The one you find on your airline’s website on Tuesday may be significantly more or less than what they’ll offer on Thursday. While some pundits have theories on how to “time the market,” they’re unreliable at best. If you know the historic range for your preferred schedule, when you see a good fare it often pays to jump on it.

Even if the fares stay consistent through a particular vendor, they may be substantially different if bought elsewhere at the same time, on the same date. What you can get on the American Airlines or United Airlines site might be more or less than what you see on Expedia, Kayak or some other aggregator. This is a situation where caveat emptor comes into play–while we’ve had plenty of good experience buying our tickets through third-party vendors, even employing “hacker fares” on occasion—remember that getting a refund or altering your flights through one of these entities may prove to be a royal pain in the ass. When we had to reschedule our trip to Panama last April, we’d purchased our COPA tickets through some third party entity we’d never heard from, saving close to $80 apiece. That was great until we needed to make a change. The vendor did not respond to emails or messages left through their website. When I called COPA directly (and waited over an hour to get an agent on the line), they wanted $500 to change a ticket that only cost $550 in the first place. Not their fault, by any means, but still aggravating. Fortunately, Captain Shane Jarvis of Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge had an in-country travel agent who was able to sort things out for us. Without that assistance, we would have been screwed.

When searching for a fare, you also need to make sure that you are comparing apples to apples. If American and Southwest and Sprit all have flights to and from the same airports, at roughly the same times, for the same base price, are they interchangeable? Not if you’re bringing luggage or want some other amenities. Then the add-ons required by “budget” carriers like Spirit may vault their price past American’s, and certainly past those of Southwest, which gives you two free checked bags on flights. Southwest also has lenient flight change policies, which may be an additional consideration.

One other thing to look at is codeshares. While we haven’t delved heavily into this strategy, sometimes buying a flight on Airline A may be cheaper if you buy it through their partner Airline B’s site, under their brand—even though it’s exactly the same ticket.

Consider Frequent Flier Miles and Status as Currency

When else does it pay to spend a little more for a given ticket to fly on a particular airline? If you are somehow invested in one carrier’s loyalty (AKA, frequent flyer) program, but not another’s, the difference can be substantial. For example, if you need a certain number of miles or a certain number of flight segments to gain Elite status on a carrier (especially if you live near one of that carrier’s hubs) it often makes sense to build toward some bonus or status. Remember, frequent flyer miles are effectively a form of currency, typically worth 1 to 2 cents apiece, but if you fall just short of some award, then even a few miles may have a cost greater than their putative worth.

One other ancillary benefit to flying a particular airline is if your status with that airline (or a corresponding credit card) gives you access to their lounges. You may, for example, have a right to use Delta Airlines affiliated lounges, but only when flying with Delta. The comfort of the lounges, combined with free food and drinks, can represent a substantial savings, so in that example it might be worth it to spend a little more on Delta just to take advantage of that opportunity.

Convenience Matters When Choosing Itineraries

One other form of currency that may be a little bit harder to value is your time. It might be worth it to take a flight that gets you in at an inopportune hour, or that takes longer to get to your destination (because of its route or the particular connections/layovers) if the savings is substantial, but you can also decide that the hassle is not worth the few more dollars in your pocket. Again, this is a sliding scale that may depend on your budget, your time flexibility, and your psyche. Hanna and I will almost always opt for the fewest connections possible, especially if there is a non-stop route, simply because we can usually afford the difference and because our schedules are often so airtight that we need to compress everything. Remember, increased and/or connections may mean a substantially greater chance that a flight will be canceled, you’ll miss your connection, or your luggage will be lost/delayed.

If You’re Luggage Can’t Make it, the Savings Don’t Matter

Up to this point, this blog entry could have applied to just about any budget-conscious individual or group planning their upcoming air travel. So why do these calculations apply to anglers in particular? Well, they don’t, except for the fact that we often have some ungainly luggage containing items like hooks that may give people pause. If you’re going to travel with a full-sized rod tube, or take home a cooler full of frozen fish you just caught, you have to assume that there are going to be hiccups and issues. If you fly with a carrier like Alaska Air, you can be certain that even the newest employee probably knows their policies when it comes to transporting fishing tackle. With other carriers, especially if you’re traveling from or through a location that doesn’t have a lot of fishing tackle, it’s a crapshoot. I know that the American Airlines agents in Mazatlán are likely to know their policies, and there’s a decent chance the ones in Dallas (a hub) will know them, but when flying out of the DC area airports I presume that I’m going to need to explain them at the desk. I bring a printout from the airline’s website just to be safe.

Also remember that different airlines have different luggage allowances. American Airlines typically allows for rod tubes up to 126 inches and 50 pounds, but you can expect to pay for their transport. On Southwest, you’ll get two bags for free, but the guidelines state that “Fishing rod containers may measure up to three inches in diameter and 91 inches in length.” If you have an eight foot rod, you can expect that they might reject your tube.

When checking those luggage length/weight guidelines, remember also to make sure that you’re on the right airline’s website. You may buy a ticket through Delta, which allows rod tubes up to a maximum of 115 linear inches (length + width + height), but if that ticket is for an Aeromexico flight what is ultimately allowed may surprise you. Not only does Aeromexico charge $75 each way for a rod tube for flights within Mexico and $150 each way for international flights (they may be more in high season, but can also be waived if the tube is checked in lieu of other baggage), but while they allow for 115 linear inches on wide cabin flights, nothing more than 80 inches is allowed on narrow cabin flights. It’s safe to assume that many flights to fishing destinations are on the smaller planes. Remember to check into and consider all of these factors before you press the “Buy Now” button.

Also, remember that just because an airline generally allows something, that doesn’t trump country-specific rules or regulations. For example, Delta’s policy states that “Fishing poles meeting the carry-on standard (22in x 14in x 9in) are allowed as carry-on baggage,” but I can guarantee you based on recent experience that if you’re flying out of Mazatlán, it’s unlikely that your multi-piece rods will be allowed through the security checkpoint.

Confusing? Perhaps. But it pays to do your research ahead of time.

If you liked this article, you might also consider the opposite extreme, in which we examined when it’s worth it to fly business class on a fishing trip.