Image Credits: Damian Gadal

Flights: Dallas to/from Santa Barbara / Fresno ($172 with bag) / ($122 no bag) r/t – United Basic Economy

[07/12/2018 @ 5:26 PM] Book this fare on: Priceline, BookingBuddyTravelocity, Orbitz, Expedia, CheapTickets, Hotwire.
[08/13/2018 @ 11:28 PM] Old deal. Removing from deal list.

Deals are usually valid 24 to 72 hours after posting, but can expire at any time (see time-stamp).

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United has “Basic Economy” round-trip flights from Dallas (DFW) to Santa Barbara or Fresno (SBA/FAT) starting at $122 with a connection. $61 each-way. Checked bags cost +$25 each-way. Flights August to May. Origin/Destination reversible.

Note: Christmas/NYE is available. No Thanksgiving.

Note: “Basic Economy” fares do not include a free carry-on bag. Only a tiny personal item is free. United’s personal item allowance of (9in x 10in x 17in) is smaller than most other airlines. Seats are randomly assigned prior to boarding. If you have the United MileagePlus credit-card, use the “free checked bag” perk.

  • Santa Barbara – Example Dates: (BookingBuddy / Priceline) Aug 08 – Aug 15 / Aug 15 – Aug 22 / Aug 22 – Aug 29 / Aug 29 – Sep 05 / Sep 05 – Sep 12 / Sep 12 – Sep 19 / Sep 19 – Sep 26 / Sep 26 – Oct 03 / Oct 03 – Oct 10 / Oct 10 – Oct 17 / Oct 17 – Oct 24 / Oct 24 – Oct 31 / Oct 31 – Nov 07 / Nov 07 – Nov 14 / Nov 28 – Dec 05 / Dec 05 – Dec 12 / Dec 11 – Dec 18 / Dec 17 – Dec 24 / Dec 24 – Jan 02 / Jan 02 – Jan 09 / Jan 09 – Jan 16 / Jan 16 – Jan 23 / Jan 23 – Jan 30 / Jan 30 – Feb 06 / Feb 06 – Feb 13 / Feb 13 – Feb 20 / Feb 20 – Feb 27 / Feb 27 – Mar 06 / Mar 05 – Mar 12 / Mar 12 – Mar 19 / Mar 19 – Mar 26 / Mar 27 – Apr 03 / Apr 03 – Apr 10 / Apr 09 – Apr 16 / Apr 17 – Apr 24 / Apr 24 – May 01 / May 01 – May 08 / May 08 – May 15 / Other dates: There are more dates available than the ones we list here, experiment on your own.
  • Fresno – Example Dates: (BookingBuddy / PricelineAug 08 – Aug 15 / Aug 15 – Aug 22 / Aug 22 – Aug 29 / Aug 29 – Sep 05 / Sep 06 – Sep 12 / Sep 11 – Sep 18 / Sep 18 – Sep 25 / Sep 25 – Oct 02 / Oct 02 – Oct 09 / Oct 11 – Oct 18 / Oct 23 – Oct 30 / Oct 31 – Nov 07 / Nov 07 – Nov 14 / Nov 29 – Dec 06 / Dec 05 – Dec 12 / Dec 09 – Dec 16 / Dec 24 – Jan 04 / Jan 09 – Jan 16 / Jan 16 – Jan 23 / Jan 23 – Jan 30 / Jan 30 – Feb 06 / Feb 06 – Feb 13 / Feb 13 – Feb 20 / Feb 20 – Feb 27 / Feb 27 – Mar 06 / Mar 05 – Mar 12 / Mar 12 – Mar 19 / Mar 19 – Mar 26 / Mar 27 – Apr 03 / Apr 03 – Apr 10 / Apr 09 – Apr 16 / Apr 17 – Apr 24 / Apr 24 – May 01 / May 01 – May 08 / May 08 – May 15 / Other dates: There are more dates available than the ones we list here, experiment on your own.

When you are ready to book your flight or hotel, please use the links on our page to begin your booking process so we receive credit for the referral.

  • Tips: Rent a car for cheaper by using Priceline’s “Express Deals”. The rental car company will be hidden until after you purchase, but this allows those companies to undercut the published rate indirectly. You can remove low quality companies from those hidden results. The trick is to use the quality filter on their website to remove any rental car company with a review rating under 7.0 and then pick the deals that survive the filter. Note that the quality filter is only available on the desktop/web version of the Priceline website and isn’t available on the mobile version.
  • Tips: The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card allows for 1-to-1 point transfers to several airline loyalty programs. Booking with points is a good alternative to paying with cash when the price of airfare is high. Here is the current list of Chase Sapphire transfer partners: United, Southwest, jetBlue, British Airways, Iberia, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Air France, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Aer Lingus, and Air Canada.
  • Tips: Use Tripadvisor to create a Hotel “short list”. First, plug in your dates and destination. Then select “Sort by Traveler Ranked”. Finally, select the “Traveler Ranking” filter to show “only 4* and up”. Use this resulting “short list” of hotels to find the cheapest one with a high ranking.
  • Tips: Hotel rates for Weekend dates are usually higher than the rates for Sunday through Thursday. Tripadvisor has a color-coded date calendar, red when the average hotel price for that day is more expensive, green for less expensive. You can use this to get an overview of what dates in the month are at a discount.
  • Tips: Different booking websites will often have differing routes, prices, and availability. Before you finalize your purchase, do a quick check on BookingBuddy, Skyscanner, and Kayak to see if any other site or airline is offering a better deal.

I was able to pull this fare up on Priceline. Screenshot taken at 8:05 PM on 07/12/18.



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