Alright folks, grab a cup of coffee. Today’s about those impossible flights, you know? The ones where you think, “No way I’m getting a seat without selling a kidney.” Had a client trip planned for next month, small town, maybe one flight a day if you’re lucky. Pure headache material.
The Usual Suspects Failed Me
First thing I did was plug my dates into the big names, the ones everyone tells you to use. You know the ones. Got zip. Zero. Zilch. Just that super cheerful message saying “No flights found, try different dates!” Yeah, thanks, super helpful. Dates weren’t flexible either, client meeting locked in. Pressure started building.
Figured I needed a different angle. Remembered some forum chatter about setting up alerts directly on airline sites. Logged into a couple airlines that might fly that route. Entered dates, hit “notify me.” Didn’t love the feel. Felt like praying. Was drinking coffee while doing this, burnt my tongue. Perfect.
Digging Deeper – The Aggregators
Searched online for other options, phrases like “find tough routes” or “small airport tickets.” Found a few sites specifically mentioned as good at digging deeper than the surface level stuff. One popped up a lot. Okay, let’s try this.
- Plastered my dates everywhere: Main airport, nearby airports (even the dodgy one an hour away), the whole region basically.
- Played with filters like crazy: Longer layovers? Fine. Redeyes? Bring it on. Tiny regional carriers I’ve never heard of? Sign me up.
- Saw options other places missed: Suddenly, routes appeared! Crazy itineraries, sure. Like FlyMeAir to HubCity, 6-hour layover, then HopSkipJump Airlines to Destination. But it existed! Price wasn’t insane.
This particular tool seemed to pull from some deeper well. Maybe the smaller airlines, the codeshares the big guys ignore. Felt like finally seeing the hidden layer.
The Catch (Always a Catch)
Found a couple contenders. Now the fun part: actually booking. Here’s the kicker:
- One option linked out to FlyMeAir’s own site. Their booking engine looked like it was built in 2003, crashed twice.
- Another sent me to HopSkipJump. Their site was… functional? But suddenly the price displayed jumped $50 bucks. Classic. Checked the small print – yep, baggage fees practically cost more than the seat.
Screwed up step 3 here. Tried booking via this deep-digging site. Big mistake. Got redirected, price changed again, gave up on that path fast.
Success! (Finally)
Took the exact flight details I found through that deep search – carrier names, flight numbers, times – and went directly to FlyMeAir’s own terrible website. Typed it all in manually. Held my breath.
Bam! Price matched what I saw originally. Baggage fees were still a robbery, but manageable. Hit purchase. Got a confirmation email that looked suspiciously informal, like my buddy Dave sent it. Panicked for 20 minutes. Called their “customer service” number (which was hard to find), waited on hold listening to static music, finally got a human who confirmed it was legit.
Why Bother With This Hassle?
Look, the big sites work 90% of the time. For the easy routes. But for the weird ones, the small towns, the tricky dates? They just give up. My corporate travel agent shrugged. These niche search engines? They scrape the bottom of the barrel, the back-alley deals, the routes cobbled together with duct tape and hope. It ain’t pretty. The booking process feels flaky. But it delivered something when everything else said “No.”
Meanwhile, boss kept emailing asking if it was booked. Typical. Was tempted to send him a screenshot of that FlyMeAir confirmation just to see his reaction. Decided against it. Trip’s booked. Mission accomplished. Now, where’s the aspirin?
