How do you buy those last minute plane tickets that come from cancellations / no-shows?

Question

you know, like in that episode of the simpsons where they go to japan

p.s. i live in hong kong if that makes a difference

Answer 1

The airline usually emails those last minute deals a week or two before the flights. Get on an airlines mailing list or a site like expedia and travelzoo and they will send you the deals.

No-Shows will help passengers on standby who want to catch an earlier flight.

Answer 2

There is no last minute sale of tickets for flights. You can not go to the airport on the day of travel and just walk up and buy a cheap ticket from the airline. That is a myth. Same day purchase of a ticket is not only the most expensive fare, but will subject you to extra security checks because of the last minute purchase.

Like the other posters stated, get on an e-mail list for a flight consolidator like cheaptickets.com, lastminutetravel.com, etc. and they can e-mail you their last minute deals that they offer.

Answer 3

It doesn't work that way.

For every no-show, there is already someone on the standby list hoping for that space.

You get on the standby list, by already having a purchased ticket.

All airlines oversell the available space on a given flight because of no-shows.  

So you have to buy a ticket either way.