This is a repost from flyer talk to give a idea of how FD works
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 6
Newbie to other newbies who didn't make FD yet
(Professional Players, please excuse newbies for a moment and go ahead to the next post.)
I have received a private message for help from another newbie. Instead of responding to that newbie, I am writing here because there are also other newbies who want to know the "secret."
First, I want to remind you there are excellent guides here and there. Find and read them first. Over and over again.
Now, you want to see if you can do FD. Right? You are very frustrated because you never made it. Right? If this is your case, follow this simple instruction.
1. Put aside your preferred candidate fare/airline/alliance/route.
2. Pick one of the major city pairs frequently mentioned in this board.
3. Without any codes, run a simple search using ITA. Write down base fare, YQ and total price of sample fares.
4. Start multi-city search with your inventory of potential 3X. (Remember what grandmasters said: islands, cross the border etc.)
5. If none of your 3X pairs works, look for frequently mentioned X cities in this forum. Some are very clearly spelled out. And start 300 mile radius search using those. (I also use Airline Route Mapper and Kayak Explore finding X cities.)
6. If you still don't see FD after consuming all X pairs, try different major cities and follow the step from 3.
7. If you don't see FD after consuming all Cx-Cy cities, then there is a problem with your inventory of X pairs. You need to accumulate more with quality ones.
8. After finding FD, compare the contents (before and after FD) and start thinking why FD happened. And be creative for your next round.
If you execute your first FD, things will get easier and easier. Yes, based on your preparedness. Within less than 3 months, these are what I observed.
3X, 1X, X in the departing continent, X in the destination continent, X in totally unrelated continents, codeshare FD, FD by the same airline, routing FD, beautifully performed double decker/stacker, OTA FD, FD by the same alliance, FD by different alliances, FD by non alliance carriers. revival of (believed to be) dead pairs, combination of this and that.
I think we are playing a strategy game. BIG guys here are professional gamers, not gamblers. I believe they never yield remarkable results with Lady Luck's help. Based on deep understanding of how smart/stupid GDS is, they "tame" OTAs to cooperate with them. They make a negotiation with ITA and go to middlemen called OTAs to convince why their creative routings should be cheaper than sticker prices. Then OTAs listen to them. Sometimes OTAs give even more surprising discount than what is quoted originally. We need to learn these negotiation skills.
As a newbie, I wasted a lot of time by continuously feeding X cities expecting to hit a jackpot, without logical thinking. It never worked. I didn't pay close attention to what grandmasters said, either: I thought I could find an easier way. Listen to what big guys say carefully. That's the fastest way even though it looks time consuming.
Last edited by elpueblo; Dec 14, 14 at 6:50 am. Reason: error corrected
