Depressed over cost of airfare

[MelindaKiah]

I keep watching the cost of our flights for February continue to rise. It's getting crazy!!! I didn't expect it to cost close to $700 per person from Halifax to Orlando in mid-February.

Does anyone think this might drop some in the upcoming months or should we just buy it now?

[princess aurora]

Yes I think they will go lower but you'll have to wait a long time before the do :)

[brooker]

I don't know if you checked out Canjet but we booked a flight in December for 2 adults a one child for $1377 all taxes in. I just went on their site and put in dates Feb 12 returning Feb 19 and the price came up the same as we got for Dec. Those are direct flights also.

Here is a link:

http://www.canjet.ca/en_home.aspx

[MelindaKiah]

Thanks. Unfortunately, Canjet doesn't have a return flight available when we need to return. Even checked up to 3 days later but nothing.

[MelindaKiah]

I did some playing around and if we fly Canjet to Orlando and Westjet back from Orlando, the cost would be $568 pp with the military discount that canjet offers. Does anyone think it'll go lower than this? I hate to be a pain. We drove in December so have no idea what is the norm for airfare.

[SplashMom]

I don't think they will go lower. :sad2: The prices are outrageous. The last two years we went in March and I purchased our tickets almost a year ahead of time. I thought this was a bit much but I checked constantly throughout the year and the prices never went down. I have been checking for a few months now for our April 06 trip and even though the prices were really high when they were first published, they haven't come down at all. In fact, they are steadily going up. I got our tickets through airmiles but I still check and Canjet has the best prices. Westjet does have a seat sale for travel up to December 15 so they may offer later dates in the fall. Even then, the availability may not be there--I would buy the tickets you mentioned. Then you can get on with the fun part--planning the trip! :cheer2:

[mbb]

CanJet has great prices...and we were soooooo tempted..until I called with a few questions...

1)What happens if there is an equipment problem, and the flight out of YHZ can't go?
...Canjet doesn't make arrangements with other airlines to carry their passengers...meaning you're stuck until the next flight on Wednesday..or the following Saturday...problem there is, those flights are usually full.
2) Weather delays - extreme or otherwise..result in the same answer.

The good part is, CanJet will happily refund your money - on the spot, at the airport in either of those circumstances.

You're then free to make your own arrangements with another airline..

If it were just DH and I, I would be ok with taking that chance and with those nice low fares, especially in February. Just not willing to try it with the kiddos:)

HTH!!

We bit at the $229 price, and with aeroplan tickets, it wasn't too awful :rolleyes:

HTH!!

:sunny:

[Ham Ham]

Is driving to Maine an option?

There must be flights from Bangor.

We're driving from Toronto to Pittsburgh (4 1/2 hours). Direct return flights.

470 U.S. TAXES INC.

GOOD LUCK

[crazy canuck]

Bangor has great rates around $330 and up. We did it in 2004 and will fly from there in 2006.

[murcor]

I know someone who just booked Halifax - Orlando for February with Continental....they said around 500 includes taxes

[tone.def]

Is driving to Maine an option?

There must be flights from Bangor.

We're driving from Toronto to Pittsburgh (4 1/2 hours). Direct return flights.

470 U.S. TAXES INC.

GOOD LUCK


From where in Toronto does it take you 4 1/2 hours to get to Pittsburgh? You must drive really fast and get waved through at the border!

[Evad]

Is driving to Maine an option?

There must be flights from Bangor.

We're driving from Toronto to Pittsburgh (4 1/2 hours). Direct return flights.

470 U.S. TAXES INC.

GOOD LUCK

Hi there. We are flying out of Buffalo which is only 1 hour away for 262.47 per person TAXES INC. :cool1:

[princess aurora]

Spirit out of Detroit is offer $54 each way Non-stop to Orlando but it's a 4 1/2 hour drive by Map quest while Buffalo is only 2 hours for us.

Still holding out for SWA non-stop but otherwise looks like AirTran will get our money this time b/c of cheaper flights (with one stop ea. way) for our Oct trip.

[shaycamp21]

Can you drive to the nearest US city that is serviced by South West airlines (just use park and fly at airport or stay at hotel use their park and fly)? www.southwest.com Download the the Ding and also sign up for their free email updates and BE PATIENT--they have sales all the time.

I did not heed my own advice and began panicking at the end of June when I did not see too many sales (we leave Aug 21) and booked out of Detroit (would have preferred Buffalo but they did not have any good flight times left which meant we'd missed a day of our trip) for $86 (US per person one way--which is not bad) for a total of $900 CND for the four of us(can't remember the exact amount). Then two weeks later the price dropped to $59 per person (and there have been more sales sinces then). The great thing about South West is you can call their customer service and they'll show you how to rebook at the better price if their prices drop and give you a credit towards future flights (which you have a year to use). I don't know if other airlines do this. So we got the $59 deal which worked out to $595 Us around $735 CND and we have a $212 credit with southwest to use. The cheapest flight we could find flying out of TO was $1800 for the four of us so the savings are huge. :cheer2: :banana: :wave:

[maddiel]

Can you drive to the nearest US city that is serviced by South West airlines (just use park and fly at airport or stay at hotel use their park and fly)? www.southwest.com

We're doing just that in less than two weeks (yay!) but I'd be scared to risk driving for over a thousand kilometers each way (Halifax - Manchester NH) in February.

M.

[SandrA9810]

Two years ago I flew from Miami to Winnipeg for 472$ (USD) taxes incl. with an extra flight to Flin Flon (which was only one way, I took the bus back down for 80$ CAN)

On another flight, my aunt managed to find an awesome deal of about 275$ for round-trip, with return in two weeks. That was the best deal ever on a plane fare.

I think on the last ticket, from Winnipeg to Miami, it was about 350$ round-trip for a week long trip.

Those were my hay days of going to Canada.
Of course you might want to check with different airlines to see if they have any specials going on, that's how my aunt found that 275$ trip within like a week or two before I left. So you might want to make future plans around the best flying days, rather than the days you're spending in orlando. Being flexible is the cheapest way that I've learned when wanting to fly anywhere. Of course, being younger, and not with a permimant job like most career people, I could afford to be flexible.

Ohh and always check surrounding airports. Here in florida, there's a ton of airports that are about an hour apart each. Here in Miami, you got MIA, Ft lauderdale, and then West Palm Beach airport. And if I'm not mistaken there is more than one airport in Orlando, just a little bit further away. Which could make a big difference in price.

[CBear]

Hi there. We are flying out of Buffalo which is only 1 hour away for 262.47 per person TAXES INC. :cool1:

We're doing the same thing - flying out of Buffalo in December on Jet Blue (http://www.jetblue.com). $59 each way. For three of us, it's $570 Canadian, return!

For anyone else considering the same plan, you can also stay at one of at least four Buffalo Airport hotels (check out Buffalo Airport Hotel Guide (http://buffalo.airporthotelguide.com/buffalo_park_fly.html) , and for the cost of the room for one night (about $89 or $99) you can leave your car in the hotel car park, and take the free shuttle to the airport. We live quite close to the Toronto Pearson Airport, but would still pay about $70 return if we took a limo to the airport.

[SplashMom]

I wish we could take advantage of a short drive to fly from a US airport but it really isn't possible. The closest location is still around 14 hours away--we have to drive 5 hours just to get to Halifax! (and expensive airfare!) The best you can do is keep hoping for specials and seat sales!!

[jj1403]

We are flying out of Minnepolis and the cost of our flights is $260.00CAD.pp When we went in January flying from Wpg to Orlando ended up costing us $760.00 CADpp.

We figured we'd rather do the drive and save $1000.00. That way I'll end up having more spending money! :cool1:

[MelindaKiah]

Westjet has a seat sale on right now, but it ends at midnight tonight.
This is for flights to or from the US, travel must be completed by Oct. 31. The rates are actually decent. If we were going in that time, we'd be able to get a return flight from Halifax, for under $500...that's about $250 less than what the rates are right now for us.

Just wanted to give a heads up

[Ridge]

Jet Blue from Burlington Vermont. This company is one of America's least expensive airlines and virtually everyone is treated like first class. I just arranged for my parents to visit for all of Feb. and the return cost was $ 336 US / taxes included.