Looking for advice for return flight PHX-BOS

[Jeanne B]

I'm looking for our return flight and I must say, the flights from PHX-BOS aren't all that great, most of them leave at 7:00 a.m. or earlier or 10:30 p.m. or later. I guess this is typical but this is our first time to AZ so air travel from the west is new to me. Some of the cheaper flights I was considering are now gone (because I can't make up my mind!!) but I wasn't thrilled about the times or the connections so I'm not too upset with myself (and they were only $30 less pp). We're doing a timeshare exchange in Sedona and our check-out date is 7/1 and two of the flights I'm looking at are...

AirTran 7/1 - 7:00 a.m., arrives BOS at 5:06 pm w/ an 1-1/4 hr layover in Atlanta.

JetBlue 7/1 - 10:25 p.m., arrives BOS next day at 6:16 a.m. - Nonstop

Both are the same price ($150 one-way per person), I prefer the nonstop flight and love JetBlue (never flown AirTran) but since it gets in the next day we would miss another day of work but with the AirTran flight we would have to leave Sedona the night before, pay for a hotel in Phoenix and be up super early in the morning but we'd at least be back in Maine by 9 p.m. or so, ready to go to work the next morning. There's an identical JB flight the day before which I would love but for the 3 of us it would cost $170 more compared to flying the next day, I know I can book it and hope the fare comes down but I with that much of a difference I don't think I want to take that chance.

What flight would you choose? Any advice would be appreciated!! I'm debating on whether or not to stick it out a couple more weeks in case something better comes up.

 

[honeymom]

Have you priced US Air/Amerwest and Continental? They have a lot of non-stops back east (at least to NY) and I often find that there fares are comparable, sometimes better than Jetblue. Plus, with the frequency of their service, I can usually get better flight times.

 

[Jeanne B]

Continental has some flights slightly less expensive than JB and AT but no non-stops to BOS, they all connect at EWR. They do have one mid-morning flight but it wouldn't get us to BOS until 10:30 pm, 2:30 in the morning by the time we got back to Maine so I'd probably stick with the non-stop JB flight in that case.

I guess I just have to pick one so I can stop worrying about it!! I think I'm spoiled by the 3-1/2 hour non-stop flights to MCO with many flight times to choose from.

 

[teentoddlermom]

There is a website called kayak that can help you plan a flight. I haven't used it yet, but it looks cool. Hope it is ok to mention here.

 

[Jeanne B]

There is a website called kayak that can help you plan a flight. I haven't used it yet, but it looks cool. Hope it is ok to mention here.

Yeah, that's what I've been using. It's a great way to see all the airlines all in one place.

I ended up booking the Continental flight that departs at 11:00 a.m. a few hours ago, there were only a couple seats of 3 left so I figured I better hurry up and book, and that flight was cheaper than the JB flight.

 

[GailT]

myself I would pick the non stop but if you go with the connection Atlanta airport isn't bad at all.