Mass. April vacationers!!

[disneyobessed]

Anyone flying down the week of April Vacation from MASS.? Im curious as to how much your flight was... We are looking at going next April and am trying to get ideas how much this is going to be... thanks!

 

[goofy4tink]

It's always high for spring break up here. We flew DirectAir last April and it was fairly cheap, but that obviously is no longer an option. I know that if you are there, right on the day they first release fares, you may get a decent fare. But, if you miss that first release day??? Oh man...it's going to be expensive. I know that a few years ago, I found a great April vacation fare on Delta, but figured it would be nice to wait until I checked it out with the dh. Well, 3 hrs later I went online to book it....gone. Absolutely nothing for a Friday, Saturday or Sunday departure flight out of Boston. So, I flew down on Monday morning, first flight out that day...at 6am. Then, nothing coming back the following weekend (well for under $300 one way, pp!!), so we flew home on Friday...quick 4 night trip that cost us about $270 pp, r/t.

 

[ccgirl]

Anyone flying down the week of April Vacation from MASS.? Im curious as to how much your flight was... We are looking at going next April and am trying to get ideas how much this is going to be... thanks!

We were debating going this year, until I saw the fares. The least expensive I could find were around $350 per person and that was the morning the flights were released (Airtran and SW). Everything else was over $400. Looking into cruising next April out of NY/NJ so we can drive instead.

 

[disneyobessed]

Yeah my plan is to book out of DELTA the minute they are released but how do you know when they will release for those dates? I think we are going to fly out Wed night or early Thursday morning the week before vacation then fly home that Fri or Saturday...

Is it worth waiting for JetBlue or Southwest to release dates? I feel it is a gamble waiting..

 

[soxfan11901]

Yeah my plan is to book out of DELTA the minute they are released but how do you know when they will release for those dates? I think we are going to fly out Wed night or early Thursday morning the week before vacation then fly home that Fri or Saturday...

Is it worth waiting for JetBlue or Southwest to release dates? I feel it is a gamble waiting..

Delta and the other Legacy carriers (AA, UA, etc) release flights for booking 330 days in advance. They don't do it a block of dates at a time like Southwest or JetBlue.

 

[JoeCathyAngelina]

If you know you'll be going down next April; booking first release is the best way to go. I've always gotten my best deals booking first release flights. Of course with mergers (Delta and Northwest a couple of years ago), flight changes (all Airlines change their flight times at least once a month) and this year DirectAir going belly-up a few weeks before our trip. You never know what's going to happen between the day you buy your ticket to the day you get home from your trip.
Good luck all,
Joe

 

[ccgirl]

Yeah my plan is to book out of DELTA the minute they are released but how do you know when they will release for those dates? I think we are going to fly out Wed night or early Thursday morning the week before vacation then fly home that Fri or Saturday...

Is it worth waiting for JetBlue or Southwest to release dates? I feel it is a gamble waiting..

Delta and the other Legacy carriers (AA, UA, etc) release flights for booking 330 days in advance. They don't do it a block of dates at a time like Southwest or JetBlue.

Personally, I feel it is but YMMV. I have yet to see the legacy carriers to have cheaper flights. I find the legacy carriers tend to change their flight times fairly frequently since they release so early. Plus, I love SW or JB since the bags fly free and you can get a voucher credit if the price goes down. Flying out the Wed or Thur the week before vacation will definitely help. However, flyging home that Fri or Saturday will be "prime time" and won't really help the price at all.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[ccgirl]

If you know you'll be going down next April; booking first release is the best way to go. I've always gotten my best deals booking first release flights. Of course with mergers (Delta and Northwest a couple of years ago), flight changes (all Airlines change their flight times at least once a month) and this year DirectAir going belly-up a few weeks before our trip. You never know what's going to happen between the day you buy your ticket to the day you get home from your trip.
Good luck all,
Joe

Bolded mine. JB, SW and Airtran rarely change their flight times I find since they do not release the flights so early.

 

[loganpaulsmom]

I booked a week after first release.. We got the flights we wanted.. Leaving for Orlando early in the morning and leaving Orlando later in the evening. Flying JetBlue, direct.. Our fares for 3 of us was just over $1000.. Now I have a friend who booked a couple of months ago.. Same flights, different days, for 4.. $2800

 

[momtwoboys]

we are going and booked with Jetblue the day they came out!!! Leaving a few days ahead of the vaca (WED) and the fares ended up going down 2 weeks after I booked! So we ended up with $220.00 roundtrip direct flights out of BDL!!!!!!! I can be done Plus now we have a 300 something credit for our flights for NEXT April!!!

 

[ccgirl]

we are going and booked with Jetblue the day they came out!!! Leaving a few days ahead of the vaca (WED) and the fares ended up going down 2 weeks after I booked! So we ended up with $220.00 roundtrip direct flights out of BDL!!!!!!! I can be done Plus now we have a 300 something credit for our flights for NEXT April!!!

Now THAT is good!!!!

 

[disneyobessed]

we are going and booked with Jetblue the day they came out!!! Leaving a few days ahead of the vaca (WED) and the fares ended up going down 2 weeks after I booked! So we ended up with $220.00 roundtrip direct flights out of BDL!!!!!!! I can be done Plus now we have a 300 something credit for our flights for NEXT April!!!

That is awsome! This is what I want to do but Im so nervous Ill miss when they are first released. Do you know the date they released the flight so I have an idea...What day are you coming home on..???

 

[bamor]

That is awsome! This is what I want to do but Im so nervous Ill miss when they are first released. Do you know the date they released the flight so I have an idea...What day are you coming home on..???

OP, I booked with Southwest the day the flights were released. We are flying out of Hartford, CT as well. Flights were $99.00/pp each way, direct flights BDL to MCO. We are leaving Thursday night and returning Saturday night. Something to consider as an option. Flights were released in October.
I just happened to be on this board that morning when flights were released and a few people mentioned to check Bradley... I am/was very grateful.

 

[momtwoboys]

I booked Jetblue in August. We are returning on Friday the 20th. I know the prices went way up then dropped 2x within the 2-3 weeks I originally booked, but I got a credit and now have 379. and some change to apply to another flight! I was going to wait for southwest, but went with the TV's on Jetblue and assigned seating. We have flown SW out of BDL too and it was great. But in the case that the price is not too much difference I would go w/ JB!

 

[disneyobessed]

Ok Im feeling much better about waiting for JB and SW! We usually do use JB out of Boston and we love them.. if flight times change it is never by much.. and it never changes to layovers when I originally book nonstop! I have flown Southwest too and they are the same way except no TV... Whatever is released first Im going with..! Thanks so much!

 

[mlittig]

I teach in NH so I am going down the following week and was very surprised at how high the fares are My fares for August are so much lower

 

[JenSinMA]

We're going down Sunday to Friday of vacation week. I had planned to drive since fares were so high out of Boston, and I didn't have much flexibility on dates because some extended family are flying in from the west coast to meet us. But I kept watching the fares, and found nonstops out of Philly on AirTran for $253 pp. That was good enough for me, so now we're driving to Philadelphia on Friday night and flying out on Saturday. Seems weird to drive 6 hours to catch a plane, but the alternative was driving all 22 hours.

 

[disneyobessed]

I teach in NH so I am going down the following week and was very surprised at how high the fares are My fares for August are so much lower

Yeah we usually go in August too but we are sick of the heat and rain storms. so we are trading in heat for high price flights unless I can do this right and book as soon as they come out!