Booking March Flights

[HunterBoo]

Hello ... hoping some dis'ers can tell me sites you go to for comparing the cost of flights or booking?

We want to fly from the US, but I am going from site to site to site trying to compare cost. Last year we flew out of Cleveland and had great rates and we can do that again this year with Southwest for $1400 for the four of us. Out of Detroit it is just over 1600 and out of Buffalo is almost $2900!!! We live about two hours north of Toronto, so driving takes about 3 hours to Buffalo, maybe 5 to Detroit and six to Cleveland. Not sure what to do ... One year we waited and booked last minute at Christmas time and got a great deal from Jet Blue out of Buffalo for the March Break. I don't know if that would ever happen again.

So where do you fly from and what sites do you look up flights on and compare them? I"m frustrated!

 

[mtmbyck]

You'll see lots of threads on this topic. Consensus is that flights are a lot more this year than last and no comparison to 2-3 years ago. I used every site I could find - Travelocity, Expedia, flight centre, cheapflights and the best I saw was a Delta with a stopover in Detroit. Delta gets pretty much the worst flight reviews so I was nervous, plus I'm not a fan of switching planes in the winter in case you miss a flight due to weather.

I changed my dates - we will not be traveling on a weekend - if that's an option you'll save lots. I searched one way flights and found a seat sale on West Jet direct out of Ottawa for 89 plus tax. So then grabbed the cheapest one way home with Air Canada. All in we paid 430 each but direct and out of our home town so no travel or overnight stay before we fly so savings there.

You see mixed reviews but I have NEVER seen flights I book for March Break ( we go every year) in August drop in price last minute! In fact they skyrocket and sell out.

Good luck in your search.

 

[HunterBoo]

Thanks mtmbyck ... I have been searching and searching too ... I am leaning towards Cleveland. Flew out last year - LOVED that airport and was a good experience with SW (as all of them have been) ... just the drive - we can't travel except on the weekends as I teach, so basically we leave school about 1 minute after the bell (if I can!!) and hubby will have the kids and the car ready to go and zoom off. So with a stop (as limited as we can - last year my mom packed our 'supper') and we pray for a short border crossing! So all in all last year we made it by about 10 or so. Kids were great and thankfully the weather was amazing last year ... my fear is weather being crappy and being an even longer drive than expected!

It was two years ago where we decided last minute that we should indeed head to Florida (my parents, me and the kids) and we checked JetBlue on Christmas day and the rates were super low ... like 129 one way out of Buffalo and same for back. Best rates ever! So it can happen - but it may have been a one time fluke for us

Ottawa isn't an option - takes us 5 hours to get there ... so might as well head to Cleveland Toronto seems ok until you add in the darn taxes!!!

Thanks for your help

 

[Questforthemouse]

Southwest out of Pittsburgh to Orlando March 9th returning March 16th currently $171pp each way non-stop. $1366 for a family of four is pretty good.

 

[greenclan67]

We normally fly out of Buffalo on Airtran, Jet blue or Southwest. This is the most I have paid in the last 5 years of going on March Break! That being said, we also lucked out with the Jetblue sale 2 years ago at Xmas, and got a flight for $89 plus taxes. We were able to change from airtran to Jetblue because I had never accepted the changes that airtran had sent me as they changed the times by about 45 mins! I have also flown from Rochester, Jet blue, and airtran both fly from there. I have flown Allegiant out of Niagara Falls, yes, they have a lot of extra fees and their prices are crazy high right now, but if I was the betting kind, you are going to see Allegiant prices drop a huge amount over the next little while. I went through the whole booking process on their website, right to the payment page, and there was only 2 seats on both flights taken. I would watch them as well! Good luck. I ended up "lucking out" we got Jetblue for $131 down and $180 home, but we are flying a week earlier, so the 2nd to the 15th!

 

[CanuckTraveller]

Hello ... hoping some dis'ers can tell me sites you go to for comparing the cost of flights or booking?

We want to fly from the US, but I am going from site to site to site trying to compare cost. Last year we flew out of Cleveland and had great rates and we can do that again this year with Southwest for $1400 for the four of us. Out of Detroit it is just over 1600 and out of Buffalo is almost $2900!!! We live about two hours north of Toronto, so driving takes about 3 hours to Buffalo, maybe 5 to Detroit and six to Cleveland. Not sure what to do ... One year we waited and booked last minute at Christmas time and got a great deal from Jet Blue out of Buffalo for the March Break. I don't know if that would ever happen again.

So where do you fly from and what sites do you look up flights on and compare them? I"m frustrated!

I was looking up flights yesterday too...hoping to find something even close to our budget for driving.
I think you're doing really well with $1400 for 4 people, I would jump on that if I were you. Waiting for a sale is like playing Russian roulette, sometimes you find a great deal, other times you end up paying through the teeth or on flights with less than ideal times of day.
Since we have a back up plan, I'm waiting, but not holding my breath at this point. Maybe West Jet will come up with a fantastic Thursday sale...I can always hope!

 

[webworm]

Hello ... hoping some dis'ers can tell me sites you go to for comparing the cost of flights or booking?

We want to fly from the US, but I am going from site to site to site trying to compare cost. Last year we flew out of Cleveland and had great rates and we can do that again this year with Southwest for $1400 for the four of us. Out of Detroit it is just over 1600 and out of Buffalo is almost $2900!!! We live about two hours north of Toronto, so driving takes about 3 hours to Buffalo, maybe 5 to Detroit and six to Cleveland. Not sure what to do ... One year we waited and booked last minute at Christmas time and got a great deal from Jet Blue out of Buffalo for the March Break. I don't know if that would ever happen again.

So where do you fly from and what sites do you look up flights on and compare them? I"m frustrated!

Check out Allegiant as well since they fly out of the smaller airports. We paid $496 inc taxes for 4 tickets during March break 2011. We flew from Youngstown, OH to St.Pete's Clearwater.

http://www.allegiantair.com/