Houston airfare...

[luv2sleep]

I'm not part of the fare club. I think that if you're part of it, you get discounts and other benefits. They have info on it on their site about it. I don't fly enough to use it.

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It was weird but I couldn't access any info about it on their site. They offered me a $9 fare but only if I signed up. I couldn't tell if that was a guarantee for the current fare or a possibility for future fares.

 

[wallawallakids]

It is crazy. I ended up booking Delta (who I really do not like). We usually fly Jet Blue but into Houston it was 600/pp. Southwest was the same. We checked flying out of BOS, MHT, and PWM. I looked into flying into HOU and IAH. I watched everyday. We are flying PWM to IAH in, HOU to PWM back (Both have lay-overs. Detroit down, Atlanta back). I ended up paying $408 a person x6 They had that price for an hour and then it was gone and I am flying in and out of two different ports, but I will take it for the savings. Even though it is still ridiculous! We are flying into LAX in Aug from PWM for less than it is costing us to go to HOU! Good luck.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I live in the Houston area (Kemah) and the price to fly anywhere from here makes me sick. I refuse to do it. I've ditched a Pacific Coast cruise and 2 trips to DL because I won't pay pay the crazy amounts to fly places from here.

I'm flying from Vegas to Houston in October and its close to $500 for 2 of us round trip and its always more expensive to fly out of Vegas than it is to fly in. I found that rate from Spirit Airlines going into IAH

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I found Spirit Airlines recently and am impressed by their rates. Their fees, however, scare the crap out of me. Pay $30 for carryon luggage? Checked bag parameters are kinda iffy. 40 lb. max weight??? I thought most airlines did 50 lbs. Also, watch those measurements. Seems like Spirit makes their $$ on their many fees. For this reason, I'm leery of booking with them.

Just be glad you don't live here. We have to fly anywhere, it's out of Houston and super expensive.

I know, right??? It's so messed up!

I live here and I don't know what the problem is but it's out of control. Flights are sooo expensive!! Right now the cheapest flight from Houston to Orlando is RT $420....it's a two hour flight! That's crazy to me! Long are the days when I could fly to Orlando RT for $180!

It makes no stinkin' sense either! Hobby is a SWA hub! Why the heck do we pay MORE to fly places from their HUB?!?! IAH was Continental's main hub and is still acting as one for United! WTH?!?!

Southwest Airlines is probably going to be the cheapest you can find. I checked everyday and finally booked a flight for less than 1000 for 4 of us out of Houston.

Ooooh...do tell...how far out did you book that????

I have a question about Spirit. What's the $9 Fare thing about? If I pay $50 for a year will all of my fares only be $9?

They were cheap but for flight times that were challenging. The cheap one got us in at 4am.

Again, watch Spirit with their myriad of fees. They really make me nervous. I told hubby we could fly them if we could figure out how to pack every change of clothes we were taking on our bodies.

 

[Arkum]

It was weird but I couldn't access any info about it on their site. They offered me a $9 fare but only if I signed up. I couldn't tell if that was a guarantee for the current fare or a possibility for future fares.

No it's not $9 fares. It's a program that they will send you info on reduced fares but they're not $9! It saves money on paying for baggage as well. Be careful if flying on spirit that you are aware of their baggage policy. You pay for ALL baggage, including $35 for a carry on.

 

[TheReeders]

I found Spirit Airlines recently and am impressed by their rates. Their fees, however, scare the crap out of me. Pay $30 for carryon luggage? Checked bag parameters are kinda iffy. 40 lb. max weight??? I thought most airlines did 50 lbs. Also, watch those measurements. Seems like Spirit makes their $$ on their many fees. For this reason, I'm leery of booking with them.


Yes, I'm very aware of their luggage fees. In fact they aren't the only ones that charge for luggage so this is nothing new for me. Even with our luggage, it's still less than $500 rt for means my DH from Vegas to Houston

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[MikeAndNick]

I am running into the same problem out of Fresno. Dallas has always been about $450 for the last 10 years. My brother lives in Houston and has told me to not only look for round trip but one way flights. some of the time it is cheaper to book two one way flights.

 

[luv2sleep]

I am running into the same problem out of Fresno. Dallas has always been about $450 for the last 10 years. My brother lives in Houston and has told me to not only look for round trip but one way flights. some of the time it is cheaper to book two one way flights.

Oh I'm going to try that! Thank you!

 

[KappaSigHero]

I've been a "lurker" while researching what I need to know for my upcoming cruise (by the way, thanks everybody!) but felt compelled to register after seeing Spirit mentioned.

I would advise being really skeptical about Spirit Air. The cost may be attractive, but the experience isn't.

They keep costs low because they charge for everything that they consider a "luxury". This includes snacks, drinks, the better seats, and as mentioned, baggage. While most airlines are now charging for bagging, spirit is charging a higher price ($35 vs $25) for less weight (40 lbs vs 50 lbs). You may not think that ten pounds is much, but you will when your bag comes in at 42 pounds and you have to choose between disposing of luggage and paying an extra $25. Also, while other airlines permit free carry-ons, Spirit will charge you for anything you carry on that is larger than a purse. They're very strict about bag weights and bag measurements.

Another issue is that because they don't have as many flights, you have less flexibility if there's a change. Last year, I was flying from Pittsburgh to Myrtle Beach, where we had rented a family beach house from Saturday to Saturday. We booked flights that left on Saturday morning, and returned the following Saturday afternoon. O ER the next few months, we received several emails about flight time changes, usually changing either flight an hour or two back or forth. Then, just a month before our trip, we received an email that our flights would now both be on Fridays. There was no option to change because they only flee two planes a week in that direction. We had to book hotel rooms for the night before our house opened, and ended up losing a day at the house at the end.

Spirit is notorious for bad customer service- just Google them for evidence. Their CEO has stated that he doesn't care about bad reviews, as people will always buy his cheap tickets.

Anyways, off of my soapbox. I promise to post more

 

[luv2sleep]

I've been a "lurker" while researching what I need to know for my upcoming cruise (by the way, thanks everybody!) but felt compelled to register after seeing Spirit mentioned.

I would advise being really skeptical about Spirit Air. The cost may be attractive, but the experience isn't.

They keep costs low because they charge for everything that they consider a "luxury". This includes snacks, drinks, the better seats, and as mentioned, baggage. While most airlines are now charging for bagging, spirit is charging a higher price ($35 vs $25) for less weight (40 lbs vs 50 lbs). You may not think that ten pounds is much, but you will when your bag comes in at 42 pounds and you have to choose between disposing of luggage and paying an extra $25. Also, while other airlines permit free carry-ons, Spirit will charge you for anything you carry on that is larger than a purse. They're very strict about bag weights and bag measurements.

Another issue is that because they don't have as many flights, you have less flexibility if there's a change. Last year, I was flying from Pittsburgh to Myrtle Beach, where we had rented a family beach house from Saturday to Saturday. We booked flights that left on Saturday morning, and returned the following Saturday afternoon. O ER the next few months, we received several emails about flight time changes, usually changing either flight an hour or two back or forth. Then, just a month before our trip, we received an email that our flights would now both be on Fridays. There was no option to change because they only flee two planes a week in that direction. We had to book hotel rooms for the night before our house opened, and ended up losing a day at the house at the end.

Spirit is notorious for bad customer service- just Google them for evidence. Their CEO has stated that he doesn't care about bad reviews, as people will always buy his cheap tickets.

Anyways, off of my soapbox. I promise to post more

I didn't realize some airlines charge for carryons. I carry on to avoid baggage fees. I don't they will work anyway. Their only flight leaves at 11:40pm and gets in at 4 something am. Then the return doesn't leave until after 9pm. That just won't work. I'll keep looking.

Thanks for all of the info!

 

[FortCanadaGirl]

We recently did the 6 night Galveston cruise in January--and we flew out of Buffalo at extremely reasonable rates ($274 round trip). The flights were not direct and so my advice is to book via Buffalo if you can! Not practical really for everyone (or many of you)--it sucks that all other cities are so expensive. I guess no one wants to come to Buffalo--but to get to Houston it was great!

Also, re: transportation to the port, we flew into IAH and rented a school bus with a few other families. The cost per person was 1/3 of what Disney was charging. It would take some organization, but school bus companies are very available/eager for extra jobs from what I understand, and their service was really good.

 

[LasseKjus]

I've done spirit a couple of times, but their fees can really add up and make it not worthwhile. In my opinion, unless you get a seriously low fee on spirit, avoid it. I've done it three times, Chicago to Fort Lauderdale for a 3-day disney cruise (got five of us for a grand total of $325 round trip) and put all of our stuff in two carry ons, which they ultimately let us check for free. Did Chicago to Atlantic City for two for less than $100 RT total and did one carry-on bag. Did Chicago to Dallas for about $60 per person RT and again, shoved everything into one or two carry-on bags. If you have to check bags, it's not worth it. Plus you have to join the $9 fare club to get discounts on the checked/carry on bags. The fees really do add up.

 

[luv2sleep]

I've done spirit a couple of times, but their fees can really add up and make it not worthwhile. In my opinion, unless you get a seriously low fee on spirit, avoid it. I've done it three times, Chicago to Fort Lauderdale for a 3-day disney cruise (got five of us for a grand total of $325 round trip) and put all of our stuff in two carry ons, which they ultimately let us check for free. Did Chicago to Atlantic City for two for less than $100 RT total and did one carry-on bag. Did Chicago to Dallas for about $60 per person RT and again, shoved everything into one or two carry-on bags. If you have to check bags, it's not worth it. Plus you have to join the $9 fare club to get discounts on the checked/carry on bags. The fees really do add up.

Wow. Just my opinion but air travel shouldn't be that complicated.

 

[jacdolfin]

Just FYI. Houston has 2 airports. There is IAH(Bush Intercontinental) the larger of the airports and there is Hobby. Hobby is smaller and has Southwest that flies there. You might be able to compare the prices by looking at both airports. Airfare is expensive to and from TX now to most places but I dont know why. I am from Texas hope this helps.

 

[luv2sleep]

Just FYI. Houston has 2 airports. There is IAH(Bush Intercontinental) the larger of the airports and there is Hobby. Hobby is smaller and has Southwest that flies there. You might be able to compare the prices by looking at both airports. Airfare is expensive to and from TX now to most places but I dont know why. I am from Texas hope this helps.

I would like to fly Southwest but there's no DCL transport from Houston Hobby Airport, right? I think someone mentioned that? I'm
Not renting a car.

 

[luv2sleep]

I'm going to check DCL's website. I'm thinking there's transportation from both. If so that helps.

 

[wallawallakids]

I'm going to check DCL's website. I'm thinking there's transportation from both. If so that helps.

I heard on here that they are discontinuing transfers from HOU (Hobby) after May. You might want to call and ask. Right now they still have it. I have it scheduled for our April cruise. HTH

 

[luv2sleep]

I heard on here that they are discontinuing transfers from HOU (Hobby) after May. You might want to call and ask. Right now they still have it. I have it scheduled for our April cruise. HTH

Oh ok. I'll definitely have to call then.
Galveston seems so complicated!

 

[woody73]

Galveston seems so complicated!

Sadly so.

If you are flying home from Houston Hobby (HOU), I would book a mid-afternoon flight.

The security lines at HOU can be long and slow. We barely made a 2:30pm flight with just carry-ons. Others who had to check luggage did not make it in time for the flight.

YMMV

Woody

 

[crundell]

Sadly so.

If you are flying home from Houston Hobby (HOU), I would book a mid-afternoon flight.

The security lines at HOU can be long and slow. We barely made a 2:30pm flight with just carry-ons. Others who had to check luggage did not make it in time for the flight.

YMMV

Woody

Wow, thanks for posting this. I have a late 7pm return flight so I have plenty of time, but it's good to know that I probably need to give a little extra time for security. Flying out of Reno I only go about an hour early and am past security and to the gate in no time.

 

[green country]

I think higher air prices are going to be the new norm. I remember years ago when an airline would start a fare war and every airline would have to discount their tickets to compete.
Now the competition is gone because all the airlines have merged into just a few.