How to Save Money on Plane Tickets??

[craftymom7]

For our soon to be family of 5 to fly from Providence to Orlando was quoted at over $3,000 via Southwest! It was for Dec...was that too far out for a good deal?

It will be my husband and I & our 3 kids who will be 6, 2 & 3 months.

How can I get the price down??

 

[clanmcculloch]

How are you getting that price for December with Southwest? Their schedule is only open through November 1.

If you're flying near Christmas (that week or the last few days the week before) then be prepared to book as soon as the schedule opens up because those prices will go up quickly. My guess is that they'll start at maybe $149 - $179 per person per direction but that's just a guess. Even if they do start at that, the prices will jump within probably the first hour, maybe faster. Vacation weeks go up VERY quickly. President's week, second last week of April and towards christmas are very expensive if you don't book quickly.

You can also check JetBlue once their schedule opens up. They now fly out of PVD though you can also check BOS as well.

 

[craftymom7]

Oh now that I think about I think i tried to get December but I couldn't so I looked at mid October to see what the rates were.

 

[julluvsdisney]

I was checking for the second week of dec for this past year and I was getting $150 round trip from boston. this was back in Novemeber. Im not saying that it will stay that way but you may get lucky! I think 3000 sounds like a lot! Will you be holding the baby on your lap? That saves money! We did that when our youngest was 9mo old. Not bad! Trip is pretty quick! Good luck!

 

[Ragnrok23]

Also SW prices go up and down frequently- my flights for April (out of PVD) have been anywhere from $95 to $330 depending on when I looked

As long as it's not close to xmas, I would just pick a price point (say $125 each way) and just check multiple times a day

Also book each way separate, you don't save money booking round trip on SW like other airlines- that way you can always rebook and get a credit if your flight drops and apply them to the other way if you haven't book both ways yet

Just and FYI- credits are good for 1 year from original purchase, and are tied to the individual, so if everyones flight goes down $25, you dont have $100 to buy one ticket, each person has $25 towards a ticket

 

[DonnaL]

We've been SWA flyers for years and from my experience when you get the best price depends on a few things. If you're flying close to a holiday AND you have five people flying, you should book as soon as you find THE price you're comfortable with......for me flying from PHL to MCO my max is about $240 rd trp out of the door....I have never paid more than that and paid that price maybe only one time. However, that said......if you're flying earlier in December.....don't forget .....2013 Thanksgiving is late this year....so those first few days of December will be leftover Thanksgiving travelers.....so I'm going to say anywhere from the 6th to the 16th.....you should get a good price.
When traveling during a timeframe where not many people are traveling.....I find I get my best price about 6 to 8 weeks out......at about 9/10 weeks I literally start checking every day...sometimes several times a day and I grab it when I find the price I want to pay.....my DH and I flew PHL to MCO this past December for a long weekend......I think the dates were 12/12 thru 12/16....I booked it about 6 weeks out......we paid $320 total round trip for both of us. For years though....there were either 5 or 6 of us traveling...so I know what you're feeling about the prices. I find a mid-day to late afternoon flight is usually the best price option....except if traveling on a Friday or Sunday....which works for us......since we have a 2 hour drive to PHL and we're still at WDW by 6:00 p.m.....just in time for a quick dinner and catch fireworks!!

 

[rdsx28]

Not sure where you live but you could also check flying out of Bradley(BDL) in Hartford or Manchester NH (MHT). I live in MA and they are pretty much the same distance. MHT is a great airport that we have flown out of the past few years pretty reasonably but sadly it appears SW has decreased the number of flights out of there but you could still check it out. Jet Blue also flies out of BDL. Good Luck!

 

[Marionnette]

For our soon to be family of 5 to fly from Providence to Orlando was quoted at over $3,000 via Southwest! It was for Dec...was that too far out for a good deal?

It will be my husband and I & our 3 kids who will be 6, 2 & 3 months.

How can I get the price down??

You're not going to be able to put the baby on your reservation until it has a birth date. That shouldn't be a problem if you plan to hold the baby in your lap for the whole flight. If you plan to buy a seat for the baby, you will not be able to do it right now even if SWA had dates extending into December 2013. And it might get complicated to purchase a ticket for just the baby later, if you were to book everyone else when those dates do open up in a couple of months.

 

[Angela72181]

We flew last December with Spirit for $1000 round trip flying our Dec 10 and back Jan 2. The airlines haven't released those dates yet. We just booked airfare with Southwest for a trip from Detroit MI to Las Angeles CA for $1241. We are a family of 5 with 2 adults and 3 children Ages 1, 7, and 9 with the youngest sitting on laps

 

[GinCar]

I check Southwest prices almost daily. We have to fly everywhere we go- vacation or family because the drive is too long. We also have 5 people in our family- so I feel your pain!

Sometimes their prices are less the day the new schedule comes out, sometimes not. Sign up for their "ding" that puts an icon on your computer for daily deals.
The big money saver for us is their credit card. We use it for our business and personal. The points rack up very quickly. I also shop through their website- so extra points for all of the things I have to order online anyway.

Once you purchase tickets- keep watching. If the price goes down, you can get Southwest credit. (Very valuable to me- as we fly as a family 4 or 5 times a year, so it never has time to expire for us.)

Good Luck. I hate that airfare is a game, but I have to play to save.

 

[WMorganS]

Also SW prices go up and down frequently- my flights for April (out of PVD) have been anywhere from $95 to $330 depending on when I looked

This may sound crazy, but always shop for flights on Tuesday mornings, if you've missed the best rates which come 8 months in advance.

It makes no sense, but I've see it myself again and again - most recently about a month ago. The best rates are on Tuesday mornings. The only explanation I've heard is that some airlines release "deals" on Mondays, and so other airlines come up with reduced rates to compete and those adjustments hit Tuesday morning.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Try traveling on Tue or Wed those are cheaper days to fly.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Don't buy a ticket for the 3 month old, who can fly for free as a lap baby. You can always buy four tickets now and add the lap baby later. You will need to bring the birth certificate with you.

You might want to look at prices for other airlines as well.

 

[emilymad]

Also try searching for 1 or 2 people instead of 5. You can book on multiple reservation numbers with no problem. They might only have 1 or 2 seats left at the lower fare and you wouldn't qualify since you are trying to do 5 seats all at once. This can sometimes get you a lower fare for at least of the people in your party.

 

[bettymae1121]

Don't buy a ticket for the 3 month old, who can fly for free as a lap baby. .

Except it is safer for the baby to travel in his/her own seat in a car seat, in case of turblance or an emergency landing. But having the baby on your lap for free is allowed, so that's an option.

 

[CourtneyL]

You're not going to be able to put the baby on your reservation until it has a birth date. That shouldn't be a problem if you plan to hold the baby in your lap for the whole flight. If you plan to buy a seat for the baby, you will not be able to do it right now even if SWA had dates extending into December 2013. And it might get complicated to purchase a ticket for just the baby later, if you were to book everyone else when those dates do open up in a couple of months.

We had this "problem" for my daughter's 1st trip. She was 4 months old when we traveled, but we booked the airfare before she was born. Anyway, what we did was book an extra seat and then after she was born we added her as a lap child. We used the extra seat for her car seat. This was on JetBlue and we called and asked if this was possible before booking.

 

[leelee9878]

Sign up for yapta and track your flights, they email you when the price drops or send a push notification to your phone/iPad if you have the app. This site has saved me and my family a lot of money, and took the headache out of checking multiple times a day.

 

[chimilady]

Try traveling on Tue or Wed those are cheaper days to fly.

Yup, on our last trip to Orlando, if I would have left on a Wednesday, come back on a Tuesday our flights would have been cut in half. I wish I had done that.

 

[Denise W]

Jet Blue released their fares today through 1/6/14. I got PVD to MCO for 12/2-12/9 for $210 roundtrip. OP, that is a lot better than what you were finding with SouthWest.
Denise

 

[tinkerbella16]

I don't know HOW to save, except to just keep shopping around. I just booked our flights today for our November trip because I knew I would never find anything cheaper than what we got.

We are flying Spirit for $167 per person round trip! It is 2 adults and 1 child traveling so the total came to $503!! Both flights coming and going are non-stop. I was floored.. but we are traveling on a Wednesday and coming home on a Tuesday so that may have a lot to do with it. I am so used to flying on weekend days so I haven't flown this cheap in years!