Help with finding cheaper flights- Question about Frontier

[phillymummer]

Hello DISers!

This topic has probably been discussed many times, so I apologize. But I trust your advice and opinions!

I am thinking of flying from Philly to Orlando 11/10- 11/13. I found a pretty cheap flight on Frontier on 11/10. But that sunday flight is a problem. I can't find anything cheaper than $200 pp. I have looked at Trenton, Atlantic City, Wilmington, and Baltimore but nothing is coming up cheaper than Philly. I have tried going through orbitz and priceline with no success. I even looked at coming home late on Saturday and that is expensive as well.

Is there a certain day of the week and time of day that I should try to look at prices? I have heard so many conflicting things about this. I do follow SW and Frontier on Facebook but their "special deals" never include philly - orlando on the days I need.

I saw this article yesterday and was wondering if this would help.
http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/cheap-flight-day/story?id=41180848

The problem is my lack of flexibility in dates. I am a teacher so i can't take off any days.

I fly so infrequently that I don't have many miles (I think I have 1300 pts with SW which will do me no good). i don't have a CC that will earn me miles.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
~PM

 

[mom2rtk]

I think that's just the deal flying on Sundays. We got great rates leaving town on a Tuesday. But the Sunday return flights are still really high (almost $200) so I haven't pulled the trigger. I guess if push comes to shove, we can just stay at Disney.

 

[1tufgt]

Your cheapest days to fly are typically your Tuesday/Wednesday and most expensive seems to fall on Sun/Mon & Fri. Due to most business travel occurring those specific days.

 

[phillymummer]

I figured I'm going to have the bite the bullet for a Sunday flight. I was just wondering if there is any chance of the prices coming down.

 

[1tufgt]

I figured I'm going to have the bite the bullet for a Sunday flight. I was just wondering if there is any chance of the prices coming down.

There's always a chance but it's less likely to go below $100 on the weekends. I recently had our outbound flight on a friday go from $150 to $112 though.

 

[phillymummer]

If the Sunday price went below $200 I'd be happy! Right now they are in the $250-400+ range.

 

[beccasmom]

I am with you on this one. We paid roughly $240.00 each for a Sunday flight on Southwest and it would have been at least $30 less in the middle of the week, which wasn't an option on this trip. But we paid more last year on American.

 

[phillymummer]

Well, after checking out SW again I found some reasonably cheap flights, but they have 1 stop with a plane change each way. (I was searching only non-stop before- I hate the thought of having to change planes and travel longer).
One more question.... did I correctly read somewhere that if I find tickets for my floght cheaper than what I paid, I can call up and ask for a credit/ refund of the difference?

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Well, after checking out SW again I found some reasonably cheap flights, but they have 1 stop with a plane change each way. (I was searching only non-stop before- I hate the thought of having to change planes and travel longer).
One more question.... did I correctly read somewhere that if I find tickets for my floght cheaper than what I paid, I can call up and ask for a credit/ refund of the difference?

It depends on the airline. If you book a Southwest non refundable fare, you'll get a flight credit, not a refund.

 

[phillymummer]

Thank you! It is SW im looking it and its their "wanna get away" fares. So i guess that's a credit. How long is the credit good for? I dont fly often.

 

[sticker231]

You are also looking to travel during "Jersey Week". With the schools closed a large amount of people use the time to head down to WDW. It s not a cheap time to fly in and out of NJ, NY, or PA.

 

[phillymummer]

I am well aware. I am from Jersey. I traveled during that time last year. Although last year, I knew ahead of time and was on the SW website as soon as they released the tickets for my dates. The were the lowest prices for my flights.

Now, it's a tricky game... when should I buy them? Which day of the week is cheapest? Do I wait until August 23rd, when this is supposedly "cheapest airfare day".

As you can tell, I am not a frequent flyer and I do not like this yo-yo pricing system.

 

[GrumpyBa*D]

I'm really thinking that the fares will not go down from the NY,NJ PA area for that weekend. As you know it's Jersey week but also Vet. Day weekend too....and to let you know I jumped on the flights the day they were released and coming home sunday was 200+ right out of the gat

 

[phillymummer]

Okay... I found a really awesome fare for Frontier (I keep switching between SW and Frontier... I think Frontier is going to win). Here is my next question for Frontier Regulars..... if I do NOT pay to pick seats, what are the chances that I will not sit next to my daughter (who will be 11)? I really don't want her to sit next to strangers on the plane. I am trying to debate if I want to pay for seats and checked bags, just checked bags, or go for "THE WORKS" (this is really appealing to me bc of the refund and no change fee). Advice?

 

[MrsM]

if I do NOT pay to pick seats, what are the chances that I will not sit next to my daughter

We had a similar dilemma with our family of 6 - we ended up booking Frontier to MCO and Southwest back to PHL. For the Frontier flight, I found that the middle seats in the rear of the plane were no charge while the aisle and windows were $5 per person so I just took two of those rows and got six seats assigned for $20. I still hate paying for that but it's just one less thing to worry about. We're traveling around Thanksgiving and when the dates were released both legs were close to $300 pp. I kept watching and was able to get the Frontier flights for less than $100 and the SW flights for around $150.