huge increase in costs of flights?

[Sagginit]

anyone having issues finding cheap or reasonable flights? we last went to WDW a few years ago we got round trip for under $200 easy from jersey. now we are having a hard time even finding flights at the time we want. we always flew out of atlantic city but even looking at newark we aren't finding what we want or need. think they could possibly add flights? i mean its the week before thanksgiving so i find it odd that the Saturday we want to come back they only have a few flights. spririt has a great price on flights down, but we would have to fly back first thing in the morning or 9:30 at night. it seems odd they have nothing in the afternoon.

 

[AuroraRora]

We're going in October and when I checked the other day, NYC to MCO was about $230. It might depend on the days you're flying?

 

[kiddisney]

with the mergers there have been reductions in the number of flights - and costs have really gone up - you just have to keep looking - it's all in the timing - one week leaving on a wednesday is $200 and the next week it's $500 - it's all different - a lot more different than two years ago

 

[jiminy14]

We are vacationing at WDW in earlier December and I have been checking flights every day for the past couple of months. We have primarily used SW in the past and rarely paid more than $200/rt. We always fly on Tuesdays or Wednesdays and avoid the weekends. The lowest fares I have been able to find on SW have been around $320/rt. Add in the Early Bird check-in, and we are now at $350/rt.
The number of flights per day have also decreased and there are only 3-4 non-stops a day. Air Tran has picked up the slack in the number of flights available but their fares are the same as SW plus baggage fees of $25/bag.
Right now, Delta has the best fares with $240/rt. We can avoid the baggage fees because of DH's frequent flyer status. The only downside is that all of the flights have connections which would double our travel time.
If you can fly out of Trenton, Frontier offers limited service to Orlando. Their fares are quite reasonable but they only fly on certain days of the week with one or two flights a day.

 

[scard192]

having an awful time finding flights in our budget from BOS/PVD to MCO. Boston is $3350 for 5 people with Jet Blue, $2350 from PVD. I have been watching fares since I booked our trip the first week in May and there has not been one sale on Jet Blue for our dates in October. I get e-mails every couple of weeks from JB announcing a "2 day sale". Sale prices are exact the same as the prices have been.

We are just at 90 days now which I have read is the best time to buy airline tickets so hoping for something soon. If not I may have to breakdown and book on Southwest which I would rather not do because of the seating. I know fares have gone way up but did not expect to have to pay full fare.

 

[Darcy03231]

As gas prices have jumped 20-30 cents in the past two weeks I wouldn't expect to see any reductions in airfare as I'm sure their fuel costs are rising too.

As another poster pointed out the airlines have also reduced flights. I know where I live 5 years ago there used to be about 10-12 flights a day to MCO. Now there's 5-6.

I used to routinely get $79-$89 each way and a couple of times was able to snag $59-$69 each way. Last year we paid $122 each way and thought that was a great price. I'd been watching it for months and it was consistently $148-$168+ each way until about 8 weeks before our trip.

 

[PatMcDuck]

Fares are up, I agree. I am lucky, I can fly out of Newark or Philadelphia, being in central NJ. (Or AC of course, but Spirit's fees are just crazy to me so I am done with them) I could even make my way to JFK for a great fare.

We usually end up flying out of Philly, on SW, the non-stops are mostly AirTran flights under SW now. Newark USED to be cheap on Delta, way back in the day. Delta SONG was my all time favorite. Used to get $59 each way on them, either out of Newark or JFK.

The seating on a SW flight, that is really SW, not Air Tran, is fine. It is the seating on the SW flights that are actually Air Tran, that worry me. I have that in September... I did not really understand how it works when I booked, my son and I have different reservation numbers, and he is a special needs adult. SO, we will get to the airport as early as possible to get seats assigned together.

For my DL trips (once a year usually) I have begun to accept $189-199 each way as being the standard. I see $169 here and there. I just booked $199 each way for Presidents Day trip, booking way ahead (February 2014) on United out of Newark.

 

[eliza61]

very tough finding good airfares. I booked a rt flight for a quick getaway at the end of September. total cost including taxes 197.80

Went back last week to book a flight for a possible November getaway flights are now almost 100 dollars more.

 

[Nina1]

Funny you mentioned this now. Just yesterday we decided to drive to WDW. In the past, we have managed to fly Southwest for around $99 each way. This year, the cheapest I can find is $350 RT. Even with the cost of gas, driving will save $400. We aren't up north, but the drive is not as convenient as flying. But definitely manageable. And, I hate to fly, so it's fine with me. Good luck to you. I hope things work out.

 

[Colleen27]

The Airtran/SW merger has really hiked prices here. Used to be I could get around $200 r/t from Detroit to Orlando, but for the last few months Airtran sale offers have excluded Detroit entirely (and prior to that the "advertised" prices were the same as the non-sale price) so that same flight would run me $350+.

 

[disny_luvr]

I agree, prices are insane. We are flying in on Thanksgiving Day and flying home on December 7th. We are paying $116 there and $129 back. I am actually happy with those prices, which is sad. I've been keeping an eye on our flights and the prices have done nothing but increased. I really don't think prices will drop, so if I were you, I'd probably book sooner than later. The days of $59, $69, even $99 tickets are no more I'm guessing.

 

[tinkfan]

I have been watching flights for my Sept. trip. I have been unable to buy because my husband is meeting me from out of the country and we weren't 100% it was going to happen. Well to my surprise my flight actually went down on Spirit this week. I can fly roundtrip out of Houston for $136! I did buy their $9 fare membership which gives me a discount on bags. I used them in May so will break even on next flight for that. I got an email with an additional $10 off coupon if I book in the next few days. That will bring my total with checking 1 bag each way to $166. I know you have to pay extra to choose seat, so I just let them pick. But last trip I was able to change my seat at airport when checking bag at no additional charge. Its only me and about a 2 hr flight so if I get stuck in the middle for that price I don't mind! They do also charge for drinks/snacks on board but I always buy a large bottle of water at airport before boarding no matter which airlines I fly because I like having it after arrival. Sometimes I sit on the Magical Express bus a while!

 

[florence1]

You should try flying out of Canada it cost me 2600.00 for 2 to florida

 

[manning]

Fuel costs have become the major expense of the airlines. The higher the oil prices the higher the fuel cost, the higher the fare.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Fuel costs have become the major expense of the airlines. The higher the oil prices the higher the fuel cost, the higher the fare.

When gas hit 4.00 a gallon a few years ago airlines instituted a fuel surcharge. It never went away.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[luvmy3]

I agree, prices are insane. We are flying in on Thanksgiving Day and flying home on December 7th. We are paying $116 there and $129 back. I am actually happy with those prices, which is sad. I've been keeping an eye on our flights and the prices have done nothing but increased. I really don't think prices will drop, so if I were you, I'd probably book sooner than later. The days of $59, $69, even $99 tickets are no more I'm guessing.

I think those are fantastic prices too. I was able to get r/t airfare for just under $300 and I was happy about that! I remember flying down and back for $79 each way

 

[rigs32]

Most of the time these days you don't get a discount for a round trip ticket. So look into booking one way tickets on different airlines.

 

[angierae]

We have gotten to the point that even though I hate it, we have to fly spirit. For our October trip, we got RT for $202.50 per ticket, including checking one bag there and back. If I had paid more to fly a different airline it would have cut into the feasibility of a "last minute" trip.

 

[tnd]

Our flights from Detroit this year were much more than two years ago (about $75/ticket more, which adds up with 4 tickets). There also seems to be less availability and the schedules are not as favorable.

Couple that with less generous discounts from Disney in the last week of August and we are re-thinking our nearly annual trips down there.

 

[Sagginit]

thanks everyone for the feedback! i am in north jersey and my mother towards central jersey shore. in oct. i am going to vegas with a friend and we are flying out of philly as it was the cheapest and we had a hard time finding direct flights.

i did not know trenton had an airport, i will look into that. i told my mother we may need to split between two airlines but unfortunately we can't split between two airports. we typically fly spirit and she has a spirit CC so we can get the $9 fare club but the issue is they have bad return flight times and are the only airline in atlantic city. i think what is annoying me the most is not only are fares higher, but some airlines are offering flights with connections that make no sense. like when i search orbitz gives me a 6.5 hour flight, you fly to boston and then fly to orlando a few hours later. really? i might as well just drive to boston to fly out of there

i think everyone is right, the days of cheap airfare are gone. driving for the two of us from jersey just doesn't really work. hoping i hit a good sale soon. maybe i can get a little magic before i get there.