Please help - Airfare Newbie ! NY to MCO late Aug

[pjtjm]

Okay, I really need your help...

I'm planning a trip for my family of 5 for the end of August (August 25th-September 1st).

I live on Long Island, so I can fly from Islip, JFK, or LGA. (Would LOVE Islip.. but that's flexible!)

So, just the truth here, the only other time I planned this trip for the same time frame was two years ago, and I just went to the AAA travel site, and found $59 tickets for Delta Song! (I knew that was a good deal, but I guess I didn't realize HOW good it was!!!)

Now I'm going through sticker shock with the fares I see!!

I know SW is supposed to be great, but I don't know when their dates will open for my time frame... Also, I watched it recently when they opened, and the first two tiers of pricing for the Saturday before were "unavailable" when I checked about an hour after they opened the dates!!! Now, I'm not so comfortable waiting for them.

I've put a fare finder for one of the travel sites, (Orbitz), for my time frame, and asked for RT tickets for $199 or less.....

So, am I crazy to hope for this fare??

Any advise?

 

[alyssa810]

I would suggest downloading DING to your computer for SW. What we typically do is book a flight right away, and then wait for the ding fare sale. Southwest allows you to rebook flights without penalty, and a lot of times it will save you big bucks.

 

[NYDisGuy]

I live on Long Island too and am leaving Aug 21st - Aug 29th. Jet Blue has $89 dollar flights out of JFK but since this recent mishap ive decided that driving would probably be a better alternative. It seems that you will be coming back on Labor Day weekend, which is why you probably cant find a decent fare. I had the same problem last year, the best I could get with Ding coming back on labor day was $189 a person through Laguardia. Hope you have better luck!

 

[Mary Anne]

We are going that time also. I always fly Jet Blue and usually get it from between $79 to $99 each way. I expect with their problems this week we'll see some good prices. I have no problem flying them and will.

 

[CarolA]

We are going that time also. I always fly Jet Blue and usually get it from between $79 to $99 each way. I expect with their problems this week we'll see some good prices. I have no problem flying them and will.

Just hope there are no weather issues within 10 days of your flight


Actually you probably should hope they survive this. Watch your flights I would expect a scaling back by JetBlue. Something has to give on this airline.

 

[Ontario]

I would suggest downloading DING to your computer for SW. What we typically do is book a flight right away, and then wait for the ding fare sale. Southwest allows you to rebook flights without penalty, and a lot of times it will save you big bucks.[/QUOTE]

Does that mean if you book your flight and then later a cheaper fair comes up, SW will give you a refund, or do you get a travel voucher for another trip?