Ugh! Why did I wait to buy airline tickets?

[tooh8ful]

I booked our trip for this coming October in July 2014. My intention since then has been to drive the 13.5 hrs, just me and my girls. I booked overnight hotels along the way and all. Today, because of this board, I found round trip air fare from Louisville had gone from almost $1400 for the three of us to $748. Yeah, I snapped it up!

 

[PatMcDuck]

Southwest out of PHL to MCO nonstop are $73 for many days. I booked it for late Oct, but its there for many other months as well.

 

[grannychamp]

We are going in October and I usually buy tickets 6 months out. At the time it was around $1400 for 4 tickets NJ to FL. Now, just a month or so later it's $1800. I kind of want to wait it out a little bit, but the plane is starting to fill up for the flights we want!

Ugh! That's all. At least in the end we'll be in Disney!

There is a new Airline called Choice Aire flying out of AC to Orlando starting in July however they have limited days of flight you might want to check them out. The ticket price includes two suitcases up to 50# free. Hope it works out for you.......

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Choice Aire is not an airline, it's a charter service.

 

[savannie]

We made this mistake for our last trip. I was going to buy them one morning when tickets were $400 for both my husband and I (we only live one state away). I couldn't find my debit card then, and when I found it and tried to buy tickets about eight hours later, the price had doubled. I called Southwest to see what was up, and the lady said that once so many tickets sell, the price jumps up. Apparently, that threshold happened sometime in that eight hours. We ended up just driving since we only live about ten hours away.

 

[dancekm01]

For $1000 less, you can bet we'd fly into Tampa. We fly into Sanford (out of Lehigh Valley if you are in NW jersey...) and it so much quieter and easier to deal with than MCO. I've never flown into Tampa, but I've heard similar comments.

Hi!

I have been thinking about doing the same thing but how do you get from Sanford to the hotel?

 

[amylevan]

Hi!

I have been thinking about doing the same thing but how do you get from Sanford to the hotel?

We rent a car.

 

[henry lutz]

I just booked JetBlue out of philly to Fort Lauderdale 11-21 returning 12/5 for five people for $731. They had someis9 amazing rates.

Does jet blue participate in magical express

 

[Marionnette]

Does jet blue participate in magical express

Not out of Ft.Lauderdale! DME only operates out of MCO.

But if you're flying Jet Blue into/out of MCO, you will have no trouble being able to use DME or the RAC for your return trip.

 

[jpuglvr]

We are flying into Fort Lauderdale then driving up to Orlando for a week before driving back to Fort Lauderdale to get on our cruise. I don't need DME this trip.

 

[QVCshopper]

The PHL to MCO flights for $73 on Southwest were great! We had enough points for two free one-way tickets, so five of us are flying round trip for just $595. Haven't paid that little in years.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

We made this mistake for our last trip. I was going to buy them one morning when tickets were $400 for both my husband and I (we only live one state away). I couldn't find my debit card then, and when I found it and tried to buy tickets about eight hours later, the price had doubled. I called Southwest to see what was up, and the lady said that once so many tickets sell, the price jumps up. Apparently, that threshold happened sometime in that eight hours. We ended up just driving since we only live about ten hours away.

Actually, the price didn't increase. What happened was the airline sold out of the fares available in the lowest price fare class.

 

[Arielle22]

I have a trip planned starting Columbus Day in October for me, DDs and 2 sisters. I won't know until June if my work schedule is going to be open for me to take that week. I have been watching fares and they are crazy expensive. It is almost double what I paid last year in November.

I have a kayak alert but I am going to start pricing out one way fares to see what i can find.

 

[Lynzer4]

Southwest usually has their biggest sale in June for their birthday celebration. Now I cant say for sure they will have a sale but I sure hope they do.

I'm going in October and hope that their bday sale is like last year. I got my MCO flight for $200 RT.

They say 8 weeks out is when they are the cheapest. Not sure if that is true but experts say so. Lol

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

......

They say 8 weeks out is when they are the cheapest. Not sure if that is true but experts say so. Lol

Not any more.

 

[Ava]

I just booked flights on Delta from JFK to MCO for $295 RT. This is for the end of August. I've been checking multiple airlines/sites every day and this was the first time I saw decent times for under $300 so I grabbed them. We prefer Jet Blue but they're over $400 RT so even with having to pay $25 per checked bag on Delta, it works out to be cheaper. And this will encourage me not to over pack!

 

[Madteaparty001]

I think for any location not over seas and that isn't Disney the usual 3-4 months before hand is still a good rule to follow. However, since Disney has you planning at least 6 months out people are shopping for airfare way sooner so they sell out much faster.

 

[LadyBJ]

When do you think is the best time to buy plane tickets for the crazy week between Christmas and New Year? Now or should I wait a little longer?

 

[Marionnette]

When do you think is the best time to buy plane tickets for the crazy week between Christmas and New Year? Now or should I wait a little longer?

Fare predictors on websites like kayak .com can be a tremendous help in determining when to "pull the trigger". I think that you have to go in with an idea of what you're comfortable paying and then be ready to make your purchase the moment that price is available.

 

[LadyBJ]

Fare predictors on websites like kayak .com can be a tremendous help in determining when to "pull the trigger". I think that you have to go in with an idea of what you're comfortable paying and then be ready to make your purchase the moment that price is available.

Thank you for the advice! I finally gave in and booked our flights! Kayak did say I should buy now since they may increase during the next few days. Hopper said to wait, but I think I'm good with the fare as it is. We're flying nonstop from Vancouver to LAX. Much better than our first trip when we had to drive down 3 hours to Seattle then fly with stops to LAX.