Advice buying airline tickets needed - ugh

[CNorris]

We have to fly out of Winnipeg.

Right now tickets with United or Delta cost around $2200 and that is with a layover in Denver or Chicago. Direct Westjet lights are $2900 - our entire Disney vacation including dining is $2920!!!! (4+baby at POFQ).

How can I get these for less? Do I wait until July/August (we don't mind the layover if the savings are that much!!) - does Westjet have some magical seat sale in September I should be keeping my eyes open for? I would love to fly out of Duluth or some northern state but it doesn't work with our plans as we have to visit family too during this trip. We already have an eight hour drive just to get to Winnipeg!

Advice needed please!

 

[fan1080]

Recent Article!

 

[Kindigo]

Just curious have you tried Air Canada? They tend to be a bit cheaper then Delta or WestJet at times.(Not saying all the time) But it's worth a try to save money.

 

[MarieLightning]

Waiting is tricky. Sometimes, you'll get seat sales because the plane is still empty close to your dates, so you get a great deal, and sometimes you'll look at it and there'll only be business class left (now that's a )

The only way is to monitor it closely. I had started planning my trip in mid May, but decided I would wait until mid June (until a few more paychecks came in) to book. Now, I work in a call center for a travel wholesaler, so obviously I booked with my own airline and I was able to monitor prices pretty easily every day.

On Wednesday May 16th, before leaving work, I checked the prices and availability to make sure everything still looked good. Thursday morning I come in, and I see the class of service on the way there went up, so the price is now 100$ more per person

I was able to change my departure day to the Sunday instead of Saturday, and the price was the same as what I'd originally seen, but I decided not to wait anymore and just book it. I didn't want to risk it another time.

However, I've also seen *incredible* last minute sales (for example, flights from Montreal to Miami in June for less than 300$ per person, taxes in). It's a big gamble, and it varies from day to day. As someone who works in this field, I can tell you that unfortunately, there is no way of knowing when a sale will be coming out and when the prices will shoot up

 

[tamarabannon]

Have you considered driving a little further and flying from the US? It worked for us -- we fly out of Buffalo.

 

[archdandy]

Try sunwing.ca and try flying out on a friday.

 

[Susan2771]

Try sunwing.ca and try flying out on a friday.

Sunwing does not fly out of Winnipeg to Orlando any day of the week.

 

[abdmom]

Is that $2200 per person or for your whole party? If it's for your whole party, it's not that bad. I often see tickets from yyz to mco for $700 or $800 each!

 

[HeatherLassell]

Flights for my trip at the end of September were around $2200 back in Feb and just kept rising. By end of May they were up to $3300 (average) out of Winnipeg. Not ONE direct flight on any airline. I decided to drive the 7 hours to Minneapolis and fly out of there and it's only costing me $1680 for all 4 of us. I say if you find a price you can live with TAKE IT. They just keep going up and up now.

 

[dis_guy]

Is that $2200 per person or for your whole party? If it's for your whole party, it's not that bad. I often see tickets from yyz to mco for $700 or $800 each!

I agree. If that price was for everyone, I'd have bought them.

 

[dontthrowsand]

We paid 2400 for 4 people from Edmonton to Orlando. They went down about 80$ total now a month later. Not worth the fear of not getting the exact flights we wanted as last week it was more than we paid. I'd say book it and forget it when it is a price you can live with paying.

 

[averysmom]

We have to fly out of Winnipeg.

Right now tickets with United or Delta cost around $2200 and that is with a layover in Denver or Chicago. Direct Westjet lights are $2900 - our entire Disney vacation including dining is $2920!!!! (4+baby at POFQ).

How can I get these for less? Do I wait until July/August (we don't mind the layover if the savings are that much!!) - does Westjet have some magical seat sale in September I should be keeping my eyes open for? I would love to fly out of Duluth or some northern state but it doesn't work with our plans as we have to visit family too during this trip. We already have an eight hour drive just to get to Winnipeg!

Advice needed please!

2200 is pretty good actually - I'd jump on it. When I was looking for the end of August, Delta was 700pp - so 2800 total. We're flying allegiant out of Grant Forks (2 hours) and taxes in and with the extra bag fees we're paying 1000 for the 4 of us. It looks like the prices in September are pretty comparable. You fly into Sanford though, so if you weren't planning on renting a car, you'll have that added expense.

Parking at the GF ariport is 4 dollars a day, versus 12 dollars a day in Wpg, so that savings will help offset the cost of gas for the drive.

 

[dis_guy]

We paid 2400 for 4 people from Edmonton to Orlando. They went down about 80$ total now a month later. Not worth the fear of not getting the exact flights we wanted as last week it was more than we paid. I'd say book it and forget it when it is a price you can live with paying.

Last Christmas (peak times each way) we paid 2300 for 4. Could have saved a couple hundred if we'd decided to go a month earlier.

Dontthrowsand, I'm guessing that was that with United?

 

[KiKi Mouse]

We are flying out of Fargo on United this time. The fare was $500 cheaper. I agree with you....what's with the flight prices this year???

 

[CerysG]

We fly out of Regina and have the same issues, though I find both Delta and United are cheaper then the Canadian airlines and not as many crazy flight plans (Calgary to Toronto to Orlando). Last time we went we drove to Minot and flew from there and saved about $1000 for the 5 of us but I hate doing that as North Dekota seem void of people and I'd hate for something to happen on the way down. I have to budget between 3 to 4 thousand dollars for the 5 of us to fly. Not exactly a cheap trip!

 

[natb]

We are going to Florida Jan 1-15/2013 and I have been watch flights from Winnipeg for over a year now. I was seeing the prices fluctuate so much and it was making me nervous so I booked 5 fares on Delta for 510/person including taxes. This is slightly higher then in other years but I am very glad I booked it because now those same flights are between 650-900/person. I got the exact flights I wanted with less than an hour layover at MSP both ways. From Winnipeg it is very rare to see anything less than 500/person. Good luck!

 

[webworm]

We fly out of Regina and have the same issues, though I find both Delta and United are cheaper then the Canadian airlines and not as many crazy flight plans (Calgary to Toronto to Orlando). Last time we went we drove to Minot and flew from there and saved about $1000 for the 5 of us but I hate doing that as North Dekota seem void of people and I'd hate for something to happen on the way down. I have to budget between 3 to 4 thousand dollars for the 5 of us to fly. Not exactly a cheap trip!

You might want to check Allegiant since they fly out of 4 cities in North Dakota.
http://www.allegiantair.com/

 

[momtoamulan]

I wasnt seeing any great deals...eventually, booked with jeblue...great time, and i am not worried that there wont be seats, or i will be paying throught the nose with first class....

 

[AJ1983]

I wish I lived somewhere that $2200 seemed like expensive airfare for 4 people. I just paid $1237.54 for my bf to go return from YYT to MCO in May 2013, but then I purchased the seats with extra leg room and access to the Maple Leaf Lounge on the way down, to make the flights and the 3 hours layover in Toronto more tolerable. That increased the price to $1460.00, or $730 pp taxes in.

We got them through Air Canada, the tickets each way were $239, and I can't see the price dropping much more than that. I was content to book now at a price I could live with rather than wait for a better deal and risk having terrible flight times or more expensive prices to choose from.

 

[stayhomemom77]

Maybe look into flying from Fargo?

It'd be a four hour drive and you'd have to pay to park there (although maybe you'd have to in Winnipeg anyway?) and fork over a bit for gas, but...as an example, I chose September 4th to 11th (and 15th to 22nd) and four tickets cost $1879 CAD total via expedia. So you could potentially be saving close to $300. There is a half hour layover in Minneapolis (Delta) but that's not bad.

Worth looking into perhaps!!