Air fare for Bay Area CA to Orlando in Feb 2014

[pgbear]

Hi. Flying from one of SF Bay Area airports in mid Feb 2014 for land/cruise deal. Looking to save on tickets. What carrier is best? Southwest? And what is best time to book airfare ? 6 months out? 4 months?

 

[Karlzmom]

Run your dates through hipmunk or kayak, then cross check the best rate against SW and Jetblue that usually won't show up.

Virgin frequently runs sales close to dates, but it takes a bit of nerve and a gambling spirit to get to the sale. SW is good early and lets you rebook for credit if price drops. I think you can also rebook Jetblue, but you may want to double check if that would be important.

Good Luck!

 

[taaren]

It varies. I'm in East Bay, and we're going in November ... I'm flying Alaska on the way over from SJC to MCO, then on the return we're flying Southwest on the way back (also SJC). We got Alaska for $130/person, Southwest was closer to $150 but that Alaska rate wasn't available on my return date, and we had points to use.

Last year in December we flew Southwest both directions for about $170/person from OAK, again one way on points which is the main reason we went with them.

Generally OAK is my favorite airport, followed by SFO/SMF since SJC is the farthest/least convenient ... and usually OAK and SJC are comparably priced, but for my dates it turned out SJC was the winner by about $50/way/person, which adds up when you have 3 people and can get a ride to the airport (or park cheaply, haven't decided which yet).

Start hunting a ways out, a few months before Southwest/Jet Blue release their flights, then when you find a price you like, book it. Generally if I go Southwest I book on the first day, then wait to see if there are any sales so I can get a credit for future flights.

 

[pgbear]

Thanks everyone

 

[pgbear]

How did u get a $130 fare on Alaska?

 

[taaren]

How did u get a $130 fare on Alaska?

It just happened to be the fare that they had for my dates. They occasionally drop that low when Alaska is running a fare sale. As I said, they had it for my outbound, but not for my return date, so its also a matter of picking a non-peak time to go (my return is just before the Thanksgiving rush starts).

 

[Lyn-CA]

Around early October, be on the lookout for Southwest's 40% off sale. Cross your fingers and toes that they will continue to offer it. I learned about it through the Transportation forum here on the DIS. I bought our tickets in October for our late January-early February trip from OAK to MCO. Total cost for 3 Roundtrip tickets was $692.43 or $230.81 per person. This is the closest deal I found to the $99 each way fares back in the day.

Hope this helps. And good luck.