Air Fare Prices?

[Gregawsk8]

We normaly fly Southwest or AirTran for our trips to Disney (from Philadelphia). We are heading down Nov 25-Dec 1. Since they both opened up their schedules I have been watching the prices. There is a 7:40pm flight on our return that jumped from $204 to $437/person! We have never had to watch prices because they have always been muich more resonable. Do the prices go up and down? I have read on different spots that this is suppossed to be on of the slowest weeks of the year for WDW, is that wrong?

 

[kalliyan1]

We normaly fly Southwest or AirTran for our trips to Disney (from Philadelphia). We are heading down Nov 25-Dec 1. Since they both opened up their schedules I have been watching the prices. There is a 7:40pm flight on our return that jumped from $204 to $437/person! We have never had to watch prices because they have always been muich more resonable. Do the prices go up and down? I have read on different spots that this is suppossed to be on of the slowest weeks of the year for WDW, is that wrong?

Yes they do...I booked Dec. 26, one way, from PHL to Mco the day the schedule opened up at $190/person (it started lower, I think $160, but those rates sold out quick) They went up to like $300+ and stayed there. At the beginning of this week, I happened to catch them at $160 so changed the tickets and now have $210 credit to use when the return date is bookable.
Just keep watching and hopefully you will catch something lower

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

We normaly fly Southwest or AirTran for our trips to Disney (from Philadelphia). We are heading down Nov 25-Dec 1. Since they both opened up their schedules I have been watching the prices. There is a 7:40pm flight on our return that jumped from $204 to $437/person! We have never had to watch prices because they have always been muich more resonable. Do the prices go up and down? I have read on different spots that this is suppossed to be on of the slowest weeks of the year for WDW, is that wrong?

Yes, airfares change all the time.

People travel to Orlando for many reasons, not just to visit theme parks.

 

[sue]

My brother works for Delta and has told me that they go up and down all the time. They basically divide the plan into sections and sell those sections. The prices go up and down according to how the plane is selling out and how close to the travel date you are. The prices get much higher if you are two weeks before your travel date. We typically book our flights out at least 6 months prior to our trip and find we get great deals, but even then I will go online and check prior to booking a flight for about 2-3 weeks to see what the prices are doing, so I get a clear understanding of what is a good deal.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

It may be slow week at Disney, but you have picked on of the busiest days of the year to travel on. 11/25 is the Sunday after Thanksgiving... I think that's your big issue. Can you slide a day either way?

Plus the "Secret" is out. For example, it's almost impossible to get a DVC unit that week unless you plan WELL in advance because "it's slow"

(Honestly, I don't think there really is a slow time anymore)

 

[sullins5]

Have you checked Airtran today? Prices were almost split in half for an October trip our friends are taking!!! I've been checking since March, prices were $408 pp and today? They were $216 pp!!! Of course they booked, as this was the cheapest we've seen all year. HTH's!!

 

[lockedoutlogic]

we had watched for several months for august and in the end...just decided to drive.

southwest seems to inherited the management style of delta and united when they bought airtran.

their prices have basically doubled over about 3 years ago (and check your history...gas isn't anymore now than it was then) and they run pretty crappy flights now out of philly...all bad times and connectors (which don't really equate well to the family travel segment)

So don't expect much...now everyones expectations are that $300 is a great deal...which it may be in comparison today...but don't forget that they jacked it up on everyone pretty quickly and with no reasoning other than "cause we want to"

so my money goes to exxon and hilton this time...and not to "super great" southwest or any of the others.

if they still had good flights/ times...i would be more inclined to pay more...but they have the opposite now.

No deal, baby

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Yes, airfares change all the time.

People travel to Orlando for many reasons, not just to visit theme parks.

yes...but the number is heavily skewed toward leisure...especially if you include conventioning...which is only in orlando because of the leisure.

the vacation market controls everything in orlando...as they have conceded for years that over 75% of their economy is due to travel in some fashion.

If you build it...they had better come

 

[Svhadden]

Today alone, I've seen the same flight fare change THREE TIMES. I've been watching SWA like a hawk for over a month trying to get $99/each way out of New Orleans. Finally, today, I nailed it. But, we didn't get the earliest flight, which we wanted, so I've been lurking. Our return flight was a different price EACH TIME I CHECKED the round trip availability .

So my advice is to stalk stalk stalk that website

I've even woke up in the middle of the night, thought about it, and came online to check fares. They change constantly (at least SWA do...haven't checked any other airline). Even if you have to set a reminder to check, do it at least a couple of times a day...it worked for me!

 

[aiminator]

I read an article awhile back that said the best fares/deals are typically posted on a Tuesday and the best time to buy is around 3pm. Flying out on a Wednesday is usually cheaper too.

When I purchased Memorial Day weekend airfare I was watching the fares at $300 and thought it could go lower... well the next day they went up, up, up (to $500) and on Tuesday they went down again and hovered at $400 - however not as low as the original fare I saw which was $300. I was kicking myself for not buying that original fare ticket.

 

[ice cube]

Prices change "daily" as I have been looking for plane tickets for our Christmas stay (Dec.22-Jan1) and nailed them today on SWA. Non stop from ISP (NY) to MCO (FL) $134 each way. During Christmas and traveling on New Years Day for a family of 4 just under $1100 is a steal including the 2 checked bags per person.... After I completed the transaction my flight coming home (Jan.1) changed to $154...see how it quickly changes....

 

[Gregawsk8]

I have been checking bot SW and AirTrans sites non stop and just this morning I was able to book our return flight for $126/person which was down from $240 and $437/person earlier in the week. I'm hoping that we can snag a deal with SW with their birthday sale if they have one comming up here.