air fare secrets

[mom2princessj]

I would just keep checking. We had planned to drive from Indiana but had hoped we could get cheap airfare. My dh told me two weeks ago to check southwest (I had checked earlier in the week) and in the middle of the day on sunday I got 89 each way from Midway chicago to Orlando. I checked several times per week up to the time we booked. Good luck!

 

[momtomatthew]

Hi
Try checking late at night, or even after midnight. I head that sometimes the fares are lower, and then they raise the fares the following morning. It worked for me last year. I went on Air Trans website at 11:45PM and the fare going down from Philly to MCO was $79. and the fare returning was $27.
I couldn't believe I got a fare for $27.00. The next morning I checked and the fare was back up to $79.00. Good luck.

Not being a thread-stealer- but have to say- This could be SOOO dangerous for us! We are always on the lookout for cheap fares from PHL to MCO!

 

[holly7347]

Is there more than one airport in your area you could check? We are about 1 hour to 1.5 hours away from 5 airports and 15 minutes away from another. Of course I checked the closest first but it is a delta hub and always the highest around. We saved quite a bit by being willing to fly out of Dayton rather than Cincinnati. We had to get up at 5am and drive for 90 minutes but it was well worth the savings. Indianapolis was even cheaper but not by much and it was about a 2 hour drive so we settled on Dayton.

 

[KAMLEM]

When are you leaving?

Have you tried Continental? I just put in some dates in Nov. to check for you and it had rates as low as $188 with a stop from Boston to Orlando.

The issue is that the OP wants to go during Feb. vacation, so low fares in Nov. won't help. They skyrocket around school vacations. We're in the process of looking for April right now, there's just nothing out there at a price that I am willing to pay.

 

[Marine Mom]

We are also in Mass. and flying over Feb. break. We are actually driving down to White Plains airport and flying Airtran for $79 each way direct flights!

We are in central Mass. so the drive is only about an hour more than Logan.

All the aiports around here were outrageous. So I decided to go ahead and book it back in May.

You could consider checking HPN (White Plains) and play with different airports in Florida. Even renting a car and driving to Orlando can be A LOT cheaper.

We are actually flying in to West Palm ....visiting relatives for a day and then heading to Orlando. The rental car was reasonable and doesn't have a one way drop off fee.

To fly direct from Logan or PVD or BDL to MCO was over $2000 for connecting flights. JetBLue alone would be almost $800 a person. This way I'm paying around $850 for 5 people direct flights.

Good luck to you! Hope this helps you out in some way!

I was going to suggest Airtran out of White Plains. I am not sure if you want to drive to NY but just three weeks ago I got my DH and his friend flights out of LaGuardia (New York) to Orlando (we live in Connecticut so no big deal to drive to New York) round trip for $265/each. I mean these were "last minute" I booked the flight on thursday night for travel Sunday morning. My DH said the flight was great and didn't mind a layover in Atlanta (1/2 hour) it broke up the time on the flight.

Good luck!

 

[TheLittleRoo]

I have some airfare secrets that might work for you. I think you have a couple of things working against you though, namely the holiday vacation timeframe and your location.

So, first - - I would fly out of Bradley or the nearest airport served by Airtran or Southwest. Prices are almost always lower in those cities because of competition for your money.

Second, be flexible with your dates, watch for last minute fares (like Ding!). If you didn't already know it, if you buy tickets on SW and the fare goes down, there is no change fee. The funds you have left can be used for a future flight. That's not true of other airlines.

You can also buy reward travel tickets on Ebay but it can be risky... They go for about $250 for a roundtrip on Southwest. You can also buy Ticketless Travel funds at about 10-15% off face value, so a $200 credit for $180.

On occasion, you can get a better deal by putting together two one-way tickets. Sometimes you can get a better price by routing your flight through Orlando to someplace else, and getting off in Orlando rather than going on to your destination. Do that on a one-way though, or your return might be invalidated.

You might look at Auto Train taking you from DC to Orlando, you'd still have a drive to get to DC.

You might also look at air consolidators like Funjet.com or Applevacations.com. I've seen air only to Cancun for $199 r/t using Funjet before. I think most of those places fly to Orlando as a destination.

Good luck!!

 

[noahdove]

My friend uses Kayak.com and she is pleased with the email alerts she recieves..she also says she checks the rates on Wednesdays and they seem to better..for whatever the reason..good luck