Airfare and airlines from Boston

[Tigger7570]

Hi:
We normally fly Jet Blue and are leaving 4/12 - 4/27 to go to DW. However, because of school vacation, etc. we are not able to get good rates on Jet Blue. I have been following it for months and no luck. We have flown Delta before and also American. I was looking for the good/bad on Air Tran and other airlines. Any comments would be great. Thank you.

 

[bicker]

I personally would stick with JetBlue, Delta and American out of Logan to Orlando. I've have good success with all three.

 

[Tigger7570]

My preference is to fly with Jet Blue, hopefully, a rate will show up over the next couple of weeks. What baffles me is that the rate for the 27th is so high.

 

[Darcy03231]

I've had good luck with both Delta and JetBlue to Orlando. I haven't flown AA to Orlando but have to other destinations without any problems. The reason airfare is so high on 4/27 is you're still in NH's school vacation week. A lot of people from southern NH use Logan (myself included) as it can be less expensive to fly out of than Manchester during a school vacation week.

 

[Tigger7570]

O.K. that explains it. Thanks Darcy03231. I'm going to keep checking.

 

[Evil Princess]

AirTran was really bad from Logan last week. Never again.

I fly Delta and JetBlue all the time to go to New York, and I very rarely have problems with them.

 

[HeatherC]

That's funny that people don't like Airtran. We flew them home from Florida to Logan at the end of President's Week and thought they were terrific.

We took off on time and arrive 15 minutes early on a non-stop flight from FLL. The crew was terrific and the plane was very clean.

I was nervous about flying them since we have always gone with SW, JetBlue and Delta (what used to be Song)...but I would not hesitate to use them again.

If you can grab a decent fare, I say go for it!!

Have a great time.
Heather C

 

[Kruuzin]

We decided at the last minute to head to Orlando for Feb vacation and the rates from Boston were very high on all airlines. Tried PVD and got US Airways at $249 RT at one month out. It was a connecting flight, but couldn't beat the price. All went fine on the flights.

 

[Tigger7570]

Kruuzin - I'm sorry but what is PVD? Also, since I was looking at Air Tran, can you tell me what problems you encountered Evil Princess?
Thanks everyone.

 

[crazywig]

PVD is T.F. Green airport in Rhode Island. Depending on where you live this can be a cheaper alternative. we are in central MA and only fly out of PVD because it's easy to get to, the parking is cheap and the big reason, Southwest! i haven't flown out of boston in ten years!

 

[Joan S.]

Kruuzin - I'm sorry but what is PVD? Also, since I was looking at Air Tran, can you tell me what problems you encountered Evil Princess?
Thanks everyone.

Hi, PVD=Providence,RI- but the airport is ACTUALLY in Warwick! Are you trying to purchase air for this April?? I ask because that week is school vacation for RI public schools and what is left in decent air fare may be already gone. Good Luck! Joan

 

[Tigger7570]

We're actually on the North Shore so Providence would be a hike for us. We have flown SW out of Manchester, NH, but I'm not getting the best of fares there either. I realized after we booked our DVC vacation, that we were hitting school vacation, but due to DH and mine's schedules, it's the only time that worked for us. I have been checking the fares for months and either missed a good fare, or it just didn't come up. Thanks for the all the help.

 

[BigTigger]

One other airline to consider on the north shore is Allegient (http://www.allegiantair.com/aaIndex.php) who flies our of Portsmouth, NH to Sanford. They only fly on Tuesdays and Thursdays which gives you an option on the 12th, but not the 27th. I know Providence (PVD) might be too far for you, but if you look at $300 airfares out of Boston and $22 a day parking versus significantly less on both out of PVD or Hartford (BDL) and the trade-off is an extra hour each way to the airport, the economics work much better - especially for a larger party. We live in the I-495/I-90 area and going to BDL is 80 minutes, but the flights are still direct, usually a lot cheaper than Boston, and valet parking across from the airport is $80 a week with AAA discount and they have your car waiting when the van arrives at the lot less than 5 minutes after you leave the terminal pickup area. For our family of six we saved over $400 on the airfare and $200 on parking or van service to Boston - well worth the little extra time to the airport. We've had similar luck at PVD, although parking there isn't quite as cheap anymore. Good luck on getting more reasonable tickets.

 

[Evil Princess]

Kruuzin - I'm sorry but what is PVD? Also, since I was looking at Air Tran, can you tell me what problems you encountered Evil Princess?
Thanks everyone.

I've flown them a couple of times due to really cheap flights, and I've always experienced a delay. This time there was a 2 hour delay. It's also not a nice terminal at all to wait in. If you want food, besides the Unos Express you have to walk VERY far to get it, I'd say its a good 8 minute walk.

The attendant at the counter was rude, and I fly almost every week and have had much better experiences with Jet Blue, Delta, and Southwest. The entire experience was just blah, in addition to the delays. Everyone seems like they hate their jobs, and since I'm used to the new planes on Jet Blue, AirTrans seemed really shabby.

 

[emmiesdream]

I was having the same difficulty flying out of Boston. I tried Manchester and Providence as well. Those prices were not any better. I split the trip between Jetblue and Airtran. Ended up saving over $125 a ticket. I have flown Airtran before with no problems

 

[mumzie2three]

I was having the same difficulty flying out of Boston. I tried Manchester and Providence as well. Those prices were not any better. I split the trip between Jetblue and Airtran. Ended up saving over $125 a ticket. I have flown Airtran before with no problems

OMG! I did the same thing. Have Jetblue on the way down and Airtran home. Got both flights for $114.00 each way, then got a Jetblue credit when the fares dropped. Ended up using the credit to switch from MCO to Tampa to visit the in-laws. Still flying home out of MCO though, with a visit to Universal at the end of our trip.

You aren't going in April are you?

 

[Maine-iac]

I've had good luck with both Delta and JetBlue to Orlando. I haven't flown AA to Orlando but have to other destinations without any problems. The reason airfare is so high on 4/27 is you're still in NH's school vacation week. A lot of people from southern NH use Logan (myself included) as it can be less expensive to fly out of than Manchester during a school vacation week.

I have learned (while trying to figure out when April vacation will be in 2008) that most Maine schools have their vacation the week of Patriots Day. So you've got Maine, New Hampshire and Mass schools all having vacations around the OP's travel time. Alot of Mainers fly out of Boston and Manchester. We booked our April 06 flights in July 05 (Delta out of Portland) and never saw the low rate we got again. So we will book flights early again for next April.

 

[Tigger7570]

Thanks for all the replies. I am actually looking at flying down on one airline and flying back another. Also checking out Providence and Manchester and flying into Tampa. Hopefully, something will work. I usually book way ahead, but just didn't catch the good fares this time.