Airfare Dilemma

[rachdd]

I am trying to book our flights for early December and we would normaly fly out of Houston which is a 1 & 1/2 hour drive from home. I have been waiting for SW flights/rates to be released which is who we usually fly with but in the mean time, I have continually checked other airlines and the average rate is $420 to $450 per person round trip. UGH! I have started checking other airports and I can get a direct flight from Austin to MCO for $198 per person round trip on Jet blue but Austin would be a 4 hour drive for us to get to the airport. So my question... is it worth it? Oh and there will be 3 of us. Any feed back would be appreciated!!

 

[robinb]

I am trying to book our flights for early December and we would normaly fly out of Houston which is a 1 & 1/2 hour drive from home. I have been waiting for SW flights/rates to be released which is who we usually fly with but in the mean time, I have continually checked other airlines and the average rate is $420 to $450 per person round trip. UGH! I have started checking other airports and I can get a direct flight from Austin to MCO for $198 per person round trip on Jet blue but Austin would be a 4 hour drive for us to get to the airport. So my question... is it worth it? Oh and there will be 3 of us. Any feed back would be appreciated!!

How much do you think Southwest will be? Will it be on par with the $420 price? I would consider driving saving $230 each as long as you can pack in carry-ons. Maybe you can find a stay and fly hotel and drive the day before your flight? We did that when we flew out of Chicago Midway (about a 3 hour drive for us). We said about $130 for a night at a Hampton Inn and parking for 2 weeks. Here is the place where we found the best rates: http://www.buyreservations.com/ .

 

[rachdd]

I am thinking that SW will probably be about the same with rates, maybe a little less. As much as I have flown SW I have never used them for our trips to Orlando. We won't have to worry about baggage because Jet Blue lets you check one bag for free and SW is two bags free. We are figuring we will need to include the gas to the aiport which would be approx $150 rt (I have a large SUV) but that would still be extremely cheaper to fly out of Austin. I just can't decide if I should wait until the 18th to see SW rates or go ahead and book Jet Blue... I don't want to loose that awesome rate. Have I mentioned my head hurts from all of this!

 

[Lisa71]

I would bid on priceline...but you might get in later than you like. If not, with prices like that I don't think it will hurt to wait a bit.

 

[jennb529]

We are choosing to drive four hours to Austin to take advantage of the much cheaper fares. For us any airport is a minimum two hour drive so driving another couple of hours to save a total of $800 seems well worth it.

 

[seashoreCM]

Would you consider waiting on the airfare for something cheaper with the ultimate backup plan being driving the whole distance to Orlando?

Note that, after driving 4 hours to the airport (Austin), you needed to be there 2 hours in advance. Plus boarding and taxiing plus flight time plus landing and taxiing and disembarking, then about 1-1/2 hours for Magical Express. In that time you could have covered considerable distance driving.

Now the chances of the backup plan are not that great because fares could come down.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I would bid on priceline...but you might get in later than you like. If not, with prices like that I don't think it will hurt to wait a bit.

I would never recommend bidding on Priceline for airfare. Too many variables you cannot control, among other reasons.

 

[shannonstar]

We are in the same exact boat. We live 20 min from IAH, but are probably going to drive 3 hours to Austin to save 250/person. I am waiting for Southwest to put out their flights, but so far Jet Blue is the way to go.

We have three in our party as well. I cannot see paying an extra 750 to fly out of IAH or Hobby, which for now is what is seems to be. I even looked at Dallas and it is not any better.

I am lucky in that my MIL lives in Brenham, so we will stop their on the way and way back.

 

[disneymom1229]

We are 30 mins from Buffalo airport and are driving 4 hours to Pittsburgh to save 200 pp RT. There are 5 of us, so after the expense of driving we will still have a considerable savings. We are flying SW, so if the prices from Buffalo come down enough we could still rebook.

 

[Disneywishes]

We are flying SW out of Hobby here on May 30. My original fare was around 360 for the four of us which is comparable to United at IAH. I watched the fares and my SW fare dropped by 84/person so I rebooked and got the credit. We are flying out on Wed and returning the next Thurs. Have you considered your days of travel? I think SW is less expensive out of Hobby on Tues and Wed. You may want to wait and see what SW fares start at and then decide.

 

[Echo queen]

A few years back we drove to DFW (we are in the Austin area) for better airfare going to WDW and cruise combo. We have family that we visited and stayed with the night before and after the flight. We regretted this to no end,at the end of a 13 day vacation we just wanted to be home. We fly out of AUSTIN only now.

Good luck

 

[rachdd]

Just to update, I went ahead with the urging of my husband and booked Jet Blue out of Austin which will be a 4 hour drive for us. Today SW released our travel dates and we will be saving approx. $500 by going with Jet Blue!! I am relieved that I made the right choice! Now, just to wait 180 more days!!!