airfare is a killer

[RangerPooh]

I too would love to pay $200 pp/ticket RT. We haven't paid that little in years. As it stands we're looking at about $300pp RT, after driving 5 hours each way to a different airport to get a better deal.

I would keep looking at Kayak and the airlines websites for nay deals. Try the Tuesday/Early Wednesday approach too. Also i try Travelocity for the flexible dates finder, as going on a different day (1+/-) might lower the cost.

 

[quentina]

Anyone have any info on airfare deals? I can't find anything less than $200/pp rt, and those are with layovers (hard with a 2 yr old). I've been searching all the price comparison sites (expedia, kayak, airfarewatchdog), jetblue, southwest, airtran and everything is so expensive for Feb. We usually plan far in advance, do prices usually get cheaper if you wait until last minute? DH is really discouraged by the cost and despite the fact that we can afford it, doesn't want to go if we have to pay $600 for flights. Help!

Did you check Jetblue, airtran, southwest etc? Are you close to Philadelphia?

My friends were looking for flights last night, I told them not to buy, to expensive. We then searched neighboring airports and she was able to get 64 each way, direct. It was 800 bucks for 5 of them RT including seat assignment fee.

 

[snowy76]

Shleedogg, I'd love $200 pp right now, but I feel your pain! Our July trip is looking closer to $350 pp out of Syracuse... we've driven to Rochester in the past for cheaper fares but even ROC-MCO is hovering around $275. It's also our son's first flight so we're trying to be reasonable when it comes to flight times and layovers (no red eyes etc.)

Hoping when the AirTran rates come out for the first week of August (our return time) we'll make out all right. I don't want to book out of ROC until I know the total cost. We've been searching EVERY combination of airports within reason: SYR, ROC, BUF, ITH, ELM, BGM, ALB on the upstate end, and MCO, SFB, TPA, MLB in Florida.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I would kill for 200pp. We had to cancel our trip that we were supposed to take the 2nd week of DEc because we couldn't find anything for less than 700pp. There was no way I could bring myself to pay 3500 for us to go to WDW.

 

[njmom47]

http://www.bing.com/travel/flight/flexibleTravel?tvl_t=graph


I found this interesting link. If your travel dates are flexible, this shows the cheapest airfare dates. I haven't checked to make sure, but that could influence your travel dates.

 

[Mom2Ben02]

I don't know if you have a Discover Card, but they have 5% cash back on travel now. Must sign up first, but we'll get $40 back on our flights.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

Ugh....I'm already starting to look at airfare for our Thanksgiving 2011 trip. There are 5 of us, so even a $50+/- variance each way is significant. I would also be thrilled with $200/pp. Right now it's $300+ and not even direct flights. I'm hoping SouthWest pulls through for us!!! I can have the kids miss a couple days of school on one end or the other, but I really don't want to do both. We drove last year and said NEVER again- it will take us about 10 years to forget how bad it is, like last time.

The kicker is last time we flew in 2007 we paid $59 each way pp and there were only 4 of us. Travel isn't usually such a signifcant part of our trip budget.

 

[bennyrn12]

Rochester or Buffalo, NY. For the last 2 yrs we've been able to find it for about $150 rt/pp, so it's the sticker shock of adding an extra $50/pp plus DD's ticket (she just turned 2 and past lap child age). We were prepared for $450-$500. I've also gotten lucky for the last couple of trips to find coupon codes and discounts, $25 off each ticket always helps!

I live in Rochester too and I dont think you will find much better than 200/pp especially in Feb when everyone is trying to escape our lovely Rochester winters. When we went to WDW last month the best we could do was 215/pp on Jet blue and we just started pricing our October trip and it looks about the same. I know its killer paying the airfare, even more so now that Jet blue doesnt fly direct to MCO anymore.... layovers in JFK with a 2 year old and a 4 year old are terrible!! Good luck!

 

[Dizzyworld]

( We drove last year and said NEVER again- it will take us about 10 years to forget how bad it is, like last time.

The kicker is last time we flew in 2007 we paid $59 each way pp and there were only 4 of us. Travel isn't usually such a signifcant part of our trip budget.

We're from Maryland too. I started thinking for the first time about driving to Florida to catch the Disney Dream ship. Now I'll twice about that idea.

The cost for us to fly this August, so far, is around
$1200. I know the days of $49 - $69 deals are over, but this is $400 more than we spent last year. [Yes I have looked at different days, times, airlines, airports and nothing better pops up.] It is just a little crazy for me at this point though.

 

[npierce25]

check the filghts to tampa.... it was a lot cheeper for us... and only like 30 to rent a car, its about a 70 min drive.... but worth it if it saves you a lot

 

[Purseval]

You can try Priceline if you're flexible. You can save more with a layover but you can still choose to look for direct flights only. My wife flew to England last year and saved over $400 from any published fare we could find but it was from Atlanta to Chicago to Gatwick and lasted about 16 hours instead of the normal 9. Since she goes over for a month at a time it wasn't a big deal for her but it is something you should consider if you don't have as much time to kill.

Priceline is also good when you want to try flying last minute and aren't elegible for any supersaver fares. Last minute flights on most airlines are double or triple what you pay if you book in advance, with Priceline you can get a supersaver rate a couple of days out.

 

[rigs32]

I'm from the same city as the OP.

First, the fact that you're traveling in Feb makes it tough. We're also only a month before so prices are probably only going up.

My suggestions? Check AirTran's direct flights from Rochester, Southwest direct from Buffalo (better times, free luggage, but maybe not cheaper), or flying into Tampa and renting a car. Play with the dates.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

My mom checked prices for them to fly from Atlanta to Orlando and she said it was going to be 1100.00 for both of them to fly round trip. That's insane!! They may be driving down with us instead.

 

[Dizzyworld]

My mom checked prices for them to fly from Atlanta to Orlando and she said it was going to be 1100.00 for both of them to fly round trip. That's insane!! They may be driving down with us instead.

That's insane.

 

[MistressMerryweather]

We try to *always* fly Southwest because there is no change fee. You don't usually get the money back in cash, but a credit for future airfare, but that is fine with us. Dh and I are flying from PIT to MCO in February. Our cost was originally 438.80 for the two of us. Then I make sure to check Southwest often to make sure I don't miss anything. I've changed our tickets 5 times in the last couple of weeks and our current nonstop tickets are 378.80 for the both of us and we are up $60 from our original ticket. Most of those changes were for the exact same flight, just getting the cheaper far.
They also run promo codes every now and then. Our family trip to DW in October we had $25 coupon off of each ticket and then they had a huge fare drop for their birthday special. We made out!

 

[princessjv]

Airfare here in MN is out of controll! I can't even find anything under $400, most are over $500.

I'd take the $200 in a heartbeat! Grab it whilst it's still there!

 

[TinkerMouse]

Often times a month before is when some deals surface. Still, you have to check back frequently as the prices could fluctuate several times within that time. My mom and I are leaving for Orlando on the 17th on Jet Blue for $49 each way per person so my mom's roundtrip is $98. We bought these tickets last month. A couple of other airlines had(/possibly still have) similar deals. The first time we saw these flights they were an advertised deal at $59 then they dropped to $49 and we bought them, then an airline raised them to $69 then last time I checked the prices were mostly back to $59, though some may have dropped back to $49.

February is also home to president's day weekend which is kind of a big holiday weekend in the sense that pretty much everyone gets off from work and school, some people get a four day weekend instead of three, and Disney park crowds get bigger just as prices rise to match. Airlines are aware of this so they follow suite. It's a lucrative and somewhat expensive time all around.

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

Allegiant air has prices that would be under 200 straight to Orlando from Elmira-Corning. Depending on your dates you can make it really cheap or a little more expensive in airfare.

We're flying delta from MCO to ROC in March and paid about 200 per person on Delta.

 

[Green Tea]

Where are you flying from? $200 pp seems really reasonable to me.

I agree! For me $200 to ANYWHERE would be a steal!

But my advice is think outside the box (or city) If better airfare is available 2 hours from where you live, drive there. Do you have Allegiant Air? They are always cheap.

 

[rszdtrvl]

Airfare is just really high right now. And with the cost of oil going up, it is only going to get higher.

I am so glad that we are booked and confirmed for our trips this year already!

In September, DH and I booked a flight/hotel/transfers to Las Vegas. We leave in 13 days - can't wait! Seattle to Las Vegas, 3 nights at Excalibur. Our cost was $535.

Last year, early January, with only 5 days prior to booking, the same flight with 2 days at Bally's was around the same price.

If I were to book the exact same package we will be using for our trip in 13 days only 5 days prior to travel like I did last year we would end up spending $850.

Insane! Seattle is not THAT far from Las Vegas.

That being said, we are not flexible on travel days or really flexible with times. We have prime flights, nonstop.

We will go back in March with DS and my mother. Again, everything is confirmed and purchased. We paid $1100 for 4 airline tickets/2 nights hotel/airport transfers.

That package has already gone up to $1900! Of course, it is NASCAR weekend and MTV Spring Break was just announced to start that weekend too in LV.

It seems like, at the moment, if you can afford the airfare, you will be better off in the long run. And book in advance.If we would have waited, we would not have been able to go.