airfare

[drcmk]

I am starting to get worried about finding reasonable airfare at reasonable times for our November trip. It seems like the deals that were out there a few months ago have disappeared and I am hard pressed to find a non-stop flight from Philadelphia to Orlando that doesn't leave at 6am--and the same case for the return flight. Is there a secret to finding better airfare? I am beginning to think I should jump on whatever flights I can find now, even at the higher prices because I am worried there won't be any seats left if I wait for a deal. What do you think?

 

[HookedOnDiz]

Have you tried Atlantic City airport? Its not too far from Philly and we got direct flights to Orlando for $99 each way for this November... plus its only $3.50 a day for parking.

Hope this helps

 

[HookedOnDiz]

Sorry... forgot to mention that the flights we booked were on Spirit Air

 

[drcmk]

Thanks for the tip, Tom, I'll continue to keep checking. As of now, though the flights from ACY are just as expensive and at bad times and with even more stopovers (Atlantic City to Chicago to Atlanta to Orlando, can you imagine?). There just don't seem to be any good flights out there.

I see that you are going to WDW at about the same time that I am and from roughly the same area. Have you purchased your tickets for November yet?

 

[HookedOnDiz]

Are you sure you checked Spirit Air? To the best of my knowledge all of their flights to Orlando are direct from ACY... I know Delta flys out of ACY and has tons of connections, but not Spirit.

 

[HookedOnDiz]

<<I see that you are going to WDW at about the same time that I am and from roughly the same area. Have you purchased your tickets for November yet?>>


Yes... I bought our tickets a month ago and paid $114 each way per seat on Spirit... then I checked back this week and found they dropped the flight to $99 each way... so I callled Spirit and they credited me the difference

 

[drcmk]

Hey, you gotta like that in an airline!

 

[cart-mom]

Have you checked USAIR recently? They have a major hub out of PHL so they fly non stop to Orlando (also Tampa) usually the two are close in price but sometimes cheaper. I was going nuts checking it every day for rate changes for our trip. I finally got a deal I couldn't pass up - $950 for 5 tickets.

Patience is a virtue.

Good luck!!

 

[admiral nelson]

You guys might want to check out Jetblue. I've heard many excellent reviews, and my friend works for them. Nice new planes, with Direct TV in each seat. Nothing beats that!

 

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says.......................................... I assume you tried orbitz, travelocity etc. Just keep trying.
We often book 9 months in advance if we get a price we are happy with. I don't need the very best price, I need my price which is pretty damn good.
If you get a good deal then book it, but otherwise don't panic. There is almost always a fall sale for November ( no holiday travel, right?!), across the country, sometimes as early as August and usually no later than the week after labor day.
BTW, Southwest is not on anybodys website, they won't show up on orbitz or any others. Guys like Jetblue and Spirit could be the same way.
Lastly, when the opportunity arises try the internet just after midnight, many airlines shuffle their pricing structure, based on how they are doing, at midnight.
You are on the east coast, give me a 6:00 am flight anytime! Fly, get car, check in and be at WS before it opens!!!

 

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says.....................................Don't know your dates, so I picked the best dates for that time of year. Sat. Nov.15, return Sun. Nov. 23. There will be no crowds at all. Of course you know this so these are probably your days.
Including taxes and fees.

Many options at $209, but all include one stop. BTW you east coast guys have some weird stops. Philly to Cinci to MCO? Philly to Dulles to MCO, what 20 minutes from Philly to Dulles, ok maybe a little more. IT would probably be faster to drive to Dulles and avoid airport security!

$225 Nonstop from Atlantic City to MCO, many options.

$244 Philly to MCO non stop, a few options.

And I didn't even check southwest.

 

[beccasmom]

I'm flying out of Philly on USAirways tomorrow, but am using Dividend Miles. However, another member of my party paid $167.50 for his ticket back in March. Our flight times are pretty good - 12:15 p.m. tomorrow; our return flight is at 8:00 am, but I need to be home early, so that was my request. However, they are both non-stop. I think you'll find that USAirways offers the most non-stop flights to Orlando from Philly; Delta may offer a couple a day. I'm highly motivated to fly from the Philly airport, since I live only 15 minutes away from it.

I've heard good reviews of AirTran, but have never used them personally. Their fares seem to be at least competitive, if not better than the others, but I know nothing about the schedules from Philly. I have flown Delta to Orlando in the past. They used to have an early non-stop, but I think most of their flights from PHL to Orlando stop first in Atlanta. Southwest is also an excellent idea because of the large number of non-stops they have, but driving to Baltimore might eat up any potential savings. Too bad they don't have a hub in Allentown.

Check out BestFares.com as well. They list the restrictions and last date for travel under a Quick Fare Finder. Good luck!

 

[drcmk]

Thank you for all of the information.

Disnee Dad you guessed my exact dates!

I guess I am pretty picky. I definitely want to fly out of PHL, the savings involved in using another airport would not outweigh the inconvenience of driving an additional 90+ minutes to get to another airport and back. I want to avoid any stops (some of the Philly to MCO planes stop in Cleveland, Miami, Chicago, go figure and some of the stops add four or five hours to total travel time, again not worth it). And, like everyone I'd like to leave home mid-morning and come home mid afternoon to get the most out of our vacation. I wouldn't mind an 8am flight, but I'd never get my kids ready that early and they'd be miserable all day.

The main source of my worry is that I saw an article on CNN in early June about how the airlines are cutting back the number of flights. And I think I see that happening already. So I am worried that if I wait a few more months for a good deal, there might be no flights left or only red-eyes or something like that. Do you think there is any reason to be concerned?

 

[tripletmomplus1]

How far are you from Allentown???? You can fly Southeast Air for 59.00 each way. I live in Hyde Park, NY and we can fly from Newburgh to Sanford/Orlando for that same price.
The link is flyseal.com