Airline Charges

[connchurch]

Wondering if anyone knows if air fare is usually jacked up the Saturday after Thanksgiving due to the Holidays? We have THV booked for 11/24 thru 12/3 but am concerned about the price of air fare as we have 13 in our group. Fares are not posted yet from Southwest, Air Tran, or Frontier for that time. Its hard to plan the trip not knowing how bad fares well be. Next week is our 7 month window, so may change to VWL if available, but wish we had some idea on how high air will be. Has anyone traveled that weekend in the past?

 

[anonymousegirl]

The Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend MAY be okay since so many people tend to fly home on the Sunday.

 

[backyardponder]

13 people, WOW!

I'd call various airlines group travel departements and see what they can do for you. I've never done group travel, so I can't give you any insite other than the advice to check.

 

[Lewisc]

You might not be able to get 13 seats at the lowest fare bucket. Are you willing to take different flights? I agree with the PP and suggest you call group sales. The fare might not be as low as you're expecting but everyone in your group will pay the same fare. You might be able to delay paying the full fare and you might be able to change the names of your passengers if the people going with you change their mind. Make sure you find out if you'll be able to get any credit if the fare goes down, probably not but ask.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Traveling that entire holiday period is going to be expensive. The airlines don't need to discount when they can already sell the seats.

You can check the fares of other airlines for that time period, which should give you some idea of what they might be on the non-legacy airlines.

 

[Greysword]

We are "trip-in" it to WDW around that time, too, and I've been watching airfares pretty closely. The best deals are with United and American (jet Blue is just psycho crazy!). Still, these "low prices" are just under the $500 mark per person. I'm playing the "wait and see" game with Southwest (mainly) and Frontier (preferably), as we may stumble into the first group of relatively lower fares in the initial offering. If not, it can be any worse than the $600+ fares currently from Oregon.

 

[connchurch]

I have been watching other airlines as well and as you said the prices are crazy high. I am hoping Frontier or Southwest well be reasonable or we well have to change the week.

 

[NotUrsula]

Premium travel time, and the seats will go fast; you should try to book them ASAP once the slots open, especially if you need to get everyone on the same flight. Group travel reservations is probably the best way to go, especially if there is anyone who is prone to backing out along.

Pricewise, Saturday is normally the cheapest day to fly of the W-S period around Thanksgiving, but that is not normally saying much. It is still likely to be about 40% higher than a comparable non-holiday fall Saturday.

You might look into flying into Tampa instead of MCO; the beach is not as much of a holiday destination as the theme parks, so you may get a worthwhile deal.