Airtran or Delta out of DTW?

[Blessed_wth_Triplets]

I watched the prices bounce up and down for a couple months before I booked our flights on delta out of DTW 10 days ago. I was hoping for prices to come down a bit but since there are 8 of us flying out together I was afraid to wait too long and not be able to get the seats we wanted. We had very specific flight times that we wanted.

I ended up paying 235.00 pp including taxes and fees for early August.

Side note, ChrisParker it looks like we are arriving at Disney the same day.

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that flight prices come down before you book.

What days of the week are you flying? Our prices on Delta just went up $100 overnight!?! I pray this is because it is a weekend and they will stabilize. A couple weeks ago it was at $224 rt but not at the best times of day...that was more like $300. Ugh...this is getting nauseating!

 

[Ode]

we purchased (in Dec 2011) tix for 6 from dtw to mco in July 2012. Tix were $205/person (taxes in) on Airtran, non-stop each way leaving dtw at 12 and leaving mco back to dtw at 4:00PM. The only drawback that I did not know at the time of booking is the $6 seat charge, which I paid to keep the 6 of us together. I have flown Delta previously with great experience, this will be my first on Airtran, hopefully all remains good. I have flown Spirit and won't fly them again unless the price is there.

 

[jonesephus]

The theory is that airfares are the lowest on Tuesdays and Wednesdays-- I have found that sometimes this does work. I would watch and be ready to jump once you see an airfare you feel good about-- overall airfares are definitely up over the last year.

Air tran does charge for seat assignment-- we are flying down with them in Feb for the first time-- but it can be up to $15-20. Everything available when I booked was. But the checked baggage is cheaper ($20 versus $50 on Delta unless you have their credit card.)

Check goofy stuff too-- for us, since we are flying in to MCO and out of RSW/Fort Myers, it was actually cheaper and better flights to fly in on Air Tran ($92) and out on Delta (I think it was $239) and any other flight (even in and out of MCO) was well over $400. Hope that helps.

 

[SuzyQue]

The theory is that airfares are the lowest on Tuesdays and Wednesdays-- I have found that sometimes this does work. I would watch and be ready to jump once you see an airfare you feel good about-- overall airfares are definitely up over the last year.

Air tran does charge for seat assignment-- we are flying down with them in Feb for the first time-- but it can be up to $15-20. Everything available when I booked was. But the checked baggage is cheaper ($20 versus $50 on Delta unless you have their credit card.)

Check goofy stuff too-- for us, since we are flying in to MCO and out of RSW/Fort Myers, it was actually cheaper and better flights to fly in on Air Tran ($92) and out on Delta (I think it was $239) and any other flight (even in and out of MCO) was well over $400. Hope that helps.

I agree with everything that jonesephus said except for the baggage fees, Airtran is $20, Delta is $25.

Airfare sales come out generally on Tuesdays and once one airline starts it the others try and compete with it into Wednesday. The worst fares I've seen are listed on the weekends.

Let Kayak.com be your friend, they'll find you the best fare even if it is flying down on Delta and flying back on Airtran. Also use the "one-way" option, to see if the flight times or rates change, sometimes it works, other times not so much. Also, it used to be that if you booked Airtran through Kayak there was no seat assignment charge (we took advantage of it once) but I'm not sure if that is still true, maybe someone can confirm?

We go down the same time every year and we're probably paying $80 more per ticket this year.

Good Luck!

 

[m2zjj]

Thanks for that! What airline did you end up booking? Was 235 all in with taxes, etc? Do you remember what day of the week you booked it? I'm told this may make a difference. Yes - looks like the same day. We're getting married on the 4th, driving to the Westin and (hopefully) flying out the morning of the 5th. Maybe we'll be on the same plane.

Oops! looks like either my ticker is off by a couple days or yours is we're flying out on August 3rd and back on August 13th. That is probably why there is a difference in price, different days of the week. As for what day I booked it was a Thursday. And yes it was 235 total per person.

What days of the week are you flying? Our prices on Delta just went up $100 overnight!?! I pray this is because it is a weekend and they will stabilize. A couple weeks ago it was at $224 rt but not at the best times of day...that was more like $300. Ugh...this is getting nauseating!

We are flying out on Friday August 3rd and back on Monday August 13th