Anyone care to guess at airfare in December?

[happily single]

I'm itching to go to WDW in December. I've always paid less than $200 round trip per person from RI to FL. But with the gas prices lately I'm scared that's not going to happen. SW (the only carrier in RI that flies direct to FL) hasn't released dates past November 2 yet.

Anyone care to guess if the prices are going to increase a lot or remain about what they are now?

 

[TinaElmerRh]

I'm also looking at December. I've always paid around 250 for Allentown or Scranton to Orlando. Right now they are all over 400.00 There is 10 of us going and really don't want to drive if we don't have to, but it's not looking good. I sure hope the prices come down closer to our trip.

 

[happily single]

Me too! I'm going to be an informal spreadsheet of driving vs. flying (although the kids will KILL me if I mention driving)

We have driven the past two April vacations and it was probably cost about the same to drive (more if you include the speeding ticket I got in North Carolina). Of course it equalled 4 days of travel vs. 6 hours of flying


Uggg, I hate waiting

 

[DebbieB]

I'm itching to go to WDW in December. I've always paid less than $200 round trip per person from RI to FL. But with the gas prices lately I'm scared that's not going to happen. SW (the only carrier in RI that flies direct to FL) hasn't released dates past November 2 yet.

Anyone care to guess if the prices are going to increase a lot or remain about what they are now?

What part of December? If it's close to the holidays, it will be high.

$200 roundtrips are rare these days.

 

[TinaElmerRh]

What part of December? If it's close to the holidays, it will be high.

$200 roundtrips are rare these days.

We are arriving on Dec. 29. Yes I know bad idea. I should of done more research before I booked our house. Whatever the outcome, driving or flying, I just keep telling myself who cares we will be spending New Years in Disney. My granddaughter (will be 9) has never seen Disney at Christmas and this will be my grandsons (will be 2) first trip. I have lots of time to keep looking and if we have to drive will leave a couple of days early and stay overnight somewhere on the way.

 

[goofy4tink]

Let me put it this way....I had my 5 night stay at BWV all booked.....early Dec. I just cancelled it. There's no way I'm willing to pay what the airlines are going to ask. I'm not saying that they are out of line and that if fares aren't $200 again, I won't fly. I'm just saying that right now, at this particular time, I can't afford the current airfares. So....I don't fly.
It will be sad since this will be my first time not being in WDW in early Dec in almost 10 years.

 

[TaraPA]

Let me put it this way....I had my 5 night stay at BWV all booked.....early Dec. I just cancelled it. There's no way I'm willing to pay what the airlines are going to ask. I'm not saying that they are out of line and that if fares aren't $200 again, I won't fly. I'm just saying that right now, at this particular time, I can't afford the current airfares. So....I don't fly.
It will be sad since this will be my first time not being in WDW in early Dec in almost 10 years.

I'm right there with you. I got quite comfortable taking 2-3 WDW trips a year...now with this airfare I have to scale back. I also used $200RT as my guide when booking airfare. I can't find anything under $300 right now for October unless I want to be getting on ME at 3:30am!

I was trying to throw together a last minute long weekend at the end of this month...the airfare is what nipped that in the bud. I was planning on October and December but I have a feeling December won't happen unless the airfare drops.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

If I had definite vacation plans for December, I'd be buying my airline tickets ASAP. I just can't see any reason to think airfares will go down, especially during the holiday season.

 

[TaraPA]

If I had definite vacation plans for December, I'd be buying my airline tickets ASAP. I just can't see any reason to think airfares will go down, especially during the holiday season.

Unfortunately the airlines I'm looking at haven't released Dec. fares yet. I have to play the waiting game at this point.

 

[webworm]

I'm itching to go to WDW in December. I've always paid less than $200 round trip per person from RI to FL. But with the gas prices lately I'm scared that's not going to happen. SW (the only carrier in RI that flies direct to FL) hasn't released dates past November 2 yet.

Anyone care to guess if the prices are going to increase a lot or remain about what they are now?

I do see some nonstop flights from JFK with JetBlue for $236 and Delta nonstop from JFK and LGA for same fare inc taxes.

 

[TinaElmerRh]

If I had definite vacation plans for December, I'd be buying my airline tickets ASAP. I just can't see any reason to think airfares will go down, especially during the holiday season.

We always have the option of driving. Allegiant only has fares until November 13th. If they don't come up with something half decent then I guess it will be our first adventure driving. I don't think the drive down will be bad. We will be excited about going to Disney. I have a cousin in the Carolina's so we will leave a day early and drive that far to visit and sleep for the night. Coming home will be a different story since our vacation will be over.

 

[TamaraQT]

I do see some nonstop flights from JFK with JetBlue for $236 and Delta nonstop from JFK and LGA for same fare inc taxes.

I would book at those rates!!!!

 

[TamaraQT]

We always have the option of driving. Allegiant only has fares until November 13th. If they don't come up with something half decent then I guess it will be our first adventure driving. I don't think the drive down will be bad. We will be excited about going to Disney. I have a cousin in the Carolina's so we will leave a day early and drive that far to visit and sleep for the night. Coming home will be a different story since our vacation will be over.

I know exactly what you mean about the excitement of driving down is one thing, but driving back AFTER vacation is another. Have you considered possibly driving down on a one-way rental and flying back? Renting a car maybe less than 1/2 the cost of airfare. Use the rental while you are there and return it at the airport. Does that sound like a possible option for you?

 

[TinaElmerRh]

I know exactly what you mean about the excitement of driving down is one thing, but driving back AFTER vacation is another. Have you considered possibly driving down on a one-way rental and flying back? Renting a car maybe less than 1/2 the cost of airfare. Use the rental while you are there and return it at the airport. Does that sound like a possible option for you?

That's an option. We are going to have 10 of us, so would have to rent at least 2 vehicles. It's still 8 months out so I am still going to look at flights. Thank you for the idea.

 

[Hannathy]

Remember to when driving in December when coming from up north the weather can be a real influence! All the way from just driving in messy weather, or it taking a lot longer cause of the roads to not be able to drive or get stopped somewhere for an unexpected night if the roads get to bad.

I always try to think about this when I'm weighing flying vs driving in the winter months.

 

[TinaElmerRh]

Remember to when driving in December when coming from up north the weather can be a real influence! All the way from just driving in messy weather, or it taking a lot longer cause of the roads to not be able to drive or get stopped somewhere for an unexpected night if the roads get to bad.

I always try to think about this when I'm weighing flying vs driving in the winter months.

Oh believe me, I've thought about the weather. If it was just my husband and I, we would be flying no matter what it costs. We have 2 other families going with us, each with small children. So they would have to pay for 4 flights. For just the 2 of us, we wouldn't save that much by driving, but when you start adding people it makes a big cost savings.

 

[mischief32]

I guess we must be lucky because we are going 12/7-13 and RT is only $211 per person from Richmond, VA on JetBlue. I have booked our flight down at $99 but I have been waiting for Airtran to release they return date since I would like a later flight then 8:00am on Jetblue. I have been watching the prices though in case thye go up and and they I will just book with Jetblue. I have noticed that Airtran on October/November does not fly direct(which we want) except on Saturdays.

 

[TDC Nala]

I have purchased two roundtrip flights in December at $185 (early December) and $201 (late December before Christmas). I usually don't fly that close to Christmas so I don't know about costs in previous years for that. Last year the same flights at the beginning of December were about $160. Washington DC area. I am not flying Southwest but they tend to be higher than other airlines here.

 

[sjs314]

My advise is to watch for deals then book fast. We have always booked our room first then watched for good airfares. This time I was watching fares for November & December. Earlier this week I was able to snag flights On JB for $110 each way. The best part was they were flight times I wanted early am flight the day we leave and evening flight 7:30pm the day we come home

Once I had my flights I booked our room at BWI.

Good Luck

 

[NancyIL]

Let me put it this way....I had my 5 night stay at BWV all booked.....early Dec. I just cancelled it. There's no way I'm willing to pay what the airlines are going to ask. I'm not saying that they are out of line and that if fares aren't $200 again, I won't fly. I'm just saying that right now, at this particular time, I can't afford the current airfares. So....I don't fly.
It will be sad since this will be my first time not being in WDW in early Dec in almost 10 years.

I think you threw in the towel MUCH too soon! I am going on the Dec. DIS Podcast cruise, and I have been watching airfare from central Illinois. AirTran is no longer an option, but Delta briefly dropped RT fares to $221 a few weeks ago, so I bought my ticket. That's only $10 more than I paid for early Dec. 2011. While I have gotten some really good airfares for my January ($160) and April ($134) 2012 trips, I am happy with the low $200s.