April 2005 airfare - updated questions

[mittelst]

Hi -
I've not traveled during peak times before, but I'll be going to WDW next April (17-23). I'm flying from Rochester, NY to Orlando, and the fares seem to be high and the flights limited. Have I already missed the best time to get the low-priced fares at decent times?

Thanks...

 

[muntzfab4]

I booked just last Friday from NYC to MCO for the same week on Delta Song for 181.20 pp. I couldn't believe I got such a good airfare. Try calling the airline direct. I called with a question about using FF miles and when they checked the lowest available fare this is what came up and it was much lower than the fare on the website. Keep in mind that for a holiday week fares keep going up as you get closer.

 

[poohbear2]

I agree! The prices are crazy right now. The highest its been in a while. The airfare is more now, then it was Easter week a few years ago. We are planning a cruise in August, so we will probably forego Florida this April. UNLESS of course the prices are good.

 

[mittelst]

Well, it appears each day I delay getting my tickets, the flights are fewer and the prices higher. Here's a stange thing though - AirTran has their flights for 4/17-4/23 on their website, but when I called phone reservations, they don't have them in their system yet. Seems they don't get them until 6 months out. $99 (1-way) seemed to be the lowest fare online (they're mostly gone now).

Does anyone know if phone res. will have the low fares when 4/17-4/23 shows up in their system, or will they have been "eaten up" by online reservations?

Thanks!

 

[jho]

I don't get the Air Tran situation at all. I've been checking for weeks for our trip from MKE to MCO on March 28th and back on April 2nd. They finally posted those dates last Friday - there was lots of selection on the way down (but none of the lower fares) and only 2 flights TOTAL listed for the trip back. I called and was told that all the other flights on April 2nd were completely booked. By Saturday, there were $99 fares added to the flights down on the 28th. By Monday there were several more flights added for April 2nd (so much for all the other flights being completely booked), but only at the higher fares. I called twice more and got different answers both times. If anyone has a clue, I'd love to know!

 

[mittelst]

Well, I booked the Airtran flights for 4/17-4/23. The flight lengths are good (a little over 4 hrs each), but I depart at 6am on 4/17 . With taxes and fees, each ticket is $298. I just didn't want to take the chance of not getting a flight at all (or having to take a 7hr 2-hopper!). USAir and Delta were no better as far as times or cost goes.

I'll cosider it a victory if fares go up and/or flights dissapear between now and next April. If so, I pity the poor soul who decides in January to fly during NE spring break! If not, I'll consider it a lesson learned.

Additional contributions to this thread are still welcome!

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[AuroraluvsPhillip]

I'm waiting for Southwest. The fares for spring break week are insane....

 

[jho]

I ended up booking ours through ticketspinner.com and got Air Tran down non-stop and Northwest back with a connection in Memphis for under $300. I actually called first to ask a couple of questions, and the woman said with the way bookings were going that by Christmas she would be having a hard time finding any spring break flights at all for clients who call. Seems like everytime I check, there are fewer flight options and those that remain are more expensive than they were a couple days earlier- I'm now seeing some over $500 round trip.