April 2008 - when to book?

[MAGGIED]

I have schedule another trip for April 2008 - not sure when the best time to book flights are.... we have no really good deals out of Syracuse... it is usually cheaper for us to travel to Rochester.... and Buffalo is not out of the question I just hate waiting until SW opens those dates.... it can be months.... any suggestions????????????

 

[Maine-iac]

I have schedule another trip for April 2008 - not sure when the best time to book flights are.... we have no really good deals out of Syracuse... it is usually cheaper for us to travel to Rochester.... and Buffalo is not out of the question I just hate waiting until SW opens those dates.... it can be months.... any suggestions????????????

Delta and United are booking 331 days out. Right now they are booking thru March 11, 2008. So I figure I can start getting one way prices for April 17 on May 22. You can start looking at prices in May to use for comparisson.

 

[dreamcometrue]

we have a trip planned for April 2008 aswell. We are kind of limited, since we want a non-stop, redeye flight out of LAX. There are only 2 possible carriers. I have been watching airfare for almost a year and I know how low it can go, and what a good price is. I am not going to wait for THE lowest, but will book when I see one that is good! Just start watching 11 months out, check daily, and if you see something you like, book it!

 

[MAGGIED]

That sounds like a good plan... we only have a couple that fly direct also... if I can get flights under $200 I would be so excited... I am hoping Jet blue releases soon... I think they are 7 months out though..... ugh.....I think what might help us is that Easter is in March and our school break isn't until the 3 week of April... I am hoping that means lower airfares....

 

[dougsmom98]

I'm not sure that it will help that your school has the 3rd week of April off, because if all the schools in your area have that same break, then the prices will be high. In Maine everyone has the 3rd week of April off for a school break, so anything less than $250 including taxes is good for us. We just booked our flights for Presidents week as soon as they were available, 331 days out. We got flights for $236 which is really good out of Portland. For a couple of weeks before the flights were released, I went to Kayak.com and plugged in our dates. Kayak was able to see and post the flights and the prices for those flights before they were even released. I tried to purchase them at that time, but I couldn't. Even though I couldn't purchase them, I was able to decide if these flights were going to work for our family and we were able to purchase them the minute they were officially released. There are still some flights available at a similar price, but the travel times are not as good as we got by purchasing them early.

 

[Bichon Barb]

I'm a Syracusan too, and I'd say book them as soon as you can find something. April is very expensive as is the Feb break. My friend went last year for April break and spent $400 per ticket.

We are thinking about going 4/08 as well. I'm going to keep an eye on Jetblue fares when April comes out. They release pricing about seven months in advance, so I'll start keeping an eye on their website in late summer.

Another thing to think about is taking the kids out of school a couple days early and booking, say, 4/10 to 4/17. It may save you a lot of money.

Off topic, but nice weather we are having, aren't we?

 

[MAGGIED]

I'm a Syracusan too, and I'd say book them as soon as you can find something. April is very expensive as is the Feb break. My friend went last year for April break and spent $400 per ticket.

We are thinking about going 4/08 as well. I'm going to keep an eye on Jetblue fares when April comes out. They release pricing about seven months in advance, so I'll start keeping an eye on their website in late summer.

Another thing to think about is taking the kids out of school a couple days early and booking, say, 4/10 to 4/17. It may save you a lot of money.

Off topic, but nice weather we are having, aren't we?

This weather is awful...good thing I can work from home... although I do have to meet a client at 5 today....

We have gone to Rochester and flown Airtran... we were able to get 5 us to to Florida for Presidents week for under $1100...I was happy with that...makes me crazy when I see people getting flights for $49 each way... why can't we have a Southwest ... I am flying Syracuse to MCO for my May trip... $248... and Buffalo to MCO for my June trip $198...

I am hoping to snag one of those Jet blue direct flights for $99 each way......will be sitting at the computer waiting

 

[Bichon Barb]

This weather is awful...good thing I can work from home... although I do have to meet a client at 5 today....

We have gone to Rochester and flown Airtran... we were able to get 5 us to to Florida for Presidents week for under $1100...I was happy with that...makes me crazy when I see people getting flights for $49 each way... why can't we have a Southwest ... I am flying Syracuse to MCO for my May trip... $248... and Buffalo to MCO for my June trip $198...

I am hoping to snag one of those Jet blue direct flights for $99 each way......will be sitting at the computer waiting

It drives me crazy too--especially when I hear the word "ding".

Last summer we went to a wedding in Chicago and flew SWA from Buffalo. It was worth it because I think we paid $39 each way, but to drive 2.5 hours and have to pay for parking, etc., it takes a really good deal for me to go that route.

The JetBlue direct flight to MCO is awesome!! I've flown it a couple times now. Sometimes it leaves SYR at 9:00 am, and you are at MCO by 11:40 am, and sometimes it leaves SYR around 4:00 pm. Both times the direct back to SYR left MCO around 12:30 pm.

BTW, I just drove home, and the roads are great now.

 

[Maine-iac]

I'm not sure that it will help that your school has the 3rd week of April off, because if all the schools in your area have that same break, then the prices will be high. In Maine everyone has the 3rd week of April off for a school break, so anything less than $250 including taxes is good for us. We just booked our flights for Presidents week as soon as they were available, 331 days out. We got flights for $236 which is really good out of Portland. For a couple of weeks before the flights were released, I went to Kayak.com and plugged in our dates. Kayak was able to see and post the flights and the prices for those flights before they were even released. I tried to purchase them at that time, but I couldn't. Even though I couldn't purchase them, I was able to decide if these flights were going to work for our family and we were able to purchase them the minute they were officially released. There are still some flights available at a similar price, but the travel times are not as good as we got by purchasing them early.

Yes I will probably get my flights as soon as they come out. I know they won't go down and I just can't see waiting for Jet Blue or Air Tran. I like a better selection of flight times. I would be happy with $236 round trip.

 

[cey]

We flew Jet Blue out of Syracuse this March for the first time and loved the fact the direct flight left at 9 am. I noticed that the same direct flight is now only available at 4 pm. Is this a summer thing and will the direct flight at 9 am be back for the Winter season? The trouble with leaving at 4 pm is that you don't get into MCO until after 7 pm and that whole first day is wasted. I don't know if I want to risk changing planes at JFK in March as this year there were terrible delays and cancellations. Any experts out there?

 

[MAGGIED]

I know I am worried about waiting for Jet Blue also.... but I really like those direct flights.... are they pretty much at that 7 month window? I don't have any experience with them....

 

[Bichon Barb]

We flew Jet Blue out of Syracuse this March for the first time and loved the fact the direct flight left at 9 am. I noticed that the same direct flight is now only available at 4 pm. Is this a summer thing and will the direct flight at 9 am be back for the Winter season? The trouble with leaving at 4 pm is that you don't get into MCO until after 7 pm and that whole first day is wasted. I don't know if I want to risk changing planes at JFK in March as this year there were terrible delays and cancellations. Any experts out there?

That is a good question! For our October family reunion, we were originally supposed to fly in (through JFK) on a Thursday morning. About a month after we booked it, they started the direct flight. So what we did was changed our flight to the direct at 4:00 pm on Weds evening. We only had to yank the kids out of school a half hour early that day. And we rented DVC points from a friend and stayed in a studio at OKW for only $80. We even ended up with a small credit, because the direct was a little less expensive.

The direct that I took last month was a 9:00 am as well. It was so nice not having to get up at 4:00 am to make one of those 6:30 am flights.

 

[MAGGIED]

okay so this is going to sound crazy.... I have booked our hotel for April 11th-April 20th, 2008.... should I book our out bound flight the day they open as a one way and the return as soon as it opens or will the whole month of April open at the same time?