ATA Air Fare Sale from Chicago

[lynn71092]

OMG!!
Check out ATA's Think Thursday Sale.
From Chicago to Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Meyers, Miama, Orlando, Sarasota or Tampa St/Pete air fare on travel Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday is $39.00 each way. Travel dates are August 17th through October 15th. With taxes that is $95.20 per person!!! If you can be flexible with your dates, that is an incredible deal!

 

[purplebelle]

WOW! I'm going to Ft. Myers around those August dates. When I go to book, the prices are at least $89 even though the previous screen shows $39. Does that mean the $39 seats are sold out?

 

[lynn71092]

Are your travel days Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday?
That's when the special rates are for.

 

[purplebelle]

Oh...I see. By the time I called, they were all gone. Oh well. But I found $123 thru United and I'm much more comfortable flying with them. Thanks, Lynn!

purplebelle

 

[inkkognito]

Even if you couldn't travel on the dates for the cheapest rate, we still grabbed some great rates for Fri. to Sun. trips. Not quite as cheap as the sale, but still much better than usual.
Barb

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

Ah, bummer, I knew I should have booked when I saw the low rates from 2 weeks (?) ago. I usually book airfare through a TA, so this is my first experience booking on my own, so forgive my ignorance. Here are my questions.

1.If I book an ATA flight at the present rate and I find they reduce the price at a later date, can I switch to the lower rate? Would I have to pay a penalty for it?

2. Also, looking now, the flight to Orlando is $173 for my dates, yet the return flight is only $74. I am wondering if it would be wise to snap up the return flight as a one-way and wait for the flight to Orlando to come down.

3. I'm getting nervous the flight is filling up. Are these rates pretty good? Should I just bite the bullet and book now? What are the chances of the flight rates reducing in the coming weeks/months. ANY suggestions welcome to this airline booking newbie.

Thanks so much!

Tink

 

[lynn71092]

We're also going in December and so far my rate is $156.70 but I haven't booked it yet since it is still 5 months away. I hope I won't regret that since $156.70 is a darn good price. It was $175.00 when I first looked.
I'm not sure about your other questions, I think you should ask ATA directly. And don't forget, these special fares that are out there right now are only good for flights through October 15th so that's not even the time you're traveleing.

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

Thanks for the reply. Lynn, is your 156.50 one way or round trip?

I think I found the solution to my problem. I notice if I leave a day early, I can save a total of $200 on two round trip airfares. I would need to book a room somewhere (probably at WDW), but I would rather spend that money on a room, than airfare (true Disneyaholic logic, right?).

And instead of booking an extra night at our resort, we might try a cheaper resort for the night (to justify the "savings"). I don't like resort hopping, but in this case, it could be fun.

We had DCL transfers that would have taken us from the airport to our resort. I will either have to cancel these or see if we can use them a day early. Not sure tho since we are doing the Land/Sea package.

Tink

 

[manning]

purplebelle -- ATA is a top notch airline that has been around for years. They started out as a charter and turned to scheduled operations like AA and United.

They are also a private company unlike UA AA etc and don't have to cater to shareholders demand for short term profits. They are now flying mainly 757's and have a young fleet.

 

[lynn71092]

tinkerbellemagic, that is a round trip fare. But actually, I found Dec. 3-7 round trip for $141.70. ATA is pretty much the only airline I fly because they have the best deals and I believe they also have new planes, at least the one I flew to Arizona in last April was. They are pretty much on time 100% of the time also.