Best time to book flights from MN to Orlando for Spring Break2005?

[WDWorld2003]

What is the best time to book flights for Spring Break 2005? Going from Minneapolis to Orlando.

Last year I didn't book until November and flights were over $400 RT and never really went down much. The previous year we paid $325 and I didn't book until January but the war began and prices just kept going down.

Currently the cheapest is around $313 through Sun Country - Any advice would be appreciated.... dates are March 25-April 2. Should I wait or is this a good price?

Thanks for any advice

 

[LynnTH]

Hi there. We went in March of this year and I think I booked our airfare last summer. We flew Sun Country and got them for about $250 per person. Rates can change everyday it can be so frustrating. I think travel is up some though and may be why rates are higher. I would keep checking but not wait too much longer to book. ( I like to make sure I get the dates I need ).

 

[CarolMN]

Continue to check prices. As soon as you see a fare you can live with, book it. There aren't a lot of good sales out of MSP - at least none that can compare to the sales that you see for the cities that SWA & JetBlue and other discount carriers serve.

IMHO, for MSP, anything non-stop to MCO for $225 RT or less is a good price. I would pay up to $250 RT for "premium" times. If you have to change planes, a good price (again, IMHO) is anything $180 or less RT.

FWIW, I've found the hard way that it is better to book as soon as you see a good price than to wait hoping for something better. This can (and has) resulted in me paying a little more than someone who has incredible luck or can foretell the future, but it has also saved me lots and lots of airfare over time.

In short, figure out what you consider a good price and then check regularly until you find it. I start about 11 months ahead of departure.

Best wishes -

 

[WDWorld2003]

Thanks to you both! It is frustrating when I read people getting round trip tickets for $119 from other cities. Of course, it's never out of Minneapolis!

Do you use certain travel sites to find your fares or go directly to the airline? I have checked Orbitz and Travelocity. Also, when you say $250 is it including taxes?

Another ?, do you prefer Sun Country or Northwest?

Again, thanks for any advice!

 

[Lthouseprincess]

We just booked 108 rt from Mpls to Orlando on AA. granted we have to change planes but for 108 it was worth it. They had this rate going out for a few months. However if you are going over spring break you should book sooner than later. Holidays are always hard to find deals...

 

[CarolMN]

The prices I listed include all taxes and fees.

I like Sun Country - the planes are relatively new, the staff friendly and efficient and the charter/HHH terminal is so easy to use. No hesitation at all to using them when the price is right.

That said, I generally choose NWA if the price is the same or just a few dollars more. The reason is flexibility. NWA has more flights/planes, and if something unexpected happens to delay you (whether it's their fault, your fault or acts of god or evil people), you will have more options.
\
Best wishes -


P.S. I'm jealous of other cities' airfares, too. Hoping that SWA or Jet Blue decide to locate here.

 

[mnhockeymom]

Just booked leaving March 16th at 3:00pm returning March 23rd at 8:00pm for $206.70 per person on Sun Country. My kids aren't out until the 18th so they will miss 2 hours of school on the 16th and a full day on the 17th but it was $300+ to fly out on the 18th and stay for at least a week.

I'm gambling that airfare will only go up since our Spring Break (18th - 27th) coincides with Easter this year and NWA is already up really high for those days indicating they have already had some decent booking action. Plus we wanted an afternoon flight out and evening return and non-stop. I've never booked this far out before but we've never travelled at Spring Break before either.

I have flown both Sun Country and Northwest several times and like both very much (I worked for NWA for 12+ years so I better say that LOL!). NWA usually has much more schedule choice and we get frequent flyer miles but Sun Country has had better fares for us the last couple of trips. We considered Airtran for this trip because their fares were pretty compatible with Sun Country (looking at the 18th-27th) but they only had 1 non-stop each way.

I totally agree with CarolMN in that you should book as soon as you see a fare you can live with! And I wish Jet Blue would come here too!!

Kris

 

[lilpritch04]

I would go ahead and book now. Just don't look at the prices later. We didn't buy our tickets until May for our Sept HM and paid $370 each for our tickets--we could have gotten them for less but we wanted direct and specific times of day for both flights there and home.

I wish we would have booked at Christmas time when I found our same flights, or pretty close to them, for about $200 each.

I definitely prefer Northwest to Sun Country. With Sun Country though, you can get delayed and get vouchers. The first time I flew with Sun Country it was because I had no other option and our flight was delayed so we each got a $100 voucher. Similar problems happened on the next flight and the next flight. To make a long story short, I flew Sun Country 6 times--5 times with vouchers in amounts from $50-$100 and even flew once for free. If you're not worried about possibly being delayed, go with Sun Country and get the discount on your next trip!