Booking Flight Advice - Christmas to New Years

[ZeonStar]

Pax is an abbreviation for passenger.

Some airlines, some fare types might offer a credit if the fare goes. Rarely offered on basic economy fares. The Covid waivers are gone. A PP gave the impression they are more common then they are.

You can spend 3000-4000 for optimum non stop flights. You can spend 1600 if you're willing to accept connecting flights, with not so great connections.

I see. So were you suggesting I possibly book the tickets for my family separately in your original post? Rather than as one big order? I hope I’m understanding you. Thank you.

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

I see. So were you suggesting I possibly book the tickets for my family separately in your original post? Rather than as one big order? I hope I’m understanding you. Thank you.

I think that is what the poster was suggesting. The only issue with that is if there is a schedule change or you get delayed on the travel day....when being accommodated your party might get split up. ie if you are all on separate record locators (as they call it in the airline business) and your flight gets cancelled...you and your wife could be moved to a SFO-ORD-MCO. You two kids might get moved to a SFO-EWR-MCO. If not booking all four in one go I'd recommend at least making sure each kid is with at least one parent. Airline algorithms seem to default to doing the stupidest options about 100% of the time.

My hubby and I do this all the time...but we have no kids and don't travel at Xmas or super busy times. In your case I wouldn't risk the hassle of being split up.

 

[_19disnA]

I guess my read is somewhat different. I interpret what that other person suggested was to book one-way tickets. For example, let's say Southwest has the best price/time for traveling to MCO, but American has a better choice for the return trip. I am not aware of any advantage to booking each of your 4 travelers on separate reservations. Regardless of what you end up purchasing, I would put all 4 people on the same ticket to avoid any issues if changes have to be made during the flight.

 

[EACarlson]

I wasn't sure how many airlines had direct flight so that's good info to know.

The non-stop thing is only for my wife, who hates to fly. Having to deal with changing plans, take-off and landing again isn't going to make things better. Still though, she does like saving money. So we'll need to weight our options.


Wanted to double back on this. Was $1600 for 4 people? Round trip? I tried to recreate the flight I coudn't find anything that low.

I went to Southwest.com put in your dates and airports and it was there for $384 per person RT. I'm seeing $378 right now connecting through STL and $384 connecting through MDW. Southwest's flights don't show up on aggregators like Priceline or Expedia, which you don't want to use anyway, you want to book directly with the airline.

I guess my read is somewhat different. I interpret what that other person suggested was to book one-way tickets. For example, let's say Southwest has the best price/time for traveling to MCO, but American has a better choice for the return trip. I am not aware of any advantage to booking each of your 4 travelers on separate reservations. Regardless of what you end up purchasing, I would put all 4 people on the same ticket to avoid any issues if changes have to be made during the flight.

No, @Lewisc was advocating for splitting the booking to save some money if there were less than 4 seats in the lowest available fare bucket. It's an advanced strategy that can save some money but also has a lot of headaches possible that I wouldn't recommend for novice travelers like OP. I would agree that you want all 4 on the same PNR or confirmation number to avoid issues if there is a cancellation or IRROPS (Irregular Operations) like those from weather or mechanicals.

 

[ZeonStar]

I went to Southwest.com put in your dates and airports and it was there for $384 per person RT. I'm seeing $378 right now connecting through STL and $384 connecting through MDW. Southwest's flights don't show up on aggregators like Priceline or Expedia, which you don't want to use anyway, you want to book directly with the airline.

Are you certain it was for Round Trip? I see those prices, but they are only for one way. Not to question you or anything, just not seeing what you are.

 

[ZeonStar]

Thanks everyone for the continued advice. It's been really helpful. We do not want to book the flights separate for each passenger, but I still appreciate the idea. I am however completely fine with the idea of booking the flight to and from Orlando separately. Makes sense to do that, really.

 

[EACarlson]

Are you certain it was for Round Trip? I see those prices, but they are only for one way. Not to question you or anything, just not seeing what you are.

You're right, that price is just for the flight on the 26th. I screwed it up. I've been looking at too many legacy airline flights where what it shows for the first leg includes the cheapest flight for the return.

 

[ZeonStar]

You're right, that price is just for the flight on the 26th. I screwed it up. I've been looking at too many legacy airline flights where what it shows for the first leg includes the cheapest flight for the return.

Not a problem. I'm not ready to book yet anyway. But I like knowing what options I can try. So, I still appreciate the help. SW IS cheaper than my other options, but at the moment, based on what flight times would actually work for us to and from there, SW is maybe $500 cheaper. At least at the moment. The best prices I have found RT so far is by having us leave Christmas evening and that brings the total using Alaska to about $3400. Scary expensive!

 

[ZeonStar]

To avoid confusion, a 'direct' flight is one that doesn't require a change of aircraft even if it involves a stop. That is not the same thing as a 'non-stop' flight which goes from your departure city to your destination without any stops along the way.

Just a quick message that I wanted to comment on. I actually did not know about this distinction, so thank you very much for sharing.

 

[thephemonenal99]

Booking flights early will help, but prices can fluctuate. Considering options like late-night Christmas flights or flexible stopovers could potentially save costs, although non-stop flights are ideal.

Have you looked into private jet charter packages? They can offer flexibility and convenience, especially for family trips.

 

[ZeonStar]

Booking flights early will help, but prices can fluctuate. Considering options like late-night Christmas flights or flexible stopovers could potentially save costs, although non-stop flights are ideal.

Thanks for the suggestions. I still have not booked our flights but I am keeping an eye on things best I can. Currently I’ve been monitoring non-stop flights using Alaska. All the little Apps I have say it’s still too early to book as prices will be better around September. But there are 2 specific flights from Alaska that. Work really well for us time-wise (One for the flight there and one back) that I am checking frequently to see how full they are.

I had considered the idea of going late Christmas evening as a way to potentially save, but, at least so far, the savings hasn’t seemed that significant to go through the trouble. I also don’t want our sleep hours all screwy right before a very long and tiring trip.

So I am still looking…and still waiting. I do feel we’re just going to need to book fairly soon, awful princes or not.

 

[ZeonStar]

Just another update. Still haven’t booked but watching things best I can. The apps I have been using to track flights are saying it will be time to “Book soon.” But the prices are still awful.

I know it’s going to be bad because even if I try to do a flight with 1 or 2 stops, the price barely changes from the cost of a non-stop flight! Even checking an airline like southwest, it isn’t any cheaper.

I’m still trying to reconcile the fact that our airfare alone is going to cost what we pay in total for a 4 day trip to Disneyland when we go. Ugh.

 

[EACarlson]

Just another update. Still haven’t booked but watching things best I can. The apps I have been using to track flights are saying it will be time to “Book soon.” But the prices are still awful.

I know it’s going to be bad because even if I try to do a flight with 1 or 2 stops, the price barely changes from the cost of a non-stop flight! Even checking an airline like southwest, it isn’t any cheaper.

I’m still trying to reconcile the fact that our airfare alone is going to cost what we pay in total for a 4 day trip to Disneyland when we go. Ugh.

You're choosing to travel at the busiest time of year, quite a long ways, and costs have skyrocketed for airlines in the last two years. The "historic climate for labor" has bumped crew costs at about double the price of inflation, which is sky high. Average costs now are more than 20% higher than they were pre-pandemic. $800RT out of SFO doesn't seem all that bad. I just booked a business trip to Cincinnati that was over $700, the business trip I was supposed to take last weekend was going to be $1100 MKE-SLC, my company refused to pay for that one.

 

[ZeonStar]

You're choosing to travel at the busiest time of year, quite a long ways, and costs have skyrocketed for airlines in the last two years. The "historic climate for labor" has bumped crew costs at about double the price of inflation, which is sky high. Average costs now are more than 20% higher than they were pre-pandemic. $800RT out of SFO doesn't seem all that bad. I just booked a business trip to Cincinnati that was over $700, the business trip I was supposed to take last weekend was going to be $1100 MKE-SLC, my company refused to pay for that one.

Yeah that’s what I’m gathering, that it is what it is. $800RT would be an improvement to what I’m seeing, it’s looking like it’s going to be closer to $1000RT unfortunately. But I am still waiting and looking. Though I realize I’m probably not going to be able to wait much longer.

 

[ZeonStar]

Slightly off topic but are the MAX-9 still grounded? I haven’t been following the whole thing too much but I did notice a few flights I’m looking at are using that plane. I know it sounds silly but my wife is worried about taking those planes so I may need to just avoid them. But I was just curious as to why future flights show them as the equipment. If they are just not grounded anymore, then that would explain it.

 

[EACarlson]

Slightly off topic but are the MAX-9 still grounded? I haven’t been following the whole thing too much but I did notice a few flights I’m looking at are using that plane. I know it sounds silly but my wife is worried about taking those planes so I may need to just avoid them. But I was just curious as to why future flights show them as the equipment. If they are just not grounded anymore, then that would explain it.

No, the MAX9's have been inspected and allowed back in service for many months now.

 

[sam_gordon]

It's a connection both directions, but SW has RT for $556.

As far as "when to book"... the answer is when you're satisfied (doesn't mean "happy") with the price. As others have said, you're traveling during the busiest travel season and going cross country.

 

[ZeonStar]

Thanks everyone who has given input/advice. Wanted to share a quick update. My wife and I spent a good deal of time going over our trip.

I forgot if I mentioned it previously, but our trip had 8 park days and one "Break" day we were going to take in the middle of the trip. Well we decided to drop the break day. By checking different combinations of flights leaving on the 26 or 27, or coming back the 4th or the 5th, we figured the best savings was by leaving on the 27th instead. That lets us get a Non-stop Alaska flight to Florida for $500 cheaper.

Doing that, coupled with one less hotel day, one less day of food, we are going to save well over $100.

For the trip home, we're down to 2 flight options. A non-stop Alaska Flight vs a 1 Stop Southwest flight. If we do the 1 stop, we'd save about $400.

Our thought process is the non-stop is better for the way there as our 2 kids have never flown, and my wife hates to fly. So just do a non-stop and get it over with. (Plus the flight prices on Friday for the times we want are nearly identical anyway for 1 stop vs non-stop. Then on the way home, we may end up doing a 1-stop as everyone will have experienced flying and it wont be that "Big of a deal" if we have a one stop flight.

Anyway just wanted to share. We're going to book the flights most likely later tonight. I was trying to find some info about refunds if prices drop after you book a flight. Best I can tell, if your flight does have a lower price later, you can get a refund but only in credit on your account, not an actual cash refund. Is that correct?