Cheap airfare from Louisville, KY-does it exist?

[SnowWhite33]

Just wondering if any of my fellow Kentuckians have any luck with this ? We tried transmeridian last year, I checked our flights the day before we were ok, they went bankrupt overnight . (Yes I was the one making a scene at the airport and we ended up having to buy more tickets, had we not had extra $$ our vacation would have ended before it began, we did get the refund a month later, but it really started our trip off on a bad foot). Our trip is not until 11/22/06, but I'm already dreading the price I know we'll have to pay for airfare, so does anyone have any ideas on how to get good airfare from Louisville? Just wondering if there is some secret I don't know about....

 

[Gary M]

How far are you from Indianapolis? I'm crossing my fingers, but the airfare from IND to MCO has been very reasonable for the last few years. An example is we are going to WDW 1/31 to 2/7 and the AirTran fare was $123 r/t non-stop. NWA, SWA and AirTran all have non-stop flights to MCO from IND.

 

[travelbug]

Cincinnati might also be worth checking for good fares if you can't find anything decent out of Louisville.

(Hello from a former Louisville resident. Spent part of my childhood and graduated from H.S. there. Loved it, and still love going back!)

 

[loveswdw]

No tricks that I know of... just keep checking it. Daily, several times a day. We have always flown Delta. Always. Southwest has never been cheaper than Delta for us. Even with the e-mail sales it seems that if SW runs one then Delta lowers their fare too. And Delta always has better flight times for us.

We've paid as low as $125 rt (pre 2001) but I suspect those days are long gone with the price of fuel. The last trip we took (Oct. 2005) we paid $205 each rt. Not too bad really. Just priced a quick June trip and it was $205 rt each. We have a trip planned for the first week of Dec. 06. I've already started checking the prices. Too high right now. $280 each rt. Hopefully it'll come down. Keeping my fingers crossed.

The bankruptcy has me concerned but no more than I was when I bought tix for our last trip. They had just declared bankruptcy then. I was nervous but it all went fine. If you are nervous about the bankruptcy then I'd definitely think about flying SW. Just download the DING software and check the sales every Tuesday and check your e-mail for special sales.

Cincy is pretty much ALWAYS higher than Lville. And I don't want to have to drive the extra 2 hours to Indy. You already have to be at the airport so early now. I just cough up the extra to fly out of Lville.

Sorry I wasn't much help. Just wanted to let you know that you aren't alone!

 

[MickeyEars]

We live in Barbourville right on the Kentucky/Tennessee border so we are equal distance between Lexington and Knoxville. We have flown out of both places many times but the airfare out of either of those has gone through the roof lately. The fare out of Louisville is something like $205 for all the summer dates I've checked. We have flown out of Louisville twice to save money but it's a 3 hour drive for us, so I don't do it unless we're saving big bucks. It's depressing enough to have your Disney trip come to an end but then have to drive 3 hours just to get home is more than I can take!!!

Carla

 

[boswellnakia]

I found SWA tickets for four October of last year for $330 roundtrip to MCO. I have also flown out of Indy for about the same money for four people.

there is a thread that watches for the Southwest dings on this group as well. You might want to check them out

 

[SnowWhite33]

I'm so glad I'm not alone and that it is possible to find the cheaper fares. With the exception of last year we have always flown on Delta with the lowest price being $198 rt/ns per person. I guess I will be subscribing to all of the SW threads so I can keep up to date. Any one have a guess as to when the late Nov/early Dec fares will be released?

 

[mommyceratops]

We originally bought our tickets on SW to go to Orlando (from Louisville) for about $250 a piece online. (Last Nov)
We had to postpone our trip and there is NO penilty on SW and rebought our tickets and got a small refund. It came to $200 a piece roundtrip.

 

[Purrrrfecta]

I paid $168. round-trip on US airways last June. I also fares around $79 each way on SWA last year for your dates. Sometimes they do mark them down. I was reading that there was a ding fare to MCO from SDF not long ago. Keep checking and get the ding if you do not already have it.

 

[ptrbryant]

We're in Kentucky, too, about an hour north of Nashville. Last year, we flew round-trip for $39 each way on SWA...they seem to have that fare pop-up several times a year. I know it may be a bit of a hassle to drive to Nashville, but it may be worth the savings.

Karla B.

 

[momsgoofy]

I'm so glad I'm not alone and that it is possible to find the cheaper fares. With the exception of last year we have always flown on Delta with the lowest price being $198 rt/ns per person. I guess I will be subscribing to all of the SW threads so I can keep up to date. Any one have a guess as to when the late Nov/early Dec fares will be released?

Not sure when the airfares will come out..maybe late July or early August. We went to WDW 12/18 and the fares came out around the second or third week of August. Since we live in southern Illinois (think Carbondale) I look at Louisville as a possible airport...only 4 hours...and we've got a minimum of 2 1/2 hrs. anyway...I remember seeing some great fares on the Ding messages. I want to say like $79 one way and maybe some that were even lower. I also get low fares on SWA from their email alerts.

If you can download the Ding program onto a computer, it would be a good way to watch the fares...it's really easy to do..just have to make sure you can...a friend told me they can't have it at their work. The Ding fares are usually short time frames, but worth it if you can catch one...for our 12/18 flight from Nashville to MCO I paid $35 one way...for the return on 12/25 I paid $84 one way that I got on a systemwide sale.

For the systemwide sales and such...just go to the SWA site and sign up for the alerts...they just announced one recently...just pulling up SDF to MCO, on 2/7 return 2/13...it came back with airfare of $94 to MCO and $94 to $127 for the return.

IF you do decide to book with SWA...do it as one way...why? Well, what happened to me is I had booked the flight at $111 each way as a round trip...then the Ding fare came out for $35 for only the 12/18 date...to get it I had to cancel the entire round trip airfare then rebook with the Ding fare. So, if I had booked them each as oneway...I'd have had 2 confirmation numbers and could have only cancelled the first one.

Cancelling with SWA is easy...they give you travel credit...good for one year from date of original purchase. (I'd bought the roundtrip on 8/19 so I've got some travel credit good for use before 8/19 2006.)

I would also suggest that you go to the SWA site and start looking at the other airports near you...one of them might be much cheaper...I know Indianapolis is pretty cheap...I check it, too.

Another airline that is pretty cheap...I've never flown it myself, but there are many threads about it here...airtrans. They just announced a sale to MCO today that was pretty good. I've heard decent things about the airline...but you can search here and get more info.

I hope this helps!

 

[madge]

Just wondering if any of my fellow Kentuckians have any luck with this ? We tried transmeridian last year, I checked our flights the day before we were ok, they went bankrupt overnight . (Yes I was the one making a scene at the airport and we ended up having to buy more tickets, had we not had extra $$ our vacation would have ended before it began, we did get the refund a month later, but it really started our trip off on a bad foot). Our trip is not until 11/22/06, but I'm already dreading the price I know we'll have to pay for airfare, so does anyone have any ideas on how to get good airfare from Louisville? Just wondering if there is some secret I don't know about....

Are you in Louisville, or in a nearby city?

I'm in Elizabethtown, and we fly out of Nashville more than anyplace else. It takes us an hour longer to get there than driving to SDF.

Try Southwest for the cheapest fares out of Louisville. Often times, the other airlines will match.

You can also check fares out of Indy, CIncinnati, and Lexington.

Lots of choices!

PS. I just flew to Orlando last weekend out of Louisville. It was $175.40 per person. Cheapest fare around for the holiday weekend. This was on SWA.

 

[Pugrpooh]

We're flying SW during spring break. Have always used Delta because of the nonstop connections, but checked SW after seeing the prices with Delta. I got roundtrip for $295, both legs nonstop. For similar nonstop flights with Delta, midafternoon leaving Louisville, their price was over $600!!

We only booked less than 3 weeks ago, but if we had done it early, we could have gotten one way fares of $94. When I've checked fares before from Cincinnati, they've usually been more expensive, even when the flight originates in Louisville.

 

[K9pal]

I'm right there with ya and know how hard it is. On the other hand, going to Indy/cincy/Lexington just adds time and money for gas, so for us it's not worth it.

We've driven the past couple of years, but want to fly this September. We also always fly Delta, but we're open to SW if they have better fares. Here's my question - are there any cheaper DAYS to travel? We can plan our vacation around that if it makes a difference.

Good luck to all!

 

[madge]

I'm right there with ya and know how hard it is. On the other hand, going to Indy/cincy/Lexington just adds time and money for gas, so for us it's not worth it.

We've driven the past couple of years, but want to fly this September. We also always fly Delta, but we're open to SW if they have better fares. Here's my question - are there any cheaper DAYS to travel? We can plan our vacation around that if it makes a difference.

Good luck to all!

yes-- sometimes SWA fare sales are good for travel on certain days, other times the fares are good every day. Depending on when you travel, it might be better to go on weekdays vs. weekends.

 

[DJT]

Just got a Ding from SW for $130.60 from SDF to MCO. I already had a ticket for $205 so I was able to re-book the Ding and save $75.00! We're leaving on the 6th. I was pleasantly surprised to get a Ding this close to time for our trip. I'm happy!!!

Donna

 

[kydisneyfans]

definitely check the Lexington airport--very easy to navigate and only an hour from Louisville--not sure of rates but worth a shot.

I prefer to drive-more freedom and cheaper.

I have seen Southwest dings from Louisville in the past though-be patient.

 

[Poohlovr]

I have flown out of SDF in the past at really reasonable rates, usually on Delta or SW. One year, we did fly into Tampa, though, because it was much cheaper than MCO (72.00/pp R/T).
Having said that, last yr, we drove to Indy and spent the night pre-flight, because the fares out of SDF were way more than flying out of Indy plus the cost of the hotel (through Priceline and included parking our van for the week and an airport shuttle for 35.00).
I have been looking for airfare to San Juan and Louisville is running about 200.00/pp more than flying out of Indy.

This hurts because I live about 20 min from SDF and I have to drive for 2 hrs to get decent airfare.

 

[Purrrrfecta]

I have been looking for airfare to San Juan and Louisville is running about 200.00/pp more than flying out of Indy.

This hurts because I live about 20 min from SDF and I have to drive for 2 hrs to get decent airfare.

I know what you mean. The only time I see cheap fare to San Juan is in August through October. That is when I do not want to go. Delta is offering a good fare to MCO right now out of SDF.

I am only 20 minutes from the airport as well, and I think that traveling all the way up to Indy to go to MCO I might as well drive.

 

[loveswdw]

Had a DING earlier today for travel from Feb. 1-28 between SDF and MCO. Not when we are flying but keeping my fingers crossed for later in the spring. This DING could've been as cheap as $125 pp RT!!! The dates I punched in for February came up with this price. Unfortunately wasn't our travel dates. Oh well...I'll keep hoping!