Delta vs. Delta Express

[sueg]

I'm trying to coordinate our March vacation w/ my DS' BB training camp in Fla. We are scheduled to fly Delta Express out of Newark, but his camp will be returning on Delta out of LAGUARDIA! When I combine our flight down w/ his flight back, the price of his tkt. more than doubles. I'm hoping to work w/ the sports group desk & see if his tkt. price will change, but currently I am not on the "authorized" list for the BB trip, so they won't even discuss prices w/ me. Hoping to reach the BB coach (over Christmas holiday!) I guess I don't understand the Delta vs. Delta Express problem. Or is it that he will be flying into a different airport than we are leaving from? Any help is appreciated!

 

[cindala]

We have flown both Delta Express out of Newark, and Delta out of LaGuardia. We much prefer plain Delta.

Delta Express flights are usually 4 digit numbered flights, and the flights are usually almost always on small 737 planes. No food, movie, or tv's are available. It is definately no frills.

Delta flights can be on a number of different types of planes, from 737's to 757's, 767's, 747's, MD80's etc. depending on where you are flying to. When we fly down to Florida our planes have all been 757's, which are larger than the 737's. There are tv's stationed thru out the cabin, and a snack or meal was served, prior to 9/11. Now we just get a drink and a bag of bagel chips or something similar. Also the flights have 3 digit numbers.

Have you tried to book your flights out of LaGuardia? We have done this the past several years because the fares are much less than out of Newark for us. I know it is usually more expensive to fly out of one airport and return to a different airport.

 

[disneymom1]

I have flown both Delta and Delta Express and agree with cindala regarding the service. I have, however, found great fares leaving from one NY airport and returning to another using a combination of the two airlines. I don't think your problem is necessarily due to different airlines or different airports

I think it really has to do with the individual flights you select and the number of seats available at the time the flight is booked. I saved myself $500 recently by flying out of LaGuardia vs. Newark in a recent booking for April. In both scenarios, the return was to Newark. Shortly after I booked the flight, the fare for the same itinerary went up almost $400.

If you do a search on www.farechase.com you can identify the best fares for all 3 New York area airports. The search engine automatically searches for the best combination of fares from all 3 airports. You might be able to identify a better flight to combine with DS' flight to get the best fare.

You can also go to the Delta site and look at the seating availability for each flight (both Delta and Delta Express). If there are few seats left ont he flight you are interested in, there's very little chance you will be able to get a good fare.

Good luck

 

[seashoreCM]

Is Best Buy paying for his ticket? If so, they choose the airport and you can take him there (Laguardia), drop im off, and meet up in Orlando, no?. If not, why can't you choose the departing and returning airport (Newark) and he can take ground transportation to Laguardia if there are further activities there upon return?

In general I have not noticed significnt fare differences for returning to a different airport (one of the open jaw formats) but then I haven[t tried it recently.

I have only used these criteria in choosing Delta vs. Delta Express, fare, airports served, and choice of routings.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm