Does American Dislike Orlando from DFW??

[S'sMom]

Hi All,

I am in the planning phase for two trips I have planned for DisneyWorld. One is May 5 (just for dd and I) to participate in the RunDisney Event at AK. I want to just fly in for the day and fly back out the next day (Quick Turn Around), the flights are every bit of $300 minimum RT per ticket (so far).

Then in June we are going to do a Driving Adventure ONE WAY to visit Vero Beach, Key West, and then the World. I am searching for ONE WAY flights back to DFW from MCO, and the ticket prices are about the same or worse per ticket (So far).

It looks like Spirit Airlines (with the baggage fee and seat selecting fee) is the likely choice for now. I have no problems flying Spirit even though it will be my first time flying them. I just wanted to keep AA as a choice, because of the times they have available. I looked for similar tickets at Christmas, and the prices never went down from August to now.(From the times I looked that is)

Am I crazy, or does American HATE DFW, or is it that AirTran is no longer a competitor and they no longer see the need to offer decent prices? I Of course I get that in this economy, everyone is hurting in one way or the other, but still. I just had to ask..

 

[DebbieB]

Hi All,

I am in the planning phase for two trips I have planned for DisneyWorld. One is May 5 (just for dd and I) to participate in the RunDisney Event at AK. I want to just fly in for the day and fly back out the next day (Quick Turn Around), the flights are every bit of $300 minimum RT per ticket (so far).

Then in June we are going to do a Driving Adventure ONE WAY to visit Vero Beach, Key West, then the World. I am seraching for ONE WAY flights back to DFW from MCO, and the ticket prices are about the same or worse per ticket (So far).

It looks like Spirit Airlines (with the baggage fee and seat selecting fee) is the likely choice for now. I have no problems flying Spirit even though it will be my first time flying them. I just wanted to keep AA as a choice, because of the times they have available. I looked for similar tickets at Christmas, and the prices never went down from August to now.(From the times I looked that is)

Am I crazy, or does American HATE DFW, or is it that AirTran is no longer a competitor and they no longer see the need to offer decent prices? I Of course I get that in this economy, everyone is hurting in one way or the other, but still. I just had to ask..

No competition. Just as an example, USAir and SW were competing for flights Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. They were both charging $118 roundtrip. When SW dropped the route, US suddenly went up to over $600!

 

[DisDiva2]

thats a bummer! but be careful with Spirit they do have a few hidden charges outside of bags, they charge for seats if you all want to sit together

 

[S'sMom]

No competition. Just as an example, USAir and SW were competing for flights Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. They were both charging $118 roundtrip. When SW dropped the route, US suddenly went up to over $600!

WOW!! That is just truly sad, indeed. I am sure that eventually there will be another airline out there some where, I hope. Thanks

thats a bummer! but be careful with Spirit they do have a few hidden charges outside of bags, they charge for seats if you all want to sit together

I agree it is a bummer. Yes, I saw that they have so many different fees. WOW! I will have to pay for seats, and of course baggage (even carry ons.. YIKES!) Thanks a bunch!

 

[aubriee]

Hi All,
Am I crazy, or does American HATE DFW, or is it that AirTran is no longer a competitor and they no longer see the need to offer decent prices? I Of course I get that in this economy, everyone is hurting in one way or the other, but still. I just had to ask..

You hit the nail right on the head. When Air Tran left, American lost their competition, so charge basically whatever they want to now. I used to fly Air Tran, DFW to MCO, several times a year. Air Tran and American both were usually $185.00-$210.00 r/t. My last flight on Air Tran was this past Sept and I think I caught those tickets on sale for like $158.00 r/t. I really, really miss Air Tran. American and Air Tran were the only airlines out of Dallas that had direct flights to MCO and they kept each other in check. Air Tran's last flight out of Dallas was Nov 22nd. For my Nov 26th-Dec 4th trip I had to fly American and paid more than I've ever paid for an airline ticket to MCO. For the dates after Air Tran was pulling out, airfare more than doubled. I was lucky though. I had been watching them stay around $440.00 r/t for several months, when one Tuesday night they went on sale for $276.00. I grabbed them and a couple of days later they went back up to over $440.00 and never went down. With the $25.00 each way luggage fees they were still higher than I've ever paid for airfare to MCO.

I was also watching them for our upcoming Feb trip. American hovered in that same over $440.00 price range until they finally dropped again one Tuesday night to $193.40.. I again grabbed them and again they went right back up to over $440.00. I need airfare for my upcoming May 5th-12th trip and right now surprisingly Southwest is the cheapest I've found. They're usually over $400.00, but right now r/t is $239.80 and they don't charge for bags, so with American's bag fees that's like $189.80 on American. American is still in the $440.00 range for those dates. I guess I really need to book with Southwest, but I hate layovers and keep hoping American's direct flights will come down to match them. Plus I've never flown Southwest and am a little leary of them. They don't fly out of DFW, so I'd have to go over to Dallas Lovefield, which I am not familiar with, nor do I like their boarding procedures. Due to claustrophobic issues, I really like being able to prechoose my preferred aisle seat close to the front of the plane and would be willing to pay the extra to do so.

 

[S'sMom]

Found the answer