Does anyone want to comiserate with me about the absurd world of airfares?

[Mom-to-3]

My DH just rolls his eyes when I get aggrevated at airfares. I keep trying to make sense out of something that seems so illogical.

Now through 2/15 I could fly to Orlando for $58 round-trip! I checked and it is mainly the last flight out when going there and the first flight of the day coming home. But still! $58 round-trip!

I'm waiting for the DIS convention prices and dreading the chicken-game with airfares. How long to wait...hoping to see fares going down...aarrgh.

Anyone else know what I mean?

Mary

 

[TravelSheryl]

I deal with it every single day. "Illogical" is right on the mark when it comes to airfares. There's no rhyme or reason to them. In some cases, you can fly across the country for less than the cost of a one hour flight in certain markets.

 

[Mom-to-3]

So TravelSheryl: Have you come to a zen acceptance of it? Or do you scream aaarrrggghhh every day?

While I'm here ( ): when would you think I should get tickets to the DIS convention... looking at the Thursday after Thanksgiving through that Sunday?

To be even more difficult, we'd want to go out early on the first day and late on the last day to maximize time there. If I didn't have to worry about kids missing school, I could do the type of flight listed above at $58 and just stay at an airport hotel (using Priceline ... I'm the one with $38 in Nashville ). But I do have to worry about school.

Have I rambled enough??? <IMG WIDTH="15" HEIGHT="15" SRC="/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif" alt="razz">

Mary

 

[nuthut]

Why does it cost $354 to fly (23 minutes)to Detroit and $179 to fly (3 hours) to Orlando with a connection in Detroit. These airline people are just plum stupid.

 

[TravelSheryl]

No, I don't accept it!! I rant about it all the time

Pardon me, but I'm assuming the DIS convention is in Orlando <IMG SRC="/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif" alt="confused"> If so, then it's way too early to purchase airline tickets from Nashville to Orlando because Southwest controls the fares on this route and Southwest will probably not be selling your travel dates until July. That being said, I would still subscribe to the fare tracker emails from both Travelocity and Expedia so you'll know if any short-lived specials come about. If you want a non-stop though, you'll need to wait until Southwest starts selling your dates.

 

[Mom-to-3]

July, huh? That is going to be hard to wait for. I like things lined up ASAP. I am signed up with Travelocity and Expedia. That Travelocity can be hilarious. I use them for other cities and they will send "updates" with the old and new price exactly the same and the change = $0!!

Why does Southwest control this route? Delta flies (or is it flys??) non-stop as well.

I just need to push all this out of my mind and go watch Robert Downey Jr. on Ally McBeal. I think tonight is his departure. His life is tragic. But he's really cute.

Mary

 

[guyg]

I'm glad to see that there're others who share my angst about airfares. DH only wants to fly Delta, so every year I play games with them to see if I can book the best fare. And it rarely happens! Either I book too soon and get stuck with travel vouchers if the fare drops. Or I wait too long and am paying more than everyone else. Now I have Delta/labor worries for our March trip. The only good part is that stress always goes away once I enter MK.

 

[TravelSheryl]

Southwest Airlines sets the fares on the routes it serves. With only a very few exceptions, no other airline has lower advance purchase fares than does Southwest. Now I'm not saying that Southwest is always the cheapest, because they have only so many seats that they sell at the lowest fare, and another airline may have more seats they will sell at a lower fare, but in order to be assured of the lowest non-stop fare, in most cases, you need to wait until Southwest begins selling the dates.

Thanks for reminding me that Delta (actually it's Delta Express) also serves Nashville to Orlando non-stop. I had forgotten that. Delta's current fare for your dates is basically the same as Southwest's current advance purchase fare for dates Southwest is currently selling. But Southwest runs Internet-only specials, so if it were me, I'd wait until Southwest begins selling the dates, because in the past they've had Internet specials as low as $57 each way plus tax based on a roundtrip purchase on your route, which is probably less than $130.

Your desire to have all your travel arrangements set way in advance is very common among the leisure traveler. Unfortunately, you can pay a whole lot more that way, just like guyg said. Buy now on Delta and have your travel plans settled, or be patient and possibly pay less.

 

[cprior]

but I flew Delta last month to Ft Myers because SWA doesn't go there. I tried getting 2 RT tickets from Boston thru expedia for $194 ea but after I entered all of the required info like billing address and credit card info, I got an error message saying one or more of my flights could not be confirmed. I called Delta who told me that there were no more seats available at that price but I could get it for $247. We booked that. A few days later, I get an email from expedia or someone else, saying that airfare to Ft Myers is now $180. So I called Delta asking them what was going on and they ended up giving me the seats for the same flight at less than $180 and I ended up with those darn credit vouchers. Oh well, guess we'll have to go away again w/o the kids next December!

I would have loved to poll all those on the plane and ask them how much they each paid for their seats. I bet there would be many different amounts. Such is the airline game!

But I love SWA and always fly them to Orlando, usually for $69 each way from Boston in May. Now we're flying in March when airfare is high everywhere and even on SWA I could not get cheap airfare for that timeframe. They didn't offer internet fares to Florida that fell within my date range.

On the way back from Ft Myers, Delta had overbooked and besides that, the plane left 1 hour late. First they asked those sitting in the waiting area to come up and get their name on a list if they were willing to give up their seats. We put our names on the list because Delta said we would still get home that night, just a little bit later. They later came on and said they were not overbooked but thanks anyway. Well, we get on the plane and some people show up last minute so they announce if people would like to give up their seats. Instead of going back to the original list they had kept of volunteers, which would have been fair, they asked for a show of hands and took whoever was in the first aisles they encountered. Then a woman who was bumped from her seat and was put in a seat about 7 rows back, pulled a fit and wouldn't move, holding up the plane. She finally relented and when the flight attendant tried to nicely apologize, the woman started ranting again. It was all quite the experience but one I'd not prefer. Southwest looked even better after this.

 

[denisenh]

Southwest offered geat fares from many New England cities to Orlando (and other great Florida cities) for travel completed by February 15. This made it possible for a quick trip to WDW for us in December, and for that I am grateful. What happens after February 15th? Why can't it be March 15th?
We travel to Florida the end of February every year and I have been holding out for great airfare. I have been able to do so by deciding to drive, which I really don't mind at all, in fact I love it. But, if great air prices come along and will cost me around the same money to fly I will grab those fares. We drive a gas guzzeling SUV. I know its very bad. (sorry, we have a lot of newspaper editorials about rude, selfish SUV owners, now I am paranoid)
Will airfares come down again before the end of February?? I just don't understand. If it 100. rt in at the beg. of Feb. why isn't it $100. rt at the end Feb.? Supply and demand? <IMG SRC="/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif" alt="confused">

 

[aprincessmom]

denisenh, it is supply and demand. Mid-Feb to mid-March is school vacation seasons for elementary, secondary and college students. And for many people it's family vacation time and they want to go someplace warm. They want to go somewhere and need a plane to get there so the airlines can charge a higher fare knowing that the plane will be full because of the demand.

In January, there aren't a whole lot of people traveling. They've been traveling for the holidays and are suffering from that post-holiday pocketbook depression. They have a lot of supply and little demand, so they lower prices in hopes of attracting people to the empty seats.

 

[glo]

It is supply and demand. Especially since they know that the middle and end of Fe. has many schools out for vacation! They know they can seel that seat for lots more money!

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[Jenn]

I'll join in on the whine session! I'm paying $277.50 RT/PP on SW in March. It is KILLING me! In September I paid $109 RT/PP for the exact same flights. I've searched everywhere and the best fare I could get was $230 but the times were awful and it was with Delta (having problems lately) so I went ahead and took the $277 with the airline I always use and have at least some amt of faith in and got the flight times I wanted. There are 11 of us going on this trip so it is really costing a fortune.

Jenn

 

[MinnieMe2]

Purchased tickets for DH and me 2/14-20 in October. Paid $250. DD decided a few weeks ago she wants to go with us. A seat on our plane would now cost over $700. And, of course, the tix I already hold are non-transferrable (like AA really cares who sits in which seat). I've been miserable and sooooooo frustrated. It just makes no sense, but the airlines have us all by the you-know-whats.

Counting the Hours Til We're Back in the World

Mother-of-Four (Five, If You Count My Husband)

 

[mickey4ver]

Why, oh why, does Southwest, who offer terrific fares and great non-stop service, which I need for flying to Phoenix, insist on the "cattle call" for loading passengers? They say they are no frill and you fly cheap, so why do you want an assigned seat??? I DO...I hate the way they board. At BWI the passengers act like animals trying to get on the ark before if shoves off! PHX is a little bit better system. Also, I have received discounted airfares on other airlines, America West, Delta, United, and always get a seat assignment.

Just find it frustrating, as overall their service is great.

mickey4ver

 

[frannn]

I wish I could deny it, but I'm paying 400/pp to go to WDW from NY for President's week. So, I guess mine is the saddest story on this post. Although, no price is too high for the mouse!

 

[TravelSheryl]

frann, where in NY are you travelling from? Lowestfare.com usually has TWA non-stops from JFK for under $200.

 

[Amusement Park Junkie]

The moral is to keep checking. When I first checked last summer for the times I wanted to fly from LA it was $450 round trip. I checked a few monthes later and it was about $380. In Dec it had dropped to about $315. I checked on Jan 8 and it was down to $308. I decided I'd better grab it and logged in the next day to do so only to find a nasty surprise. It was now $380. I tried calling on the phone and when they tried to give me the $380 fare I said that I had seen $308 the day before. She said they must have run out of those discounted fares. At this point I decided to wait a week so it would go on the next billing period of my credit card. When I logged on Jan 14 it had dropped to $270. I booked it ASAP. It stayed at this rate for a few days but is now back to about $350.

 

[HorizonsFan]

Those of you who can fly Southwest to FL, be grateful. I live in Dallas (where Southwest is headquartered) and because of the Wright amendment, I can't fly Southwest to anywhere except an adjoining state! Of course, I could always drive the three hours to Austin or the four hours to Houston but I usually just pay more for the convenience.
BTW, we usually fly Delta and pay between 200 and 250 for the early flight into MCO and the late flight back to DFW...

Dave

 

[Beverly Lynn]

having worked in an airlines res office for nearly 13 yrs I can say I cannot believe I'm not totally gray by now. you have no idea of how aggrevating it is for res agents as well. I cannot tell you how many times I went to book a reservation for someone only to have the seat disappear before I could hit that enter button. then to have it pop back up a few min later! and yes there are times when we would all scream in exasperation. sometimes I still do. the only difference with being at the airport instead of a res office is that the people are now face to face! AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

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Beverly