Domestic/Internal USA flights

[mindy32]

Hi all,

It's a total pipe dream at the moment but if like 100% goes our way in the coming 12 months I'm hoping we'll be able to manage a trip to the good ol USA in 2016. Ideally if funds etc allowed the following would be a rough idea of what we'd be thinking (limited time wise with work), I priced it up very roughly using similar dates for next year (I think I priced sept as that was as far as I could go but I'd actually be looking at October). but flight prices, particularly internal flights seem a lot more than I remember them being when we went 2 years ago! So, finally getting to the point: what sites do you book your internal flights on? And secondly, anyone have a rough idea of what flights between any of the following cities would cost (as in what you've paid etc I just want to see if what I'm getting on expedia is standard, expensive etc)?

One last question: any general advice in terms of order of the trip, where to fly into, stopovers on long haul flight etc, that might be cost effective?

San Francisco 3 nights
Vegas 3-4 nights
Nashville 2 nights
WDW 5 nights
Cruise 7 nights

 

[xlxo]

Hi all,

One last question: any general advice in terms of order of the trip, where to fly into, stopovers on long haul flight etc, that might be cost effective?

San Francisco 3 nights
Vegas 3-4 nights
Nashville 2 nights
WDW 5 nights
Cruise 7 nights

To get around the West Coast (San Fran, Vegas, WDW and cruise)... you might want to look at buses as a option from Los Angelos.

Also for cheap airlines... pay attention extra charges. Luggage limits are lower.

Which cruise are you tentatively planning?

 

[dollarmite]

For our most recent trip (Sept/Oct this year), I found Southwest was the best. Each passenger gets 2 free pieces of checked luggage included, which just about every other US airline charges for. They were the cheapest option airfare wise for our flights, so it was a no brainer to book with them. We booked them for flights from SF to New Orleans and New Orleans to LAX.

We booked directly online via the Southwest site (in US dollars). I'm not sure if their fares actually show up on any third party sites. I believe they also have fairly easygoing cancellation/change of flight policies, moreso than a lot of other airlines.

I also checked prices on Expedia, Webjet etc and then compared with the actual airline sites themselves and the prices were about the same, but I'm not sure if Expedia etc allow you the option of adding baggage fees at time of booking.

 

[ssour]

We use southwest or JetBlue and book direct. For the cities you're visiting southwest should be best. I always book direct on their site. They don't release their flights as early as other airlines and often have very last minute sales.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I would recommend that you include as many stops as possible on your international ticket; assuming that it doesn't add an insane amount of $$$ to your ticket.

I like SouthWest Airlines as well. Just sign up on their websites to receive their notifications (if you haven't already done so). They usually provide deals when they open up dates as well as have last minute deals. If you are watching your dates, it is best to jump on the fares when your dates open up. I flew SWA from LA to Phoenix last year. The flights were $59 per person, including 2 checked bags per person. I think that might be the 'cheap' fare if your flying out of LA to San Francisco, Vegas. It might be more this year as I have the vague recollection of checking one of their deals earlier this year and seeing the cheapest prices around $79.

From memory, last year's LA to MCO flights were around $159. SWA do not fly direct to MCO, so you need to factor the extra time and stopover into your plans.

I've never looked at flying into Nashville.

 

[Sugarglider]

I'm a second vote to support PIO - try to get your international ticket to include as many internal USA legs as possible. When we went in June/july we had a couple of flights we bought directly because we couldn't get them in the ticket (like MCO - DCA) and that was only about $150. I have paid up to $200 to fly across the country (LAX - MCO) and much less to do say LAX - LAS.

However, twice I have had internal flights delay quite excessively - like 3 or 4 hours and missed the connection. when it is all on 1 ticket it takes away the stress as I stood there saying "so how are you going to get me there?" And I got the baggage included, and you rarely have to change terminals at the airports - so i thought it was worth it.

I so appreciate that if you are buying for a family of five - even $200/hd soon adds up to a lot, but if you can stretch it you will find it convenient.

i hope you find something that suits you - that's a mega trip.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Sorry, I can't comment on prices for those routes as I haven't flown them, however having flown about half a dozen domestic US airlines now, I wanted to mention that the comfort levels on each can be quite different and you often get what you pay for.

If having seat back entertainment on some of the longer legs matters to you, make sure you factor this in when looking at prices. Plus, as others have mentioned, having bags included is a bonus.

My 2 favourite airlines so far have been Jetblue and Virgin America.
JetBlue includes a free bag and has cable TV onboard.

I have flown Southwest and thought they were a bargain. But have found the above airlines more comfortable.

It really depends on your priorities

 

[mindy32]

Thank you so much, I'd not thought to look at SW direct page, now that I have I'm feeling much better! I was hoping flights from say Vegas to MCO would be around $200, but was only getting $350 pp + on expedia etc.

When I put stops in together it took the international flight to $5000 pp lol. I'll look properly into which cities to include etc when the time comes.

Thanks again.

 

[Sugarglider]

If you buy your tickets in the sales, you'll get a substantial discount on the most expensive part. I have not found that adding the domestic legs costs very much, and I have on several occasions found qantas can wrap up my CBR-SYD leg inside a price.
As i said before - I don't know how many ppl you are buying for and it can add up really quickly! So make sure you have insurance and read the fine print on how they pay out travel delay.