Flight booking advice

[zoo2tycoon]

I usually have no problems booking flights - but this time I'm needing advice.

My son and I going from IND to MCO I'm August (5-11). We normally fly SW but the fares are very high. Should I expect them to have a sale anytime ( I know I can get credit if fare goes down and we'd use it). Right now it is 660 RT not including EBCI.

On American we can fly to Tampa and rent car (even if we go to MCO we would rent a car) in Economy ( I won't do Basic Economy and this is only $60 more total) for $520 them $50 for 1 bag checked RT ($25 each way).

It would be cheaper to fly out early Sunday morning but we are driving back from Houston and will get in Saturday afternoon.

Of course Allegiant is really cheap BUT when I add seats and baggage fees it's not that great a deal. Plus if flight canceled we are in trouble!

For those who travel lots in August - is it too early to book? I have no issues flying AA but keep hoping SW will drop

 

[shoreward]

Are your dates slightly flexible? Your August 5 outbound travel date is among the higher fare travel dates from IND-MCO on Southwest. If you can move your dates back by a day or two, the fares are lower, right now.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

Are your dates slightly flexible? Your August 5 outbound travel date is among the higher fare travel dates from IND-MCO on Southwest. If you can move your dates back by a day or two, the fares are lower, right now.

Thanks but sadly no. Booked at Polynesian for 6-10. Planned 5 full park days.

 

[mdelano4]

We usually go in August and book flights by December/January. Have found prices get higher as date gets closer. That said, I'm not an expert flyer, so I don't know if there's a window for better deals. Good luck and have a great trip!

 

[Amanda999]

We fly Boston to MCO late August (cheaper than your dates) annually for about 10 years now. They say about 45-60 days out is when it won't get cheaper. I always book as soon as I can live with the price - but SW lets you rebook free so less pressure there.

SW has become so much more expensive for us that we haven't flown SW in 1.5 years. Delta and JetBlue have nonstop at almost the same price. I got the Delta Amex so we each get a free checked bag.

Do you have Spirit Airline? They are really cheap if you are ok flying 'bare bones.' Wear all your clothes on board.
Also have you looked at booking each direction separately? Sometimes its cheaper.

I definitely recommend google flights to compare cost across airlines. Be sure to choose one way separate from round trip as it seems to default to using same airline for return (so you can't separate out the cheapest one way).

 

[FCDub]

I know it doesn't help now, but my rule of thumb is not to make any concrete plans until both airfare and hotels line up. It seems you're locked in now on your hotel plans and, as a result, are going to have to pay whatever it takes to get there by those dates.

 

[DizDaD7]

I usually like booking Jet blue as soon as they come out....I'm also going in July/Aug. And my flights were roughly 300 bucks.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

Thanks for all the advice and pointers. We sadly dont have Jets Blue. I am pricing out of Cincinnati also-

We haven't done final payment so we could cancel. If my son can push his end day back we might be able to drive. I did price flying out of Nashville (its 6 hours from Indiana and we have friends who live there and we could leave car at their house)... But that's more expensive than flying out of Indianapolis.

If it doesn't work we can do spring 2019.

 

[albaker]

I live in east central IN and check Indy, Dayton, and Cincy. I’ve found that Cincy is cheaper flying Delta.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

I live in east central IN and check Indy, Dayton, and Cincy. I’ve found that Cincy is cheaper flying Delta.

Thanks! I'm in Kokomo and hadn't thought of Dayton.