Flight prices from Edmonton are outrageous this year!

[chimo2u]

WOW, I have been looking at airfare, from Edmonton to Orlando trying to guesstimate what prices will be like for my trip next Oct 2012.... So far, it seems like prices are an outrageous $359 per leg, so I am looking at approx $750 per ticket! On all three of my previous trips, I have never paid more than $450 per person return....prices are up almost double what I am used to paying. I need three tickets this trip, and I don't want to go broke getting us there! The schedule isn't released yet for my dates (almost there)... I am looking at flying out fri.sept 28 and returning Sunday Oct 7, 2012. The prices I was looking at tonight where with west jet.... I hope airfare comes down some! I wonder if I should wait and buy in the new yr. Or buy when they are released in a few weeks?

 

[drag n' fly]

Same from Calgary. We were supposed to go to Cancun for spring break. We had our home resort even booked. Went to get flights and they were all falling in around the 3500 to 4000 range. So we moved our spring break to California instead. Definitely wait until the new year

 

[thetallone101]

it is crazy isn't it! I live in Leduc, so we fly out of YEG and I cringe at the prices. When we flew to Miami in 2010 I was able to get a decent price b/c West Jet had just started flying so they had a good sale. Are you staying onsite or off?

 

[chimo2u]

it is crazy isn't it! I live in Leduc, so we fly out of YEG and I cringe at the prices. When we flew to Miami in 2010 I was able to get a decent price b/c West Jet had just started flying so they had a good sale. Are you staying onsite or off?

Hi Staying onsite at the POLY....but if prices for flights don't come down, I may have to change over to POFQ or another mod. Or, I may have to drop club level and just stay garden view....which if we do that , I would want to get the deluxe dining plan, and it is only a couple hundred less than my current club level reservation.....I dont' know what to do, flights in Jan 2008 where only $350.00 pp, with United (yuck, I hate united)....in 2009 Sept we flew Air Canada for about $400 pr person, now I am looking at at least 750.00 per person, I hope in the new yr. they drop some!!

 

[canadianjovigirl]

I am still holding on on better flight prices to Cancun from Calgary for Feb............eeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkk i never wait this long but they are around $600 per person right now and that is higher than we have ever paid to fly anywhere

Just hoping i can hit a seat sale or we may be cancelling our resort

 

[drag n' fly]

I am still holding on on better flight prices to Cancun from Calgary for Feb............eeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkk i never wait this long but they are around $600 per person right now and that is higher than we have ever paid to fly anywhere

Just hoping i can hit a seat sale or we may be cancelling our resort

Its a tough decision. We just felt that since the flights for the five of us was more than 2 mortgage payments we just couldnt justify the cost

 

[canadianjovigirl]

Its a tough decision. We just felt that since the flights for the five of us was more than 2 mortgage payments we just couldnt justify the cost

yep theres 5 of us as well, maybe even 6 of us depending on price...........i paid $2000 for 5 of us to fly to Florida from Calgary in 2009.........and we usually pay less than $400 each to go to Cancun, but maybe thats a thing of the past as we skipped last year and paid off all debts instead...........

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

Check out the US carriers as well ... we fly down every May & Oct and have found that often the US carriers can be cheaper than either WJ or AC. Plus we like that with the US carriers, we clear US customs here in Edmonton rather than having to do that in Calgary or Toronto.

In all of our trips since 2003, we've never flown WJ or AC.

I'll start pricing out the airfare for our May 2012 trip soon, but won't even look at our October 2012 airfare until we get back from our May trip

 

[dis_guy]

I feel your pain. I had a hunch back in May and bought our tickets for Dec31-Jan7 then. I paid about $600 pp for Continental flights from Edmonton through Houston. Today, those same flights are going for $1501.91 pp!

However, if I could go tomorrow, I could get the same flights for $534.86 pp!

I'm afraid the new reality is that flights are going to cost us quite a bit more until people stop booking. Even then, casual travelers are not what the airlines depend on. Their bread and potatoes are business travelers with regular and reliable travel habits. I honestly don't think those of us who fly once or twice a year are even on their radar.

 

[Kat&Dom]

I am so glad that I booked our November trip back in February out of Calgary. I saw the flights for $360 return on Delta so I jumped on it. The flights have done nothing but increase since then. I hope you have good luck on your flights next October.

 

[dis_guy]

Just to add that I began to notice the ridiculous prices about 6 months ago when our usual strategy of buying United tickets on the Air Canada website went all to he**.

We used to get United flights from YEG connecting in Denver for $189 each way for just about any time of the year. Then they suddenly jumped to $930 each way. Soon after that all the prices were climbing for the stratosphere!

 

[SmilingGrump]

I'd highly suggest signing up on Kayak dot com and using their price alert feature as well as TravelZoo. There's also the option of naming your price on Priceline.

Personally, we're using points to fly to Aulani in Feb. We're also using points to send my DW and kids to Phoenix in a couple of weeks, but we need to save the remaining points for a 2013 trip to WDW so I'm stuck at home. But even using points, taxes and fees are a killer. In fact, the taxes and fees are more then the Phoenix tickets and now I've heard that their adding on another fee for the airport

WJ doesn't seem to be trying to beat AC pricing anymore, they seem to be price matching instead. Couple that with charging for a second bag and not coming out with winter flight schedules until just a few months before the dates and I'm not enthused about the direction WJ is taking. I still prefer them to AC, but, more often then not, the US airlines beat both of them hands down.

There are deals out there, but you need to have the flexibility to jump on them right away and most people aren't able to do that.

 

[katt789]

I've been keeping track of flights of everything since about last Feb, and flights seem to keep going up. I've found that a year or so out, they are ridiculous, and then they go down later on, keep monitoring, and keep an eye out for the expeida/kayak and consider booking through separate airlines to get there & back, that's how I got $525 flights for this December trip.

I'm hoping that flights go down after this though...$700 is a bit pricey per person!!

 

[jwcollin]

I track flights on Expedia.ca every morning for our trip in August 2012. I have seen two times where the prices have dropped to $535 return with tax (canadian) but they were a bit of a milk-run! Then the next day they bounced right back to $718!

I have always found that the American airlines come out cheaper than the canadian ones going from Edmonton to Orlando. Last year we saved $150 X 4 tickets by flying home out of Tampa!

 

[monkey30]

I track flights on Expedia.ca every morning for our trip in August 2012. I have seen two times where the prices have dropped to $535 return with tax (canadian) but they were a bit of a milk-run! Then the next day they bounced right back to $718!

I have always found that the American airlines come out cheaper than the canadian ones going from Edmonton to Orlando. Last year we saved $150 X 4 tickets by flying home out of Tampa!

We got american airlines for 400/pp this past trip in September, but however not happy with the airline, they were rude and the new policy of not being able to gate check strollers is a PITA. Well u can gate check under 20lbs but one check in person was not allowing anything other then a umbrella stroller past her!

 

[chimo2u]

We got american airlines for 400/pp this past trip in September, but however not happy with the airline, they were rude and the new policy of not being able to gate check strollers is a PITA. Well u can gate check under 20lbs but one check in person was not allowing anything other then a umbrella stroller past her!

That's sad! airline service is slipping lately! Our first time to Orlando, we flew United, and unknowingly didn't have a stitch of entertainment for the kids for a 7 hr trip....it sucked! also the plane was rickety, old and run down.....I don't want to fly an american airline ever again! I tend to like West Jet best, and now that Air Canada has started charging for bags, they are my last choice as their service stinks and their schedules are horrible......I really want to fly West Jet if possible. Last yr. we had a direct flight with WJ, but the same schedule seems to be non-existent this yr. Did your flight with American Air have inflight entertainment??? I would not want to fly with 2 teens again and no entertainment! that is a big priority for us on a long haul flight!

Fingers crossed the prices become more reasonable...perhaps in the new yr!

 

[damo]

I've been trying to find flights from Toronto to Saskatoon for early December and haven't been able to find anything much less than $600. Totally crazy.

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

I've been trying to find flights from Toronto to Saskatoon for early December and haven't been able to find anything much less than $600. Totally crazy.

It usually does cost more to fly within Canada than to from Canada to the US Have you tried flying on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday and returning on those same days of the week? Sometimes they are cheaper.

 

[Cartersmum]

The cost of flights to Orlando was a big reason why we changed our trip from WDW to DCL. Got a great kids sail free deal and the flights to LA are so much more reasonable!

 

[chimo2u]

The cost of flights to Orlando was a big reason why we changed our trip from WDW to DCL. Got a great kids sail free deal and the flights to LA are so much more reasonable!

That's interesting because whenever I would take a look, LAX tickets would always be around the same cost as MCO.....however, I think there is more to do at WDW, more to keep us and 2 teens busy....I would love to get back to DL one day (I haven't been since 1990)....but it will most likely be a true Girls Only trip (one where the boys don't glomm their way onto my trip, LOL ).....I am still keeping my eyes peeled, hoping maybe in the new yr. the flights I need will drop to around $229 per leg or less!!!