Flight Prices

[las3888]

We just booked today for our upcoming March trip (we are flying from Chicago but Milwaukee is also an option for us). I have been watching a/f ever since we booked our DVC at 7 months, so for about late August until now (almost 2 months). The best place to check was southwest website and itamatrix.com (for all else). You are able to enter a search that includes all the surrounding airports. The rates have been consistently in the upper $300's, like $380 or above. Southwest has been probably an additional $100 for flights at "good times" that are direct. I have been wrangling with all kinds of non-direct, odd-ball times, but still haven't been lower than about $350. So today coincidentally while I was poking around the itamatrix.com website, I started digging around AA fares. This morning they were around $500 but they dropped (literally while I watched) to $283. I was really hoping for less than $1K for 3 of us and I was pleasantly surprised. This included almost all of their normal flights (direct) to LAX so we were able to get great times too (no waking at 3AM or flying in way late at night). Very happy that I kept checking. I am honestly amazed at doing this well for direct flights with good times on a major airline for SPRING BREAK. On off-peak times, it's difficult to be under $300 to CA from Chicago. Southwest is starting to sell out (at least for cheaper seats) on their direct flights that have decent times. Good luck and keep checking. I really did every day, or at least every other day and it paid off. We are 5 months just over 5 months out.

 

[lcp9]

Thanks for all of the replies. Unfortunately, as somebody else mentioned, only Spirit and Delta fly direct into any of the airports mentioned. Jet Blue flies direct from Buffalo, but the red-eye return is not something we will consider with 2 small kids.

Do you have to fly direct? It's mildly annoying to connect, but with my kids I've found it breaks it up a little bit and they can eat/go to the bathroom/I can change diapers. It's less annoying on SW because we can check just about every bag/stroller/carseat we have for free.

 

[bearette]

I have flown with my now four year old twins red eye, can I ask if you had a bad experience with a red eye? Those work better for my kids as they are tired and sleep the whole flight. We did it from LAX to MSY and it was great.

Now the 6am flight I booked which required us to leave the house by 3am I swore I'd never do again. They were over tired and cried all the way to Philadelphia. I refuse early mornings now instead. You know your kids sleep scheduled but mine did better in evenings so if you have not done it, it may work out better.

 

[Frozen2014]

We just booked today for our upcoming March trip (we are flying from Chicago but Milwaukee is also an option for us). I have been watching a/f ever since we booked our DVC at 7 months, so for about late August until now (almost 2 months). The best place to check was southwest website and itamatrix.com (for all else). You are able to enter a search that includes all the surrounding airports. The rates have been consistently in the upper $300's, like $380 or above. Southwest has been probably an additional $100 for flights at "good times" that are direct. I have been wrangling with all kinds of non-direct, odd-ball times, but still haven't been lower than about $350. So today coincidentally while I was poking around the itamatrix.com website, I started digging around AA fares. This morning they were around $500 but they dropped (literally while I watched) to $283. I was really hoping for less than $1K for 3 of us and I was pleasantly surprised. This included almost all of their normal flights (direct) to LAX so we were able to get great times too (no waking at 3AM or flying in way late at night). Very happy that I kept checking. I am honestly amazed at doing this well for direct flights with good times on a major airline for SPRING BREAK. On off-peak times, it's difficult to be under $300 to CA from Chicago. Southwest is starting to sell out (at least for cheaper seats) on their direct flights that have decent times. Good luck and keep checking. I really did every day, or at least every other day and it paid off. We are 5 months just over 5 months out.

I'm not the OP but can I ask where you go once you are viewing itamatrix.com? It seems to be a link to other travel sites (flighthub, cheapairlinetickets, cheapoair, etc)

 

[dark54555]

For reference, we just flew DFW-LAX for about $230 per ticket (10/5-10/10). The cheapest DFW-SNA for the same days eventually got to $350, but when we booked was close to $600. We normally fly to SNA, but at nearly 300% price, the extra drive/traffic in dealing with LAX was worth it.

 

[daisy_77]

This morning I purchased my plane ticket on Southwest. I am flying from Boise to Orange County at the end of February. My ticket was $213. I normally pay at least $150 more for the exact same trip.

 

[smartlabelprint]

We have to do day trips with our kids. We did even a later flight 9-12 and it was terrible. Everyone's kids are different. Mine have sensory disability.

 

[momsmail]

I love Southwest, personally. I only fly them now! I recently booked 3 tickets from Portland, OR to SNA. I checked back later and found the price had dropped for our flights, so I changed the reservation and got a credit for the difference (all online). The total for all 3, after all taxes and fees and adding early bird check in was $491.88. ($163.96 per person, round trip)

Pros for me:

• 2 free checked bags per ticket, plus carry on!

• Non-stop/direct flight options with great flight times.

• Early bird check-in option. It automatically checks you in 24 hours in advance and secures you one of the first boarding positions.

• Sit where you want, no seating arrangements (this is a pro for me, but some may not like it. This is why I get early bird check in, so we can board first and pick good seats).

• Great customer service. SUPERB! Last year I had purchased non-refundable tickets but then had life threatening blood clots in my lungs, I was not able to fly. Through Facebook Messenger, not even a phone call, they cancelled my tickets and refunded me! They were amazing!

Cons:

• Not a lot of bells and whistles, such as TV's on the chairs, etc. But they do provide snacks such as soda, water, pretzels.

I realize you are further away and your experiences/options may be different. Just wanted to put my vote in for Southwest. Haha

 

[Darkbeer1]

I am a fan of Alaska and JetBlue, since they do allow one bag free, have reserved seating and nicer food/entertainment options.

Should be interesting to see how Virgin America is blended into Alaska

To me, Southwest is like flying on a bus, though I do fly them depending on where I need to go and who is paying.

But if I can use Long Beach, that is a big plus that is worth a little extra (MHO) over SNA or LAX.

 

[lcp9]

This morning I purchased my plane ticket on Southwest. I am flying from Boise to Orange County at the end of February. My ticket was $213. I normally pay at least $150 more for the exact same trip.

When do you typically fly? We always fly from BOI to SNA and I don't think we've ever paid more than $180 RT. We do typically always leave on Tuesdays though

 

[Flickor]

;

I am a fan of Alaska and JetBlue, since they do allow one bag free, have reserved seating and nicer food/entertainment options.

Should be interesting to see how Virgin America is blended into Alaska

To me, Southwest is like flying on a bus, though I do fly them depending on where I need to go and who is paying.

But if I can use Long Beach, that is a big plus that is worth a little extra (MHO) over SNA or LAX.

JetBlue charges for any checked bags now.

 

[Wishingspell]

I'm flying united and got round trip with am flights and one layover for 400$ in February (nc to Orange County). I went through Expedia.

 

[CateinPhoenix]

Phoenix-SNA $49 each way Dec 31st and Jan 7th! on Southwest

 

[ClaraOswald]

We fly Omaha, NE to Santa Ana, CA. We don't have direct flights so we stop once. We actually prefer this so our son can run around a bit and whatnot. We have paid anywhere from $225 to $450 round trip (per person.) It really varies based on the year, airline, and flight times. Personally, we are willing to pay for more for flight times that work best for our family.

Normally we fly United, Frontier, or Southwest to SNA (and home) just because they have the best layover cities for us.

 

[gatorlisa]

I flew to LAX in May for a Disneyland trip, tickets booked the December before, so maybe 5 and a half months in advance. Delta direct from Atlanta, $212 round trip. Evening flight over, leaving around 7 PM I think. The return flight was around 1:30 PM or so. That was a crazy good deal that we could not pass up. More recently, we flew ATL to San Francisco, again, on Delta, good flight times. That one was more around the $400 range, which I still consider a decent price for round trip direct from Atlanta to California.

 

[justafigment27]

I think $403 is reasonable for DTW to LAX in the summer - particularly for great flight times. Last summer, we paid $430/person for non-stop on Delta from DTW-LAX and I really saw very little fluctuation in prices after we purchased. A few summers back, we paid around the same price on Delta from DTW to San Diego. I am looking for DTW to SFO for July 2017 and am not seeing much under $500 at this point ... I am hoping for something in the $400 range again.

 

[nikerbokers]

Truth me told I love red eyes with my kids. When we fly to NYC, I only fly that way. The kids just sleep since it's their bedtime anyway.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Just wondering if anyone has flown to California lately and what they paid? Were are looking to go next August, flying from Detroit. The cheapest roundtrip direct flight is $363. However, the return flight is a red-eye, so that won't work for us and our 1 and 3 year olds. The next cheapest is $403 with great flight times. It is with Delta, so the snacks, wifi and free back of the chair entertainment are a plus with kids. Is this a poor/good/great price? Some airlines have not even posted their schedules yet, so we could also wait longer, but definetly don't want to fly Spirit.

We fly Southwest. We got flights this year for appx $124 each way from the east coast non-stop into LAX. We booked originally when they first opened the southwest calendar for our dates, but the rates dropped a few months later and we called and asked them to adjust our booking accordingly. We now have a credit with SW for use on a future flight (has to be used w/i 1 year of the original booking, though).

 

[lalasmama]

Truth me told I love red eyes with my kids. When we fly to NYC, I only fly that way. The kids just sleep since it's their bedtime anyway.

Totally jealous of this! When my daughter was young, she would never sleep if she wasn't at home in her bed. I'd always been told to travel at night. Unfortunately, daughter thought that meant it was time to be awake... and then would refuse the nap the next day.

 

[Tinkerbell19672]

Totally jealous of this! When my daughter was young, she would never sleep if she wasn't at home in her bed. I'd always been told to travel at night. Unfortunately, daughter thought that meant it was time to be awake... and then would refuse the nap the next day.

Same here! It's even hard for us to take super early flights because DD would never make up the lost sleep and then be exhausted