Flight Prices

[buyerbrad]

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.

 

[SMD]

I flew a client into LAX earlier this summer. I started looking for the tickets about 3 weeks out and ended up doing the initial booking about 10 days out and then switching the arrival to the next day about 2-3 days later. His preference was Delta, but he didn't get it because they were expensive. Nonstop flights were $600+ each way. I think I ended up paying about $450 to LA 10 days out and around $250-300 home, with that flight being about 7 days later. I've had people request to fly home to Chicago, spend the night and take a train home for better return options.

 

[Angrose]

For an August flight, direct, great times and on a major airline, yes I think that is a good price. My sister used to live in Philly and has paid more than that to fly here in the spring time.

 

[smartlabelprint]

SNA is an awesome airport. Especially with babies. We have 2. We always buy a seat for their car seats. We sit
for example row 20 a,b & 21 a,b.

We have flown Seattle to ny and delta was horrible.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Does southwest fly from Detroit?

They have their own web site.

What about jet blue?

 

[minnieralyks]

Southwest has been crazy expensive for us the past couple of months. It used to be the best value from our airport to SNA, but now we can get First Class tickets on another airline at the prices they have for their "Wanna Get Away" tickets.

Anyway, I would wait until the airlines advertise a sale (Winter/Spring sale). We have been able to get tickets for $190/ pp round trip on Southwest, but the prices have been crazy for them lately. Granted, we are closer than Detroit, but I think you could get a better deal if you wait later.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Some airlines have a policy where you can get a credit for any discounts that appear after booking.

 

[drea21]

Southwest just started flying nonstop Pittsburgh to LAX- I just booked flights for $104 each way for Feb., I assume their summer fares jump up though. Add in the 2 free checked bags and great non-stop times I'm thrilled

 

[lcp9]

That seems crazy to me! Which airlines have hubs in Detroit? Be sure to check LAX, SNA, BUR, and LGB, all are within about an hour. SNA is by far the easiest, but we've come in from LAX and it was fine. We have a 5yo, 3yo, and 10 month old, and we prefer flying evening to get in late - usually 11pm our time. No traffic and they sleep through everything anyway. FWIW, we're in Boise and usually pay $160 RT.

 

[Flickor]

Go to airfarewatchdog dot com and sign up for email alerts for sales from Detroit to Santa Ana, Lax, and Long Beach. They will email you when sales happen (generally Monday and Tuesday) the recent sale last week was cheaper than I have ever saw for me (pdx to southern Cali) was under $90 roundtrip and it is usually $150 or higher. (Only knew about deal because of email alerts)

 

[bumbershoot]

It could be a good deal. August is a LONG time away to be looking right now, though.

OP are you looking at the luggage fees?

Some airlines have a policy where you can get a credit for any discounts that appear after booking.

Southwest and Alaska are the ones ones who do that without a fee. (Jet Blue might but I'm not sure)

 

[GenGen22]

Maybe even check Jet Blue flying to LGB.

 

[lalasmama]

It could be a good deal. August is a LONG time away to be looking right now, though. Southwest and Alaska are the ones ones who do that without a fee. (Jet Blue might but I'm not sure)

I agree--VERY early to be checking rates. JB is only scheduling to 6/17/16 right now. JB has free checked luggage for some fares... but not the cheap ones. I think the 1 free checked bag fare is like $15 above their super-cheap fare. Checked bag at check-in with JB is $25.

 

[lalasmama]

We fly JetBlue. I'm not from Detroit, so I can't give you great buy-prices from there, but I would definitely check into JB.

Reasons we love JB:
--Full-size Airbus planes (3 seats per side row, and 25 rows; no puddle jumpers!)
--Assigned seating (I hate the cattle call that Southwest does, especially with kids)
--Often 50% lower than Southwest, which is traditionally the "cheap" airline here, excluding Spirit and Frontier (I paid $64 for my upcoming trip from Portland with JB; SW wanted $128 one way, and $145 back home).
--Free snacks and drinks (and healthy options with these!)
--Back of seat entertainment includes TV, music, an "are we there yet?" map setting, and (for a small fee) movies. There may be more, I can never remember!
--They fly into LGB, which is a small, easy to navigate airport with only 14 gates. It's less than 30 minutes to Disneyland from the airport, and there's no waiting for transportation--$45 cabs are right out front. There's also not that frustrating 30 minute wait for your luggage like at many other airports (we once waited 45 minutes for our luggage to *start* at LAX!)
--Staff is generally laid back and helpful (except for the luggage marm outside TSA at LGB that sometimes makes you put your barely-too-big carry-on in the size checker thingy and then makes you check the bag when it's too big by an inch, but that's only happened once in like 10 flights out of LGB)

 

[MillauFr]

Looks like your only choices from Detroit to any of the LA airports are Delta and Spirit. You are far more likely to have a better flight experience on Delta than Spirit. I would only consider the non stop flights. Connecting flights even if they are direct have a much higher chance of delay and other problems.

 

[palenskec]

We fly JetBlue. I'm not from Detroit, so I can't give you great buy-prices from there, but I would definitely check into JB.

I agree with @lalasmama here. We also fly into LGB and LOVE IT. We used Lansky transportation and they provide car seats and a grocery stop. Works great.

@lalasmama - I have to ask. Was that $64 a RT price, or one way from PDX? We also fly out of PDX - just got RT on Southwest during that 3 day sale for about $110 RT (although we used miles, 5,100 miles pp RT).

 

[lalasmama]

@lalasmama - I have to ask. Was that $64 a RT price, or one way from PDX? We also fly out of PDX - just got RT on Southwest during that 3 day sale for about $110 RT (although we used miles, 5,100 miles pp RT).

Technically, it was only $11 I had frequent flier miles (after just like 6-8 flights PDX to LGB), so just had to pay the taxes. However, when you book super-duper early (I think we bought these tickets in like March), the prices are in the $59-69 range for the no-checked-bag fares, one way.

$110/RT for SW is an AMAZING price! My "buy price" for SW used to be $125/one way... I think I may have managed somewhere in the high $90s once with SW, but those times were very few and far between (and generally had me flying into LAX, or stopovers, both of which I hate).

 

[Isatricia]

We are flying Kansas City to LAX for $49 each way on Southwest. When I first bought the tickets they were $89 each way. Luckily SW is great about letting you rebook at the lower fare. We now have a really nice credit for our next trip!

 

[Isatricia]

We fly JetBlue. I'm not from Detroit, so I can't give you great buy-prices from there, but I would definitely check into JB.

Reasons we love JB:
--Full-size Airbus planes (3 seats per side row, and 25 rows; no puddle jumpers!)
--Assigned seating (I hate the cattle call that Southwest does, especially with kids)
--Often 50% lower than Southwest, which is traditionally the "cheap" airline here, excluding Spirit and Frontier (I paid $64 for my upcoming trip from Portland with JB; SW wanted $128 one way, and $145 back home).hd
--Free snacks and drinks (and healthy options with these!)
--Back of seat entertainment includes TV, music, an "are we there yet?" map setting, and (for a small fee) movies. There may be more, I can never remember!
--They fly into LGB, which is a small, easy to navigate airport with only 14 gates. It's less than 30 minutes to Disneyland from the airport, and there's no waiting for transportation--$45 cabs are right out front. There's also not that frustrating 30 minute wait for your luggage like at many other airports (we once waited 45 minutes for our luggage to *start* at LAX!)
--Staff is generally laid back and helpful (except for the luggage marm outside TSA at LGB that sometimes makes you put your barely-too-big carry-on in the size checker thingy and then makes you check the bag when it's too big by an inch, but that's only happened once in like 10 flights out of LGB)

Funny, I used to hate SW and their boarding process. But once I had kids, I learned to appreciate the flexibility of the SW boarding process. I've never had any issues with sitting together. And I love that my bags fly free!

 

[buyerbrad]

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.