Flight Ticket for Feb 2006

[tchan03]

Hi I plan to go to Orlando in late Feb, 2006. I called a few travel agencies to find out the flight ticket price. There was one agent telling that there is one available : Air Canada costing only CDN $440 including all taxes. Later on I called another agency, the agent there advised me not to buy ticket until 2-3 weeks prior to my date because i should be able to find even cheaper ticket by that time.

Athought i certainly want to go for the cheapest ticket, I personally think that i should book tickets at least 1-2 months prior.

What would be your advice for that ?
Thx
TC

 

[Scratch42]

If that's your price with All Taxes, etc.! Make sure it's a return flight too!

BOOK IT!

janet

 

[nerdy_grrl_t]

That's a really reasonable price for Orlando return if it's taxes incl. We went in Feb. of this year and that's about what we paid on AC... all the other rates I saw were higher, even closer to our departure date, so I wouldn't wait because you might get stuck!

 

[SaraMc]

Where are you flying out of? Toronto? We are flying out of Buffalo and it was sooooooooooooooooo much les $$

 

[talicskai]

I am a travel agent and would advise that you not wait until 2-3 weeks prior. If you are traveling at the end of February that is getting into high season and the flights will have little availability. That is a good price for AC tax included. However, if you can go from Buffalo, Southwest will soon have their rates out and they have one non-stop every day. Their rates should be around $175-200 US roundtrip. Currently they only have their schedule out until Feb 3/06 but they should be releasing their next block of space any day now. Good Luck ~ I say go with the first agent.

Teresa

 

[mc'smommy]

With any luck you may even be able to go cheaper on Southwest, I flew down for business to Orlando last Feb 13th for 2 days and got Southwest seats 9 days prior for $ 96.75 each person return trip.... For a total of $ 290.25


Good Luck and don't wait to much longer...

 

[chasbos]

Ditto on the SWA. They are far more economical than any Canadian airline.

Last January the 6 of us flew return from Buffalo to Orlando for $451 US. And this year DH and I are flying Buffalo to Tampa return for $280 US.

I personally will never fly from Canada into the states - way too many taxes to pay.

 

[tchan03]

Thanks for your reply. But flying from Buffalo to Orlando brings up two concerns:

1. I drive to airport, so i'll have to find out how much it'll cost to park my car there for 6 days.

2. I'll need to find Travel agency in Toronto which sells air tickets from Buffalo to Orlando.

 

[chasbos]

We drive to the airport too and it is the same to park in Buffalo as it is in Toronto. Now we spend the night in BUffalo for an early a.m. flight and parking is free with a shuttle to the airport.

Also, why do you need a TA for airline tickets? We just book on line through SWA. I use a TA for every other step of my vacation except the flight.

 

[DutchsMommy]

Go check it out...........

As far as driving/parking at BUF - really easy to get to and get around. I think parking is around $40/week. You could also stay overnight at an airport hotel which has park-n-fly (they pretty much all do). The cost is around $100-$120 incl. the parking.

Definately book SWA online - it's really easy. Just follow the steps.

I just booked Feb 8-15 for 3 of us total = $526 all incl. (that's $175 each) and I will still be keeping tabs in case they go lower (SWA will issue you a credit if they do).

Good Luck.


PS - I just checked Westjet and it's $500.23 for one person - so think of SWA as a 3-for-1 LOL

 

[tchan03]

With regards to getting to BUffalo airport and flying to Orlando,
Is there any other airline almost as cheap and safe as Southwest?

I checked Southwest, but the airline departure timing doesn't quite fit our schedule.

THx
TC

 

[talicskai]

With regards to getting to BUffalo airport and flying to Orlando,
Is there any other airline almost as cheap and safe as Southwest?

I checked Southwest, but the airline departure timing doesn't quite fit our schedule.

THx
TC

Southwest is the only airline with the non-stop service to Orlando. JetBlue is a great airline but you need to change planes in JFK both directions. The kids would like them better though because they have their own TV in each seat. I would highly recommend them if you don't mind connecting.
There is also AirTran but you need to connect thru Atlanta with them.

Teresa

 

[Polynesianfan]

I just booked Feb 8-15 for 3 of us total = $526 all incl. (that's $175 each) and I will still be keeping tabs in case they go lower (SWA will issue you a credit if they do).

DutchsMommy....they issue a credit ???!!!...you mean if a cheaper "ding" fare comes up you can rebook and get credit ?
How is this done?
I've recently booked 4 on SWA for Dec. 31, for $742 US (obviously still cheaper then Pearson), but thought I was locked in if anything got cheaper.

Please share with the rest of the class this great news.

Thanks !!!

 

[chasbos]

Yes, they issue you a credit for the difference and then you have 1 year from the original booking date to use the credit.

I was able to use my credit of $360 in the year but I just called and they extended it for another 6 months - so this January's flight are basically free because I had over paid last year.

 

[Polynesianfan]

Wow ! seems like the only way to fly to MCO !
Thanks a bunch !

 

[DutchsMommy]

Yes, they issue you a credit for the difference and then you have 1 year from the original booking date to use the credit.

I was able to use my credit of $360 in the year but I just called and they extended it for another 6 months - so this January's flight are basically free because I had over paid last year.

That's the one thing I find confusing about SWA - I had credits from Oct of 2004, so needed to use them for Oct 2005. We weren't planning on anything until Feb '06 but they wouldn't extend for me. So DH and I snuck a trip in Sept (I know, poor me ). But then I see others getting extensions and I wonder....it's like calling CRO Anyway, I'm ultimately a dumb-dumb anyway 'cause as soon as Feb opened on SWA I rushed to book for our Feb trip without thinking (again) that our next trip is not until November '06 which will be about 1 mo outside our 'credit' timeframe if the fares go down btwn now and Feb - duh, you think I would learn
But I do wish I understood the whole 'extension' policy.

 

[chasbos]

DutchsMommy - I wonder if you were to just keep calling and asking, maybe you would get someone who likes to extend the credit?

I thought it was worth a try and when I told her I was not travelling until soon after my credit expired she was happy to assist me.

Maybe we should start a poll on the Transportation Board seeing how many people get there credit extended.

But I do have to agree with Polynesianfan, Buffalo is the only way to go when flying within the US. The taxes in Canada are ridiculous.