Flying at Christmas time

[jjskribs]

I am taking a short trip to WDW next December 27th and returning on December 31th. Does anyone have experience flying during that timeframe and if so how far ahead did you have to book. I will be flying out of Boston and at the time JetBlue, Song and AirTran will all be options. Thanks.......

 

[mcnuss]

I will be flying out of Boston and at the time JetBlue, Song and AirTran will all be options.

Well, there is no certainty at all about what airlines you'll have available at that time, so keep a look-out for changes at Logan. Also, not sure where you live, but don't forget SW out of Manchester and Providence.

Most of these LCCs do not release their schedules as far out as the "majors". For a Christmas time vacation, I would start to look in earnest about 6 mos. out. I booked my Thanksgiving flights last year in May, and my Christmas flights in August. Christmas, while busy, is a longer season so to speak, so while the volume is high, and there are some peak periods, it's not like T-giving where all the travel is concentrated over one 5 day period. Your dates sound firm in your post, but flexibility when traveling is amply rewarded! I flew my parents up here this year on Xmas day, they are returning to MCO on New Years day. We saved $200 by having them travel on these off-peak days.

Good luck and have fun planning

 

[off2disney]

I booked my pre-Christmas week airfare in February, New Orleans to MCO for $152.00. I would recommend that you put the wesites of the airlines you are interested in your "favorites" file and check periodically to see what the regular fares are. Check Yahoo Travel and Expedia - get an idea what the fares are running, then if you luch across an expecially good fare, book it! Sometimes special rates only last a few hours or a few days. I think I've seen somewhere that specials come out on Wednesdays.

And as mcnuss stated, if you are flexible in the dates you can travel, sometimes changing the date by one day can save you money. If this is an option, plug in different departure and arrival dates to see if that changes the fare.

 

[mcnuss]

One other thing to do is to set up a Fare Watcher alert on Travelocity. You get an email when the prices are withing your stated range.