Getting the cheapest flight?

[JRoyster86]

I don't fly much... I've only flown twice in my entire life, and both times were when I was under eighteen and my Dad just bought the tickets for me. So now, DF and I are flying to Disney in August and I'm trying to figure out plane tickets. I've been using discount travel sites like Orbitz and Expedia, plus the airlines websites. The only problem is, I don't know a deal when I see one.

We will probably be flying out of Logan airport in Boston. I've found tickets as low as $220 round trip on AirTran, with one stop in Atlanta both ways. Is this a deal? Should I keep looking? Is there a secret travel website I should be using? Thank you, all mighty Disers!

 

[got2travel]

I don't know what a good flight from NY or Boston would be, but I can get a flight in August from CA to FL for $220 round trip, so I'm thinking you might be able to find something better.

I use kayak.com. It checks all the other travel sites (orbtiz, expedia, etc and also the individual airliens) then tells you who is offering what fares. It really just comes down to figuring out a price that you would be comfortable with, then book when something comes up in that range. When I'm searching for airfare, I recheck every couple of days until I find what I want. Sometimes I book months in advance, sometimes only a few weeks. But waiting until a few weeks runs the risk of prices being crazy high. I only do that for trips that are not locked in already.

 

[acourtwdw]

Try Spirit. Yesterday we got airfare for my parents from Detriot to Orlando for less then $120 for both of them roundtrip.

 

[Singinglizzie]

Looks like you are on the right track. I also check hotwire.com and kayak.com. Hotwire gives you the abilitiy to see a 30 day window with various date combinations for the lowest fares, and kayak.com is a mega site searcher, so it searches several sites for you. The lowest price is sometimes on Priceline.com, where you buy a "blind" flight meaning you dont pick the times, only the dates and you can specify the number of stops you are willing to make. If you go that route, just assume you will get the worst times and if not you will be pleasantly surprised. You can also sign up free on travelocity.co, for email notification when your flight drops below a dollar amount that you assign, like you want to be notified anytime fares drop below $200.00. I don't know the Boston market, so I dont know if $220 is a good rate. Fares from my area, just dropped $50, so I hope you have equally good luck. If you PM me with your dates I will run a few searches for you to see if I can find a lower price, since I've been doing alot of fare checking anyway. Have fun with your planning! Here is some pixie dust for you !

 

[serene56]

I too use Kayak.com but Kayak does not list ALL available flights-- like Southwest or Airtran.

Please note that on some of the sites youlisted you will be paying like 15.00 service charge--
what yousee is NOT the whole price because now yougotta figure in taxes and all the surcharges-- example of a 59.each way flight will costs about 140

Play around on Kayak-- use different dates and times. Not all flights are created equal-- something that is leaving later in the daymight be a lot cheaper then a mid morning flight.

Another thing to factor in-- almost all airlines are charging 15.00 per person per bag.. so round trip figure another 30.00 pp (south west does not charge this yet

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Does Southwest fly near you? We love them. We have often gotten fares like $49-79 each way ($59 for next Oct!)
They don't charge any baggage fees (unless it's 3 or more bags pp) seat fees, change fees, snack/drink fees. Also if the price drops after you book, you can easily change it online to the lower price and pocket a credit for future use.
Our Thanksgiving flights dropped $300 so we used that credit to hop down for a long weekend in Feb and only paid $257 for all 4 of RT.

They also don't have preassigned seats. Each passenger is assigned a letter and # when checking in, like A25. People board in numerical order except for those needing assistance; they go 1st. Then As, then Bs, then Cs. Family boarding (those w/ kids 4 and under) board between As and Bs.
For this reason it's best to check in online or via web-enabled cell phone 24 hrs before your flight, as close to the 24 hr mark as possible.

SWA rarely changes their schedule except for weather or mechanical issues beyond their control. Some airlines are notorious for changing from non-stop to connecting flights w/o alerting passengers in advance.

Also even though we're a family of 4, I always search prices for 1 person. Let's say there's 3 seats available at $59. If I enter 4 passengers, it bumps the price to $89 pp. If I enter 1 then 2 then 3, etc. I discover I could buy the 1st 3 at $59, then only have to buy 1 at $89 rate.
Does this make sense?

good luck!

 

[beccasmom]

I think Southwest is now (or will soon be) at Logan and they are generally terrific - they do not currently charge for luggage like most of the larger airlines are doing and the service is great. Jet Blue is excellent as well.

You might want to try FareCast to get an idea of what a good fare is from Boston. That way you can make a better decision when a really good fare comes your way. We travel from PHL and generally feel pretty good when we get a fare of $200 or less, although we have done much better than that on occasion. Sign up for Ding! from Southwest and for all the other airlines that travel from your area to be the first to get notice of any sales. Think about traveling from a smaller airport if that is an alternative for you. When you see a good price, jump on it! Travel on off-peak days if you can. If you can change your travel days two or three days in either direction, try that and see if the price decreases.

If this sounds like work, well, it is. You need to be vigilant to get a good airfare. But when you do, you will feel really good about it and know you will have more $$$ to spend at WDW!

 

[JRoyster86]

Thanks for all the advice everyone! It's been very helpful!

 

[Maliki2]

Jetblue finally caught up to our dates in Dec this year. By far the cheapest. I got 5 tickets for around $200 a piece total. Straight flight down. One stop on the way back.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Okay so what I do is i use a mega site like Orbitz or CheapoAir or cheaptickets or travelocity and I see what airline they tell me is offering the cheapest tickets then I go to that airlines own site and check out their price. So far it is usually cheaper on that airlines own site with fewer fee's. Today though travelocity and northwest air were both offering the same price. 109. (145 w/fees and taxes) roundtrip from Detroit to Orlando.