Haven't flown before - a few questions!

mshanson3121

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jan 16, 2015
1. When will tickets go on sale for next Nov/December? When is the best time to buy - as soon as they go on sale, or later?

2. Where is the best place to buy them - direct from the company, or on a discount travel site? If the latter, which one?

3. What airline do you recommend? We can fly out of Portland, ME, Boston, MA, Providence, RI or Portsmouth, NH?

We had planned on flying Spirit since they're so cheap (I know about the fees) until I read reviews here on the board. The two biggest complaints with them, are two of my biggest criteria which are:

- I absolutely MUST be able to pick seats, because I absolutely MUST be able to sit with my children. One struggles with anxiety and the other has ASD. Not sitting with them is simply not an option.

- Since we're going for such a short trip (only have 2-3 days in Florida), getting there on the day originally planned is definitely a must. So, if the flight is delayed/canceled, we need to be booked on another flight, ASAP.
 
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For next Nov/December? When is the best time to buy - as soon as they go on sale, or later? If they go on sale later will they adjust? We'll probably fly Spirit out of Boston.
Legacy airlines (Delta, American, United) make their flights available for purchase 330 out. Others (Southwest, Jetblue, etc) have rolling windows where they're release 3 months (?) of flights at a time.

The best time to buy is when you find a price that's acceptable to you. Period. End of story. Unless you're flying Southwest, DO. NOT. LOOK. AT. PRICES. AFTER. YOU. BOOK.
 
Legacy airlines (Delta, American, United) make their flights available for purchase 330 out. Others (Southwest, Jetblue, etc) have rolling windows where they're release 3 months (?) of flights at a time.

The best time to buy is when you find a price that's acceptable to you. Period. End of story. Unless you're flying Southwest, DO. NOT. LOOK. AT. PRICES. AFTER. YOU. BOOK.

I updated my original post, if you can add to the rest of it :) May I ask why you say "Unless you're flying Southwest"? Do they offer price adjustments post-purchase?
 


With southwest you can re book at a lower rate without a fee and they will give you a travel credit for the difference on a future southwest flight which is good for 1 year.
 
With southwest you can re book at a lower rate without a fee and they will give you a travel credit for the difference on a future southwest flight which is good for 1 year.
Note that it's 1 year from the original purchase date. So if you buy a ticket in March 2018 for a flight in August and the price drops in July, the credit needs to be used by March 2019.

Each credit is tied to the traveler also. So if you buy 4 tickets and the price drop is $50/ticket, you don't have a $200 credit (unless all are flying together again), each person has $50, regardless of who paid for the ticket.
 
1. When will tickets go on sale for next Nov/December? When is the best time to buy - as soon as they go on sale, or later?

2. Where is the best place to buy them - direct from the company, or on a discount travel site? If the latter, which one?

3. What airline do you recommend? We can fly out of Portland, ME, Boston, MA, Providence, RI or Portsmouth, NH?

We had planned on flying Spirit since they're so cheap (I know about the fees) until I read reviews here on the board. The two biggest complaints with them, are two of my biggest criteria which are:

- I absolutely MUST be able to pick seats, because I absolutely MUST be able to sit with my children. One struggles with anxiety and the other has ASD. Not sitting with them is simply not an option.

- Since we're going for such a short trip (only have 2-3 days in Florida), getting there on the day originally planned is definitely a must. So, if the flight is delayed/canceled, we need to be booked on another flight, ASAP.

1) I usually find the best prices around the 6 to 3 month mark. Earlier, and it is too soon for airlines to offer discounts since they don’t really have a good idea what’s selling and what isn’t yet. Later, and everything is booked up and what is left usually tends to only increase in price.

2) I refuse to buy from anyone but direct through the airline. You will find much cheaper tickets through third parties, but the headaches that occur if something goes wrong aren’t worth it to me. What can happen is if you have any issue, the Third Party Retailer tells you to see the airline, it’s their problem, and the airline tells you to see the 3rd Party Retailer since you purchased through them. It ends up being a huge mess. You can usually get it straightened out eventually, but you can end up stranded somewhere for a good amount of time while the two argue back and forth about whose responsibility you are. I had some friends stranded in Portugal once a couple of days due to this. I told them, book direct, but they wanted the discount.

3) My favorite airline is Southwest, but they do not assign seats, so ... I’ve had good luck with Delta also. This is what my work flies us on. But honestly, all the airlines seem about the same. I usually go with whichever is the best deal. I’ve had good and bad experiences with all the major airlines.

Some other advice, since you are trying to avoid delays and problems because of the tight schedule. I wouldn’t book anything but a direct flight, and try to get that for as early in the day as possible. Every time you have to change planes, you are doubling your chances of something going wrong. Flight delays, missed flights, etc.

If you do have to change planes, give yourself plenty of time between flights. A 30 minute layover, sometimes even an hour layover, is not enough at many airports. Flight times are listed as take off and landing. You could still be sitting on the plane waiting to get off it 15 to 30 minutes after it lands. Then you have to walk through the airport to your next gate which could take another 15 to 30 minutes, longer at larger airports if you have to go from one side to the other. Most flights begin boarding about 15 to 30 minutes before listed take off. Best case scenario, you’d need about 45 minutes at most airports just to go straight from one plane to the next. Worst case it could take 2 hours. If you need bathroom breaks and a meal as well, you will need even more time. So don’t think a 2 or 3 hour layover is too long.

Book for an early flight because if something goes wrong with the first flight, you have the chance to make it on another flight later that same day. The more flights leaving after yours, the better your chance of making it same day if there is a problem. If your flight is one of the last of the day to leave, you’ll probably have to wait until the next day if there is an issue because there won’t be another flight going out that day they can put you on.

Also, be your own advocate. All airlines are pretty bad about keeping passengers up to date on delays and cancellations. Don’t sit around waiting for them to help you. Be polite but ask to be put on some flight to somewhere, even if you have to change planes again. A lot of time they’ll tell there is nothing going where you want to go. That is going direct. Sometimes they can fly you somewhere else and then onto where you want to go, so check on that kind of stuff if you have any issues during the flight.

Another issue I’ve noticed happening to us a lot recently is seat assignment changes by the airlines. Since sitting together is so important to you, check periodically that your seats are correct. We have this happen all the time, that they change our seats and don’t alert us. I’ve had them move the kids all over the plane before, where they ended up no where near me. What happens is you initially book the flight and choose your seats. The flight is scheduled on a Size X plane. Then the airline changes the plane to Size Z and everybody’s seats get moved around because the new plane is configured differently. You can also have airlines rearranging seats for other reasons as well, so keep checking them up until you leave to make sure they haven’t changed. It’s usually a minor inconvenience and easy to fix online ahead of time, but if I had waited and discovered the issue at the airport, it would have been too late to fix.
 


We had planned on flying Spirit since they're so cheap (I know about the fees) until I read reviews here on the board. The two biggest complaints with them, are two of my biggest criteria which are:

- I absolutely MUST be able to pick seats, because I absolutely MUST be able to sit with my children. One struggles with anxiety and the other has ASD. Not sitting with them is simply not an option.

- Since we're going for such a short trip (only have 2-3 days in Florida), getting there on the day originally planned is definitely a must. So, if the flight is delayed/canceled, we need to be booked on another flight, ASAP.
Based on the added information, do NOT book with Spirit. I don't care how cheap they are.

Southwest may be an option depending on the age of your children. Family boarding applies to kids under 6 and at least one guardian (usually entire family).

However, if you want a 100% guarantee that you are sitting with your children, DRIVE.

Now, more than likely you'll be able to sit with your kids, and the younger they are the better your chances. But I personally would pick an airline that lets me select my seat at the time of booking, even if it means paying more. That means legacy airlines. However, legacy airlines are also "bad" about changing flights and planes (especially the further out you book) and that can mess up seat assignments. So as PP said, you need to stay on top of it. After booking, I would even call the airline and ask them to note on your reservation that all the seats need to be linked and stay together.
 
Based on the added information, do NOT book with Spirit. I don't care how cheap they are.

Southwest may be an option depending on the age of your children. Family boarding applies to kids under 6 and at least one guardian (usually entire family).

However, if you want a 100% guarantee that you are sitting with your children, DRIVE.

Now, more than likely you'll be able to sit with your kids, and the younger they are the better your chances. But I personally would pick an airline that lets me select my seat at the time of booking, even if it means paying more. That means legacy airlines. However, legacy airlines are also "bad" about changing flights and planes (especially the further out you book) and that can mess up seat assignments. So as PP said, you need to stay on top of it. After booking, I would even call the airline and ask them to note on your reservation that all the seats need to be linked and stay together.

Thoughts on Frontier? They allow selecting seats at the time of booking for as little as $9.
 
1. When will tickets go on sale for next Nov/December? When is the best time to buy - as soon as they go on sale, or later?

2. Where is the best place to buy them - direct from the company, or on a discount travel site? If the latter, which one?

3. What airline do you recommend? We can fly out of Portland, ME, Boston, MA, Providence, RI or Portsmouth, NH?

We had planned on flying Spirit since they're so cheap (I know about the fees) until I read reviews here on the board. The two biggest complaints with them, are two of my biggest criteria which are:

- I absolutely MUST be able to pick seats, because I absolutely MUST be able to sit with my children. One struggles with anxiety and the other has ASD. Not sitting with them is simply not an option.

- Since we're going for such a short trip (only have 2-3 days in Florida), getting there on the day originally planned is definitely a must. So, if the flight is delayed/canceled, we need to be booked on another flight, ASAP.


I'm trying to figure out where you are because it seems odd that Providence and Portland would be on the same list...but not Manchester. I avoid Logan like the plague personally. Honestly even though Southwest doesn't guarantee that you'll sit together, if you're on a nonstop flight to Orlando, everyone's going to the same place and any adults not traveling with kids are usually pretty accommodating, at least that's my experience out of Manchester. There are basically 2 groups of people on those flights, families and golfers because SW doesn't charge for the first 2 bags. Pay the money for early bird check in (while it doesn't guarantee A group you have a better chance of being in A). I think I've usually hit the sweet spot for SW fares around the 60 to 90 day mark. I would just set a max price you're comfortable paying and go with that (you'll drive yourself bonkers otherwise)
 
I'm trying to figure out where you are because it seems odd that Providence and Portland would be on the same list...but not Manchester.

We're in New Brunswick, Canada. Manchester's not on the list because I completely forgot about it, lol.
 
Thoughts on Frontier? They allow selecting seats at the time of booking for as little as $9.
Sorry, no, I don't have any thoughts on Frontier. But you can check and see if they offer multiple flights a day. If not, I would stay away.
 
We're in New Brunswick, Canada. Manchester's not on the list because I completely forgot about it, lol.

That makes more sense now. It just seemed like an odd geographic range for any local to willingly choose.

As far as Frontier is concerned, I think they suffer from the same issues as Spirit (fewer flights, no relations with other carriers, etc) but I have no first hand knowledge.

Your best chance of getting anywhere would be to choose an airline with multiple flights a day (at least 2 non stop and 2 with connecting flights). I wouldn't book a seat on the ONLY flight to orlando during Nov/Dec. That seems like tempting fate...
 
If you book a discount airline, just pay to select your seat or early boarding. It really will be fine.

And yes, sounds like it will be important for you to book an airline with multiple flights to Orlando the same day. I almost booked with Frontier this year, but one flight a day got me concerned and I flew one way with American Airlines and the other way with Southwest. By the way, you can book two separate one way flights with 2 different airlines like I did. It can cost less money or it can cost more money. That said, as a new flyer, this means learning the systems of two different airlines and that might cause you more anxiety. In general, flying is pretty similar between all airlines though.

Goggle Flights is a good way to check prices between multiple airlines (Southwest is not available on there though). They also offer price tracking with alerts to your email which is nice. I advise booking directly with the airline too. 3rd parties tend to have difficulties with seating assignments.
 
Never thought of doing one way with different airlines. That would be an idea. We have lots of flexibility on the way home, just not on the way there.
 
We fly JetBlue out of Portland. Their fares are comparable with Southwest most of the time. Southwest from Portland no longer has non stop flights, but Manchester does, I believe. Don't forget to check Bangor, ME out too.
 
3. What airline do you recommend? We can fly out of Portland, ME, Boston, MA, Providence, RI or Portsmouth, NH?

- I absolutely MUST be able to pick seats, because I absolutely MUST be able to sit with my children. One struggles with anxiety and the other has ASD. Not sitting with them is simply not an option.
JetBlue. You can pick seats. The prices are not the very cheapest but as elle101me says, they are comparable.

I have flown Frontier. You can pick seats. It's a less comfortable airline than Jet Blue and (from Los Angeles) only about $30 per seat less. for us that little extra is worth it.
2. Where is the best place to buy them - direct from the company, or on a discount travel site? If the latter, which one?
From the JetBlue site.
 
Buy direct from the airline. If something goes wrong you only have to deal with them. If you buy through a travel site and have a problem you will have the airline and the travel site blaming each other.

The super discount airlines have limited schedules and it's possible (fairly rare) that if a flight is cancelled you won't get another one for several days.

When to buy? It's almost like predicting lottery numbers. There are no hard and fast rules on timing. The more demand for a flight then the higher the price. Airlines monitor demand and change pricing continuously.
 
Buy direct from the airline. If something goes wrong you only have to deal with them. If you buy through a travel site and have a problem you will have the airline and the travel site blaming each other.
I agree with this, and for one additional reason.

I check the discount sites, but I always buy from the airline itself. Same with rental cars -- I check discount, buy direct.

The reason is that the discounted flights/car rentals are often quite limited. But I can get a sense of the price, then go to the airline site, and have a MUCH greater variety of flights...at the same price as the discounted "deal."
 
Consider Burlington, VT as well. One thing to add is that New England can be unique in the pricing game if you fly during Spring break. In that case the earlier you book the better. There is rarely that price drop that other areas of the country talk about for Spring break flights.
 

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