How to find cheap airfare?

[candielips]

How does everyone find such great deals? We want to try flying this time as we have driven the past 3x and I just want to relax, but the cheapest we seem to find is around $200 each return.
Is it cheaper to fly out of another airport other than Buffalo? Is it cheaper to fly into somewhere other than Orlando? We plan on renting a car when we are there, so driving is not an issue for us. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. We are going at the beginning of Sept for 10 nights but can add or subtract from those nights.

 

[thebigman65]

How does everyone find such great deals? We want to try flying this time as we have driven the past 3x and I just want to relax, but the cheapest we seem to find is around $200 each return.
Is it cheaper to fly out of another airport other than Buffalo? Is it cheaper to fly into somewhere other than Orlando? We plan on renting a car when we are there, so driving is not an issue for us. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. We are going at the beginning of Sept for 10 nights but can add or subtract from those nights.

$200 each return is pretty good actually. Keep checking on Expedia.ca, and all the other travel sites. you can also sign up with the airline sites to get email notifications on specials, etc.

 

[newdeal]

you need to check the airline websites daily to find a deal. Best airlines imo are southwest and jet blue. Just booked a flight for next week thursday and it cost 338.80 including all fees for two people round trip from buffalo. Not going to be able to get much cheaper than that

 

[lady_bug_888]

To find good airfares you have to be vigilant. I am getting a STEAL out of Calgary. $337 return including taxes/person. I am a very vigilant person when looking for travel deals. The site I find most of my deals on is travelocity. When I do a search for airfare I put in that my dates are flexible and I always choose the +/- 3 days option for the departure and return. Usually the dates I specifically type in are high airfare but a grid will show up telling you the prices around your days. I click on the cheapest fare which satisfies how many nights I wanted to stay and then go from there. If I don't like that flight or the times they are leaving I try the search again. I also search my days (with the flexibility) for nearby airports. For me my preferred airport is Edmonton but I am willing to go to Calgary for a good price. I am also only willing to have 1 stop or less ESPECIALLY since I have young children!

I have found good fares on individual airline sites as well. When I know I have a trip coming up, I spend a lot of time on a variety of sites looking for flights. I check orbitz, expedia and travelocity regularly and then individual airlines sporadically. When I lived in Vancouver I would search for flights from Vancouver and from Seattle and I always found better deals in Seattle so if you are close to the border than by all means, try to get a flight from the states if you can get a good rate!

Good luck in your search! Cheap Airfare can make all the difference!

_______________________

215 more days until our 1st family vacation to WDW!!

 

[DaniB]

We fly JetBlue out of Buffalo last September and were able to get tickets for $69 per person each way. 2 adults, 2 kids cost us $637 US round-trip.

I keep checking for this September but JetBlue has not listed anything past Sept 6th so far.

Since it's just hubby & I this trip, I keep thinking I may hold off and see if Air Canada or WestJet offers seats for $72 again. Last year *after* we purchased JetBlue tickets, one of those airlines came out with that price. Plus taxes it would have cost us $400 more than JetBlue. But with just hubby & I, it would only be $200 more and I would be willing to pay that to get 2 extra park days instead of staying overnight in Buffalo there & back!!!

 

[candielips]

So do most of you find the really great prices closer to the date?
We would be fine holding out and if we got nothing we would just drive.
I will def check out travelocity!
Thanks!

 

[ladyhawk14624]

We live in Rochester. When we were looking for flights I checked Rochester as well as Buffalo and even Syracuse. I was surprised to find the cheapest flights out of Rochester. I always thought that Buffalo was cheaper but it wasn't the case for us. I know that even the Niagara Falls airport has some cheap flights on smaller airlines. Not sure how much of a pain those flights are but I did see good prices.

 

[webworm]

How does everyone find such great deals? We want to try flying this time as we have driven the past 3x and I just want to relax, but the cheapest we seem to find is around $200 each return.
Is it cheaper to fly out of another airport other than Buffalo? Is it cheaper to fly into somewhere other than Orlando? We plan on renting a car when we are there, so driving is not an issue for us. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. We are going at the beginning of Sept for 10 nights but can add or subtract from those nights.

Sometimes it's just plain luck! Yesterday I found fares for $44.00 one way with Allegiant out of Youngstown, Ohio to St. Pete's Clearwater. Total return with taxes was $124.37. For family of 4 it was $497.48. A few hours later the fare jumped to $115.00 one way. Airfares is like gambling. We live in Oakville and have flown out of Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Detroit. Youngstwon is a 4hr drive but well worth it. Actually a little closer than Pittsburgh. Normally we are family of 5 but my son is in college now so he won't be coming. We are just using a carry on bag and opt for open seating so we don't get dinged with all the extra fees. I checked Sunwing from Pearson since they fly into St. Pete's Clearwater as well and for 4 tickets it was over $2700.00. Just crazy!

 

[candielips]

Sometimes it's just plain luck! Yesterday I found fares for $44.00 one way with Allegiant out of Youngstown, Ohio to St. Pete's Clearwater. Total return with taxes was $124.37. For family of 4 it was $497.48. A few hours later the fare jumped to $115.00 one way. Airfares is like gambling. We live in Oakville and have flown out of Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Detroit. Youngstwon is a 4hr drive but well worth it. Actually a little closer than Pittsburgh. Normally we are family of 5 but my son is in college now so he won't be coming. We are just using a carry on bag and opt for open seating so we don't get dinged with all the extra fees. I checked Sunwing from Pearson since they fly into St. Pete's Clearwater as well and for 4 tickets it was over $2700.00. Just crazy!

So did you find this directly on Allegiants website or do you also use a search engine like travelocity?

 

[dancin Disney style]

It's too soon to find a good fare for September. We often go to FL in August and the last few years I got the best deal the was offered in May/June. We are going again this year in August and the only carrier that is selling those dates right now in Jetblue but it's a pretty steep price....$129 each way. I just booked for March Break and it's the most I have ever paid at $219 each all in. I'm used to paying around $135 all in. You have to watch the websites daily to find the deals and when you see a fare that you like....book it.

We've also done the drive a few times and our average cost for the roundtrip drive is only about $100-$150 less than the airfare. So we prefer to fly....saving the wear and tear on my car is worth the $100.

There seem to be much better prices now from Pittsburgh....when I was looking for MB there were $69 fares from PIT on the Saturday and Sunday. I was game to drive there but I'm traveling with a friend that didn't want to go beyond BUF.

 

[minnie56]

Air fares that are cheap always scare me...It costs me almost $70 to put gas in my car. Imagine what the airlines pay? If they don't make money on the passengers, where are they cutting the costs?

 

[jmann]

It depends on if you are willing to drive a bit to save. I live near London Ontario so I fly out of Detroit. On my last trip I booked 28 days before we left. My flights were just under $500 for 2 of us. I have flown cheaper but this was last minute sort of. I priced Air Canada and Westjet and the cost
was over $1400. I figured It cost me $50 maybe in gas and $85 for a hotel the night before which also include parking for the week, breakfast and shuttle to the airport. Look up the airport(s) you are willing to travel to then see what airlines fly out of them. It's a bit of a hassle but there are deals to be found. I figured I saved about $850.

 

[candielips]

You have to watch the websites daily to find the deals and when you see a fare that you like....book it.

Which sites are you referring to? The actual airline sites or sites like travelocity?
Also for those of you who watch the airline sites, which airlines should I be looking at? I know of JetBlue, Southwest, Airtran, and now Allegiant. Any others you all keep a close eye on?

I am so excited at the prospect of flying this time. I think the only downside we see to flying is that our DD might not be able to bring all of her princess dresses.

 

[webworm]

So did you find this directly on Allegiants website or do you also use a search engine like travelocity?

I happened to be browsing on Allegiants website and found it. I booked it immediately and about 3 hrs later when I checked the $44.00 flights had increased to $115.00. Today I see they are at $95.00. Who knows they may come down again! I don't think Allegiant shows up on any search engine.

 

[potzie2]

A good site to check all the different sites is bing.com/travel It gives you a prediction of where the rates are heading and you can choose different airports for departures. Remember that some airlines (Southwest, maybe others) don't show their rates on other sites.

 

[Due-North]

We have always problems trying to find cheap flights from Ottawa to Florida. One year we even tried to use air miles for 2 of our 4 tickets and it was still extremely expensive.

For direct flights to Orlando, Jet Blue in Syracuse has been the best option. The drive is only 2.5 hours from Ottawa, and there are several hotels that offer free parking for 14 days with one night stay (more than pays for the hotel).

We usually pick our target flights and go far enough through the booking to see how many people are on the plane. This helps us see if the price will likely drop later (if the flight is filling up, the price won't likely drop later).

 

[Cdn Gal]

We always fly out of Syracuse- it is so much cheaper! We use the website bookit.com to give us an idea as to how much the flights are going for.

 

[ChisJo]

As most people said, be completely diligent in checking every day. Also, start looking as far in advance as you can. Be flexible with your dates too. Some days are more expensive to fly than others.

When we originally started looking at flights for our upcoming May trip, it was in September. They were (from Edmonton to Orlando) originally $798 return per person. No way was I going to pay that, especially when this isn't the first time I have gone and I know that the prices can be WAY better. We were willing to fly out of Calgary, but they were basically the same price. So, I just kept checking. I use expedia to check everyday (you can also use tripadvisor, or selloffvacations.com). When the discounted price is shown, I go directly to the carriers site and book directly through them, because usually their price is $5-$10 cheaper per person because of the other sites using booking fees. If I have a price in mind, I refuse to budge from that, and if I can't find that price, it just means to me that I will be travelling somewhere else that will accommodate my budget. We just booked flights for $387 from Edmonton return. I refused to pay over $400, and thats what I got.

If you have to drive to another city to get a better deal, make sure you take into account the cost of travel and parking while your car is there. We sometimes will drive to Calgary to take flights, but we have to factor in a 3 hr drive and parking for the week (or 2), and sometimes that makes it more expensive than just paying the increased price through the Edmonton airport.

Good luck!

 

[candielips]

Thanks everyone! I will def check out Syracuse and how far it is from where I live. Maybe it'll be closer than Buffalo.

 

[candielips]

So Syracuse is over 30 mins closer to me than Detroit, so that is good, but it is still 4 1/2 hrs away. Buffalo is only 2 1/2 away. But I will def check the prices.
Thanks again folks!