Ideas For Looking for Airline Deals

[spacemouseneer]

Hello everyone,

We are trying to plan a trip for early December. And I have been watching most of the airline prices the last couples months. And of course they have been RISING. Wondering if anyone has any ideas? We are going to be flying out of Seattle. I am checking JetBlue, Alaska, Southwest, Travelocity, CheapAir, and I am a subscriber to airfarewatchdog.com (which is AWESOME, by the way).

Is there anything I am missing? Anyone have any experience from last year? Did prices go down in the latter part of the year? Will they continue to rise?

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. I NEED to make this work. lol It has been awhile since we have been able to get away.


Spacemouseneer

 

[krash2501]

Southwest is always having deals. I just landed a great deal for $30 each way per person from Sacramento to OC. No other airline came even close.

 

[disneygirls3]

We are flying out of Seattle the day after Thanksgiving and just booked our flight on Jet Blue. The best prices we could find and the plus to it is there is no charges for luggage. We have to fly into Long Beach because they don't do the other airports but that is okay. You should check into it. If some reason the prices go down between now and then I can call and they will credit me for any future ticket purchases with them. I have a couple friends that fly with them to Long Beach and they only say good things.

 

[Lynzer Torte]

I'm also looking for cheap tix but for a Sep. trip.

Southwest announced they're cutting fares but I have yet to see that.
Be sure to sign up for DING alerts through SW too.

Good luck!

 

[disneydance]

If your flying out of Seattle I would reccomed Alaska Airlines Website!
They normally by experience have the best deal flights and are to John Wayne...
They also are nicer in a lot of ways than Southwest and Jetblue they assign you a seat so theres no worry about seating next to your family which I know is a huge plus for us
I would reccomend looking at Alaska's website for dirrect flights!

 

[disneygirls3]

I heard about Southwest cutting prices and had already booked mine on Jet Blue on Sunday. Oh well. All the flights on Southwest we saw had lay overs and we really didn't want that. Good luck.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

Sign up for farewatchers on sites like Travelocity. They'll e-mail you when the rate is posted for under the amount you want to pay for the city and destinations you're looking for.

Also, if Spirit flies out of your airport, sign up for their e-mails. They've got really good deals as well.

 

[zukeeper]

I also fly from Seattle and would say hands down, fly Alaska Air into Long Beach nonstop for your best deal. Sometimes (not this time) LAX is a little cheaper, but Long Beach is more low key for me. Also, a taxi from Long Beach will run you only $40 flat rate to DL area hotel for any size family.

There is currently a 15% off promotion through Dukes, check out this site -
http://www.alaskaair.com/as/www2/promo/discountcode/dukes.asp?ODAI=RUM1MDgz|VQA50724E02229M3|||

You are technically supposed to be on the Dukes mailing list to use this promo code. Travel must occur before Dec 15. Airfare is under $200 RT for a nonstop flight which is very good.

 

[bluegrizzlies1]

did you check virgin america airline

 

[goofyfordisney]

Sign up for Southwest Airlines 'Ding' program...just go on their website.

That's how I found out about lower rates for our trip!

Since you're not traveling until early December, I'd wait until you see something fantastic--its a little early to book now.

Good luck!

 

[QueenDoOver]

When I was looking to book for Feb of last year, I set up several search engines. Airfarewatchdog was by far the best.

Usually, the airlines are fairly competetive with each other and the choice is usually about where you are flying from and too. For Seattle to Anaheim, I prefer Alaska because they have so many flights and they go to all three airports. For my next trip I ended up booking one way segments. Into Long Beach and out of LAX, because the times that worked best and the fares offered worked out that way. I like that flexibility.

The best rate I have gotten is $118 roundtrip (about $138 with taxes)
Then $145 (about $179 with taxes)

For the beginning of December, I would expect you to be able to get in the under $200 range.

So, determine what amount you would be willing to book at. Watch fares every day. When that rate comes up, book it immedietly. You never know when they will change and go up again and you will kick yourself if you miss the window.

 

[DisneyIsMagical]

Southwest is always having deals. I just landed a great deal for $30 each way per person from Sacramento to OC. No other airline came even close.

We have been using Jet Blue into Long Beach, lately. The prices seem to be the best from Sacramento and you don't have to wake up really early or stay up really late to get good flight prices. We have done Southwest in the past, usually the the higher prices are for later in the morning and early evening departure times. You can always take a chance and wait until the very last minute, if flights aren't full they drop the prices, bigtime!! But, I'm a planner...that wouldn't work for me, I would FREAK OUT!

First flight to DL was on Aloha, had to wake up at 2 am to make our 5 am flight...that was a rough one, but any amount of lost sleep is worth it when you know that you're going to Disneyland!!!

 

[rune_74]

I got 5 tickets out of seattle on jetblue in october for 740 american....not so bad.

 

[c&m]

In March, during spring break, we flew Alaska Air from SEATAC to Long Beach. We got $59 fares each way. We booked in January to get those great fares.

Also agree with all the previous posters that Alaska Air is the best to fly with. We also collect mileage points with them, and think it's one of the best mileage programs out there. Also Long Beach is better to fly into. The airport isn't that big. You walk out, there's the baggage claim, then walk out just a little bit more, you have your car rental. Then you only have a 20 minute drive to Anaheim. So convenient.

 

[blackssrider00]

I always fly southwest ... they always have the best deals i have gotten deals from 39 one way to John Wayne from san Jose... Jet blue has some good ones too but i have never flown with them before

 

[daisy2jae]

I check priceline. Then I get an idea who is cheaper. I then go directly to their website and can usually get the same price or within $5.00 of the priceline flight. I have never bought my airline through priceline but my brother in law uses them all the time for great deals.

 

[karylrocks]

I am looking to fly Alaska from Portland to SNA in December. When I first started planning this trip (before we decided for sure if and when we would go) airfare was $199 and now it is up to $289. Some airlines are having cheaper rates now for flights into September and I am hoping that by the end of the summer they will go back down for December. That discount code for Seattle is great; I wish I could find something like that for Portland!

 

[Burnt Toast]

Airlines are losing money... so they raise fares. The airlines are still a business, even through they are a means of transportation.

One site that I loved for airline information was FareChase, it blew everything else out there... until Yahoo! closed it. I was happy to discover though that the same "system" and layout that FareChase used is now the layout of Bing Travel, which is powered by Microsoft. Better yet, they integrated FareCast predictions (which were pretty reliable) into it as well.

www.bing.com and then click on Travel on the left-hand sidebar.