Is anyone else frustrated with airfare$$?

[puffkin]

I am so frustrated with airfare prices. We decided about a month ago to buy our AP's early so that we could use them for 3 trips (making a summer trip to WDW a very economical choice). However, airfare from Philadelphia to MCO will not come down. We are going July 19-26. The cheapest I can get is $216.50, which leaves midday the first Saturday and returns early AM the last Saturday. Not good flight times at all. Our desired times are to leave early in the AM and return late at night. That gives us two extra days, which I don't mind paying a little extra for. I have never had a problem getting tickets to Florida for under $200. I keep hearing about all these great airfare sales for the summer, but I am not seeing it. I even spoke to an agent at AAA yesterday, and she said they are frustrated too. Is anyone else experiencing the same thing, and how long should I wait to buy tickets? I don't want them to go any higher, but I don't want to book if they are going to come down soon. Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[zulaya]

There are so many airlines in financial trouble these days, you'd think a few sales would come your way. Thing is, if they discount, that's less money they bring in.

Truthfully, I haven't seen any worthwhile sales from where you are flying out of. It looks like anything near $200 is going to be a deal from now on.

Especially if you are flying earlier in the summer, your chances of lower fares are slimmer by the day.

You might just have to bite the bullet and jump on the fare, especially if it looks like the flights are filling.

 

[n2mm]

Hi neighbor, airfare has been really hard for us in this area. BWI seems to have the best fares lately, averaging $168 on SW. I had been waiting for a decent airfare out of Dulles for our trip on May 3. Finally got my tickets last Saturday for $240!! Yes, the highest I've ever bought tickets for in my entire flying life. 6 trips to WDW last year and never paid more than $150. This Tuesday the fare dropped to $176 (all taxes and fees included) on my flight (which is first thing in the morning to WDW and late in the evening leaving WDW--NON-STOP), so I promptly called and got 2 credit vouchers for $64 each. Never done this, so was a little reluctant. The folks at Delta were wonderful and excited that the fare had dropped. On Wednesday I was going to buy my tickets for $176 (total price) for our July 23rd trip and couldn't not find quiet time to do this at work. Thursday the fare went back up. I'm confident now since the terrorism threat level has dropped from Orange to Yellow and the war has now moved into the post-Saddam era, that things will get better and am hopeful that our decent summer airfares are right around the corner. Hey, I'm a daredevil waiting exactly 20 days before our flight, snagged a great credit voucher during only 2 days of lower fares, and now all of the seats on our flight down are sold out! I was excited to pay $176 which is still high for my past tickets. If there's a sale, most likely you'll read it on these boards first! Hang in there! If you do book with a higher fare, make sure the carrier you choose offers credit vouchers--not all airlines do.

 

[CarolA]

I know I am not popular for saying this, but I just don't see the airfares on the East Coast dropping much below the $200 range except for VERY brief, VERY special occasions. Airlines have cut way back of flights and appear to be willing to run empty then give away the seat and some of those really low fares were losers for them. The one exception to the overall higher prices appears to be airtran from what I see here.

My airfare from Nashville to Orlando is running $183. By the time you add the taxes and security fee you are over $200. (Rumor is Pres Bush is going to drop the Security fee this summer, but there is no date!) American had a sale this week which bough the airfare to $163, but you have to fly to Miami and change planes. And then you are on one of AA's commuter airlines and the Florida one has been LATE every time I have taken it. Both Delta and SW are direct and I don't thin $20 is worth Miami! (I change planes in Atlanta all the time, so the change doesn't bother me)

 

[ncligs]

Originally posted by CarolA
I know I am not popular for saying this, but I just don't see the airfares on the East Coast dropping much below the $200 range except for VERY brief, VERY special occasions. Airlines have cut way back of flights and appear to be willing to run empty then give away the seat and some of those really low fares were losers for them.

I agree with Carol's post above. The days of the $150-$175 airfare's are just about over. After you add in taxes,sur charges, and security fees . US AIR and Continental(our 2 hubs in Cleveland -Pittsburgh) have reduced there flights and schedules, and our using a lot more "express jets", which mean less seats .

I just booked direct, Pittsburgh to MCO, for $195(taxes inc) for next Feb 21,2004 with US Air. I really doubt if I will see any thing lower than $195 with good times, for non-stop, so thats why I booked it.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

I hear you puffkin! Because of the airfare out of PHL we are trying BWI this time. We booked SW for $168 (taxes, fees included) this August. I kept checking PHL and the best I was getting was $205 without taxes or fees. I'm lucky because I'm almost half way in between both airports but depending on how many people you have in your party it may be worth the drive. Good luck!

 

[puffkin]

If we were closer to BWI, it would definitely be an option. However, with only 2 of us, Philly is much more convenient and the savings would have to be huge to make us consider BWI. I am starting to doubt the rates will come down. I am going to wait 2 weeks, and then book at the best rate then. I think this is my only option right now, and I am not happy about it . It took us awhile to rearrange our work schedules to both get this week off, so I don't want to be stuck with airfare that is even more outrageous and then not be able to go at all.

This trip is turning out to be more of a headache than anything else. It was supposed to be a cheap summer getaway, now with high airfare and no resort codes or discounts yet for our hotel, I am starting to get worried. Hopefully things will start falling in place soon...

 

[hercamore]

Airfare from Mn is running way over $300 these days. Ijust priced MN to Fort Meyers and it was over $400!

Yes, I am frustrated!


Good luck with finding lower rates. I agree with CarolA. don't think rates are gonna drop much anymore.

herc.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

puffkin, I agree with only two of you that the drive wouldn't be worth it. I also believe that I was pretty lucky to get the SW airfare of $168 since everything is $200 or more. I checked out of Harrisburg but even their fares have increased. I worry about some of these airlines cancelling flights, financial stability, etc. Hopefully it will all work out for you. Good luck!
PS...I didn't check AirTran for you but it doesn't hurt to try them.

 

[wdwfan]

I just booked a flight out of PHL to MCO for August 20 returning August 30 and paid $188.50 (did this on Tuesday) which I thought was good considering that I could only find the $216 fares also. It seemed to go down one day and then back up the next. I say keep trying. When I go to usairways.com I see that they have a $150 fare going for May and June. The fare of $170 which is what I had before all the added taxes, doesn't seem to be offered right now. It's strange. Keep trying!!

 

[Frozenfingers]

One wouldnt think the fares would remain so high.. but I think they will get worse. As I understand it, the airlines want to be able to have access to each others "codes" meaning if two competing airlines have less than "break even" or "profitable" capacity, one airline would cancel the flight and transfer the passengers to the other carrier. Details still being worked out, but it soundslike it could be a hassle for the traveler, but it could save a lot of jobs as well. If this does come to pass, I don't see the airlines "competing" for the passengers anymore though but rather the passengers competing for a seat!

In the meantime, consider this..I just returned from FL flying 4/1 and 4/9 to Fargo, ND. Fares were cheaper than from Minneapolis. Try Priceline.com and put in a fare that you know they will not accept, they countered with an offer almost immediately that was very agreeable (dirt cheap actually). Bestfares.com will give one the lowest published AND unpublished fares. I use it as a reference, so if you know your airports, what carriers and flight times they service, one can save a bundle if one is willing to do the research! The key is they guarentee only one layover of less than 3 hours, so again, know the flight times and connections. This was the best trip yet.. no hassles, no rush, no long drive at end of trip.

 

[madge]

the exception to this rule would be Indianapolis....it has consistently been $123 RT (plus all the fees ) to orlando for some time now. it is a 3 hour drive for us and we have seriously considered it. we are lucky, we live within 3 hours of 5 major airports--Lexington, Cincinnati, Louisville, Nashville, and Indianapolis. still waiting for a fare drop for October or for my brother (who works for Continental Airlines) to be generous with a few buddy passes

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

I just got airfare out of Long Island for 118.00 rt, non stop with all taxes through SWA. This is for 9/1/03 ret. 9/8/03.

 

[zurgswife]

I've been searching for under $200 fares for our christmas trip out of philly and for a short time it was $215 and then well over $300 and now down to about $289....so we've decided to go for an adventure and take the auto train....$1123 for 6 people and a van......can't beat it...Less then $200 a piece and I get to have my car for 2 weeks while we are on vacation...

 

[lawgs]

gail ....

you must have been one of the lucky rapid rewards members to get one of those discount codes...

sure wish we were one of those "lucky" members...wonder how we can get in on being "supplied" a promotion code

was it in a letter or the rapid rewards newsletter???

 

[SAKPEG99OKW]

DW and I always fly out of EWR (Newark, NJ). Cheapest we have every paid was 185.00rt. We are going in three weeks, I got the tickets back in september, we paid 200.00 with tax and fees. But, out flight was changed to early sat. instead of late friday like I wanted. So we loose a 1/2 of day. But I just booked on Continental for this sept. 217.00 rt direct from newark leaving friday night coming back late afternoon following sunday. I don't think 217.00 is a high price to pay for 2 1/2 hour trip, direct to the best place in the world. You could'nt drive to FL that cheap, or maybe you could, but who wants to give up atleast 36 hours of their trip, no me.....

Everybody have a great trip.

Scott, Peg and Tyler

 

[VickiVM]

you must have been one of the lucky rapid rewards members to get one of those discount codes...

That I'm aware of, RR members don't get special promo rates. The RR program is all about earning points towards a flight voucher. Each leg of a trip (not counting flt transfers) earns 1 point. If you book online, those points are doubled. 16 points earn you a free flight anywhere SW travels with very few blackout dates. So you could potentially earn a free flight voucher after booking (and completing) 4 online r/t flights.

Additionally, SW has several other travel "partners" of which you may earn points when using their services - hotels, car rental. I even earn points on my MCI long distance.

 

[SuzyQue]

If you haven't already, check out Orbitz.com. The airfare is still 216.00 but they have 4 different airlines offering this fare and some of them have better flight times. ~~

 

[lawgs]

vickim

there was a code posted on the boards last week, which supposedly went to select rapid rewards members

which when entered into the promotion code box on the PLAN TRIP screen, would then give a 15% discount on the "base" fare on the screen just past where you choose your flights

so if gail got 118$ out of long island, it was using some sort of code since the best i could get for her dates was 135$ using 59$ fare ( monday being one of the days good for that promotional fare )

out of buffalo without the code, it was 131$ so i am guessing with the code it would be about 114$ (buf - mco)

every lil bit helps....and that is a good fare for sure .....since they are non stop flights


so my query to gail, was sorta "tongue" in cheek

smilawgs

 

[kdibattista]

YES!!!! I, too am looking for airfare from Phila to Orlando in December. We always paid ~$175 and I can't find anything close. I am going to wait til summer.