Is this a good rate? airfare $450 from PDX

[dreams91]

I'm traveling from portland to orlando in May. I have to fly united because DH has enough miles for a free ticket for him. His seats are limited so there is a specific time we have to fly (actually time works great). However, with being limited, should I pay the $450 for a seat for me or do you think it might go down?

 

[grimley1968]

Is this Portland, ME or Portland, OR? Is this round trip or one way? Are you near an airport that SWA or Jetblue services?

 

[dreams91]

Is this Portland, ME or Portland, OR? Is this round trip or one way? Are you near an airport that SWA or Jetblue services?

Sorry, I should have clarified. It is Oregon and yes it is roundtrip. No Jetblue here.

 

[grimley1968]

If you can find an airport that SWA serves, you can bet that United would match SWA's fares. They do in Louisville and Nashville where SWA serves. United pricing in Lexington, where SWA does not serve, is 2-3 times as high as Louisville and Lexington.

Editing to add:

I just looked on SWA's website, hoping they would open my travel dates (late June). They have not, yet, of course. However, I did notice they serve Portland. I don't know your travel dates, but I looked at several dates in the next 3 months or so, and flights from Portland to Orlando. Though some of them were booked solid, I saw several one way fares for about $100. Round trip would be about $200. If it were me, I'd forego the free United ticket and go with SWA. Even paying for 2 people, the total SWA r/t fare would probably be less than the one United r/t fare. You could save the United free ticket for some future time when you have to travel to some city that doesn't have SWA, and/or you can't find bargains like that.

 

[GVCATeacher]

Living in Oregon City, OR, I fly out of PDX frequently. With that said, I never pay over $300 for a round trip ticket to Orlando.

Recently, I've been able to find fares as low as $221 to as much as $242 (Taxes included) to MCO. These airfares have been in May and June. Currently, I am looking for flights in December, and I am finding prices of just over $300.

I tend to book my summer flights in mid to late March.

Good sites to check are qixo and kayak. These sites will search all the airlines websites at once. Once I find price I like, I then go to the airlines' own website and check there. Sometimes, I can find a price that's a little bit cheaper.

Happy Hunting

 

[dizluvr71]

I agree, $450 seems really high. You could get 2 roundtrip tickets for about the same price. Maybe saving your hubby's miles for another trip would be a better idea.

 

[GVCATeacher]

I just noticed in the Oregonian (actually it was last Sunday's) that they've priced airfare to MCO as $198 Round Trip. It is usually $204.

Just so you know, every Sunday the Travel Section of the Oregonian has a map listing the cheapest prices to select cities from PDX.

 

[dreams91]

Thanks for the great info!