New Yorkers - How much is your flight from JFK or LGA?

[Ava]

I've been watching flight prices for our August trip and they seem high to me, but maybe I'm just not used to traveling in summer. How much do you typically pay for flights from JFK or LGA to MCO? I'd love to keep it under $400 per person for a direct flight but don't want to fly at the crack of dawn or late at night. We prefer Jet Blue for the free checked bags but will go with Delta or someone else if the price difference warrants it.

Any tips for finding good deals? The best I'm coming up with right now is buying one-way flights on CheapoAir so I can use their $40-off code twice. Doing it this way, flights that are manageable but still not my ideal times, add up to $432 per person total.

 

[MunchkinSweetPea]

I've read online that 6 weeks out from your trip, on a Tuesday, is the best sale prices that airlines will offer to fill seats. I can't remember exactly how far out I booked our tickets last year but it wasn't more than 2 months prior and I paid $638 for two adults and a six year old (plus one lap infant), round trip out of JFK and into MCO on JetBlue.

 

[davper]

Have you tried Southwest? Looks like you can get one way for less than 200 to 300.



And 2 bags fly free

 

[eliza61]

Have you tried Southwest? Looks like you can get one way for less than 200 to 300.

View attachment 95794

And 2 bags fly free

southwest has been getting tricky lately (boo) I've been seeing great departure prices but the return prices have been jacked up. ****sighs**

from Laguardia I found out going prices at 142 but returns were at 249. almost 400 bucks.

 

[Ava]

Southwest doesn't fly non-stop from LGA to MCO, which is why I didn't check it. But I just checked our dates anyway, and there is one flight each way (and actually at decent times) that stops in Nashville but you don't change planes. This itinerary is $329 per person, but adds about 2 hours onto our flight time. Plus the additional take-off/landing for the stop, which our little one wasn't so keen on last year. I'll have to discuss it with DW and see what she thinks. I've also never flown Southwest - do you get to board early if you're installing a car seat? I know they don't have assigned seating but haven't looked into their boarding practices in detail.

 

[experiment_6two6]

I am going to WDW in August and booked my airfare about a month ago. I was in shock towards the prices from JFK or LGA as well because I've seen flights to Orlando for under $250 or even $200 round trip sometimes.

Seeing as I live in Jersey I ended up taking a Jet Blue flight out of EWR roundtrip for $348. I am not too sure where you live, but it seems like NYC area. If you are willing to drive I always found cheap airfare out of HPN which is in Westchester and was generally cheaper for Jet Blue, and ISP, which is on Long Island and has Southwest -- they have direct flights to MCO from this airport.

Finally if you are on the Jersey side, you could always look in to Allegiant or Frontier, one leaves from Allentown and the other from Trenton or Philadelphia.

The last piece of advice I'd give to you, download an app called Hopper. It tells you when to book, and if prices should be going up and down. It's a really useful app, and it's free!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I've also never flown Southwest - do you get to board early if you're installing a car seat? I know they don't have assigned seating but haven't looked into their boarding practices in detail.

No. The only early boarding on Southwest is for passengers with disabilities. You can get the details of their boarding process on their website.

 

[scrapquitler]

You might want to look into flying out of Westchester.

 

[mcd2745]

We live in Queens (very close to JFK, actually) and normally drive out to Islip to fly Southwest. They do not go direct to MCO from LaGuardia like they do from ISP. Unfortunately, SW has been decreasing the number of flights in and out of ISP (there are almost 50% less total flights than there were several years ago). Still, we were able to get a flight down (albeit at the crack of dawn - they eliminated the late morning flights and we don't want to get there after dinner time) in August for $115pp at the moment they were released. Coming back was much more troublesome. First, we're returning Labor Day weekend, and secondly, we were restricted on the times we could choose. We looked at JetBlue and the same issues came up. We could have gotten a good price going down, but coming back up was outrageous.

 

[alpina0560]

We fly out of Westchester Airport in White Plains, its tiny, but you can fly JetBlue and it is way more hassle free than LGA, JFK & Newark.

 

[Ava]

We live in Brooklyn and don't own a car, so flying out of Westchester or LI isn't really practical. Whatever we'd save on the flights it would probably cost us in car service fare to get there. Plus it's at least a 1.5-2 hour drive with traffic. I'll probably go with the SW itinerary with the stop if I can't find a better price on JetBlue within the next couple weeks.

@experiment_6two6 thanks for the rec on the Hopper app! I downloaded it and set up a watch for my dates so hopefully it helps!

 

[MPHARJ]

I booked our flights several months ago, first time out of JFK, only because we are flying back in from DLP then leaving the next morning for WDW. Just made more sense to fly out of NY then to drive home tired and drive to another airport the next day. Our flights were $309 per person round trip, I however love early morning and late night flights, gives us more time at WDW.

 

[Gracie09]

We got a good deal in JetBlue out of westchester. I think $225 each round trip. For our August trip we are flying JetBlue out of lga but paid for 3 legs using points and are flying into Tampa and renting a car. If you don't mind a bit of a drive that is an option. We still saved a couple hundred over flying into orlando

 

[Turk February]

I honestly can't remember the last time I paid more than $198 round trip from JFK or Newark to MCO on JetBlue and we've flown at all times of the year.

 

[AnnaS]

We usually fly out of Newark. Once in a while, maybe out of JFK. JFK is always a few dollars less from Newark but not always worth it for us - depends on the number of people flying, etc. I would say average ticket $300 - Give or take a few dollars.

 

[StarCruiser]

Southwest doesn't fly non-stop from LGA to MCO, which is why I didn't check it. But I just checked our dates anyway, and there is one flight each way (and actually at decent times) that stops in Nashville but you don't change planes. This itinerary is $329 per person, but adds about 2 hours onto our flight time. Plus the additional take-off/landing for the stop, which our little one wasn't so keen on last year. I'll have to discuss it with DW and see what she thinks. I've also never flown Southwest - do you get to board early if you're installing a car seat? I know they don't have assigned seating but haven't looked into their boarding practices in detail.

Family boarding occurs between Group A and Group B. Each group is up to 60 passengers. Typically Group A is a little less than 60 passengers. You should have an opportunity to get the car seat in, and there should be plenty of seats still available at family boarding time.

 

[experiment_6two6]

We live in Brooklyn and don't own a car, so flying out of Westchester or LI isn't really practical. Whatever we'd save on the flights it would probably cost us in car service fare to get there. Plus it's at least a 1.5-2 hour drive with traffic. I'll probably go with the SW itinerary with the stop if I can't find a better price on JetBlue within the next couple weeks.

@experiment_6two6 thanks for the rec on the Hopper app! I downloaded it and set up a watch for my dates so hopefully it helps!

I don't know how daring you want to be, but Jet Blue has a tendency to release cheap tickets as a promotion for one day, and you almost always never know when it's going to happen. In the very least, I'm assuming (someone correct me if I'm wrong) you could book with Jet Blue and with their price guarantee, if it goes down after you buy it, you can get it credited back to your TrueBlue account. (Not back to your bank account)

I have flown SW many times and I have to say that I actually don't mind it. Early bird check in is almost always never needed and I traveled with a group of seven. As long as you are ready to go when you can check in (they have an app) then you'll most likely get group A. If you have a device that connects to Wi-Fi, like an iPad or iPhone, then you get free Direct TV in flight. You get two checked bags for free, and the flight attendants are awesome. The only downside is the stops.

Let us know what ends up happening, and utilizing Hopper will definitely help you out!

 

[Ava]

I honestly can't remember the last time I paid more than $198 round trip from JFK or Newark to MCO on JetBlue and we've flown at all times of the year.

How far in advance do you buy your tickets to get that fare? I don't think I've ever seen Jet Blue that low for a round trip.

I don't know how daring you want to be, but Jet Blue has a tendency to release cheap tickets as a promotion for one day, and you almost always never know when it's going to happen. In the very least, I'm assuming (someone correct me if I'm wrong) you could book with Jet Blue and with their price guarantee, if it goes down after you buy it, you can get it credited back to your TrueBlue account. (Not back to your bank account)

I have flown SW many times and I have to say that I actually don't mind it. Early bird check in is almost always never needed and I traveled with a group of seven. As long as you are ready to go when you can check in (they have an app) then you'll most likely get group A. If you have a device that connects to Wi-Fi, like an iPad or iPhone, then you get free Direct TV in flight. You get two checked bags for free, and the flight attendants are awesome. The only downside is the stops.

Let us know what ends up happening, and utilizing Hopper will definitely help you out!

I don't know if I'm that daring! My worry with waiting is that we won't be able to get seats together, and our kids are only 6 and 2 so that's kind of a necessity. (Last year I ended up having to pay for "More Space" seats one way so we could get seats together.) I did realize I have enough True Blue points for a one-way ticket, so that will help some. I also started doing a Points for Surveys thing that gives me True Blue points so if I hit that hard maybe I can get enough for one round trip before I feel like I have to book!

I talked to the wife about the Southwest option this morning, and she didn't seem too keen on it. The baby barely tolerated the 2hr 45m non-stop flight last year, and even though she's older now, I don't know if the possibility of her being unhappy for 2 extra hours each way is worth a savings of less than $200.

I realize I'm somewhat picky when it comes to times and route, but I'm definitely keeping an eye on Hopper and will let you all know what I end up deciding!

 

[mcd2745]

I honestly can't remember the last time I paid more than $198 round trip from JFK or Newark to MCO on JetBlue and we've flown at all times of the year.

Do you only fly on Tuesdays? For our dates, I never saw a return flight alone for under $200 (to all NYC area airports).

 

[experiment_6two6]

I realize I'm somewhat picky when it comes to times and route, but I'm definitely keeping an eye on Hopper and will let you all know what I end up deciding!

I don't know your exact dates but I just found airfare flying out of LGA and coming into JFK for $285 RT on Delta in the middle of August. You said you didn't want to leave at the crack of dawn, but they both leave at 7am, which isn't too bad. Shorter lines at security I'd suppose.