tss2:
I found mine right on the NWA site. Go under "promotions" and under "southeast....(can't remember exactly what it says). It will give you a PE code to use.
I actually checked farther out and got $211. have you considered moving your dates? Are you flexible on what days of the week you can travel (Tues, WEd, Sat (sometimes) are cheaper).
I originally bought our tickets in November for our mid-April 2002 trip. At that time they were $175.50 (and Tampa was cheaper than MCO); and since that was pretty cheap for non-stop (we have a 3 year old and prefer to use non-stop flights) we booked them. Now, they are $151.50 for both Tampa and MCO--and I got vouchers issued for the difference. I have not seen NWA at this price in a long while. We are DVC members, so I am always watching flight prices.
I don't do Hotwire for flights because I can't pick the times and can't guarantee non-stops. I have used them for rental cars though.
If the price is close, I usually fly NWA because Spirit is only one flight a day; if something happens to that flight, you are stuck (I don't believe Spirit will put you on another carrier). Northwest has probably a half dozen or more non-stops a day, and a dozen others with 1 stop. It gives me some comfort that I can always get on another flight if needed (and NWA will put you on another carrier if the flight was cancelled).
Try flights into Tampa also. We use that airport too. It's not that much longer of a drive and can save you some money. If you don't mind stops, you can sometimes get a good deal from Airtran out of Flint or other carriers out of Toledo--never tried them myself, though.
I personnally think it is a little early to buy for November 2002 (perhaps if it was the holiday weekend--but even then I would probably wait). Plenty of sales between now and then. Spirit has been $99 each way forever. That is their standard price. I am not sure I would jump on that,
Don't you wish we had those price wars like those guys on the East Coast do? We are stuck with either NWA or Spirit!
Feel free to email me with any other questions,
Trudy