OMG!! I just checked prices for December...

[zippehsmom]

I have already purchased my airfare for our December trip, but I continue to check airfare. Airfare on SPirit roundtrip nonstop is $580.90 flying out of DTW. I paid $515 about 1 1/2 months ago for 3 roundtrips tickets for the same exact time and dates.

I cannot believe prices have risen that much.

I sure am glad that I got my airfare when I did

Has anyone else seen a substantial rise in airfare?

zippehsmom

 

[cbrfan]

Prices for December are just now being released by some airlines. The prices are usually higher at first. Of course, when you're flying in Dec. is a big factor. You're going to pay more around the holidays. Fares are cheaper Dec. 4 than they are on Dec. 24.

 

[zippehsmom]

Spirit has had their December fares released for a while now. I purchased our fare on February 1st, and it only cost $171. I thought that this was pretty decent considering the time we are going. I just could not believe that airfare has almost tripled for this time period in only 2 months time.

 

[Disfreek]

I purchased our spirit tickets on 3/6. I got 4 tickets from DTW to MCO for $779.54. I am amazed at what the prices are now. I usually check a LOT because spirit will let me change the tickets up to 30 days out & give vouchers for the price differences.... (*if there are any--for our NOVEMBER trip I kept doing this & I got vouchers for $26.95 per person plus upgraded to the spirit plus)

I just checked it's $2,323.60 for four round trip tickets now!!!

Maybe they were lower because there was competition with NWA and NWA's promotions ended????

 

[DawnCt1]

Remember, there are only so many cheap seats on any given flight. Once they are gone, they are gone unless the other seat categories aren't selling. If the price looks acceptable when you see it; buy it. It may not ever go lower.

 

[frannn]

but I keep checking Jetblue, because they are who we usually fly. The price differences between the two airlines are unbelieveable! I paid 135. nonstop roundtrip thru Song, because Jetblue was at about 240/ticket. Now Jetblue is even higher (not due to bookings, as all flights on our travel dates are the same price). I am very surprised, as Jetblue (in my experience) has usually been one of the less expensive airlines. Our flights through Song have only gone up about 15./ticket round trip.

 

[JDarling]

I just booked airfare for our friends that are going with us 11/27-12/2. One got a priceline.com price on Delta for $298 (plus taxes and fees, turned out to be $344) and the other decided she didn't want to travel alone so she got booked on the same flight 2 days later for ...$375 (including fees and stuff). It's nuts!
I'm glad we have frequent flier miles. It's only costing us $100 for 2 people round trip.
PS We're flying out of San Diego, CA.

 

[Disfreek]

I just checked right now on the Spirit Website: for four people from 12/17 to 12/23 is now: $2,723.60


On NWA: same dates (non stop, too) $1003.50.... for four people....


On NWA for First Class: $570. a ticket. Gee, why would I go on Spirit coach when I could fly cheaper First Class on NWA??? Iwonder what Spirit is thinking????

 

[Julia M]

We're flying Delta out of SFO. I paid $238 for our tickets.....they are currently sitting at $438 ( and I have seen it aas high as $600 recently)

We're flying December 17-27.

Julia

 

[CarolA]

but I keep checking Jetblue, because they are who we usually fly. The price differences between the two airlines are unbelieveable! I paid 135. nonstop roundtrip thru Song, because Jetblue was at about 240/ticket. Now Jetblue is even higher (not due to bookings, as all flights on our travel dates are the same price). I am very surprised, as Jetblue (in my experience) has usually been one of the less expensive airlines. Our flights through Song have only gone up about 15./ticket round trip.

Not sure by what you mean by "not due to bookings since all fights on the day are the same dates" It could easily still be due to bookings. If some flights are filling up Jet Blue could easily raise rates on all of them... WHy should they keep cheap options out there if they can sell them at a higher price?

 

[simzac]

As the cost of jet fuel continues to rise, so do the cost of tickets.

 

[CarolA]

I read an article in the paper this week that indicated the airlines are chomping at the bit to raise prices. They keep inching up $10 at a time and so far all the majors are going along on each price increase. So if you don't have a discount carrier in your market things could get costly.

 

[frannn]

When Jetblue releases airfare for a given time period, all the fares are identical for each leg of a flight on a given day (again, I will state that this has been my experience in the past). As the flights begin filling, at some point the fares for each leg begin to rise (in increments), unless the airline has a sale. This is how it was explained to me by a Jetblue rep, in the past. So, when I look up the flights for my dates in Oct, and see all of them listed at the exact same amount for each leg of the trip, I assumed (and, again, I certainly could be wrong) that they were the introductory fares (not raised due to lots of booking). When I see the 6:30 AM flight on a given day at 79., and the 12 PM flight for the same route at 159, I believe it's because there are more bookings for the 12 PM flight. Maybe Jetblue has changed the way they price their airfare, or maybe I just never checked for a day that was released at several different prices. Hope that made sense.

 

[allforpooh]

We bought our tickets a couple of weeks ago out of DTW - Nwa $230 each - this is for Dec 28th - Jan 4th - We normally fly From Grand Rapids but the cost of those tickets have been high. I thought 230 was pretty good and we got the times we wanted. Now all we have to do is wait -

Denise

 

[Disfreek]

I am so glad that we planned ahead & purchased our tickets so early.... I just cannot believe what they are going for right now. I am sure they will go down, but I was just amazed that they could charge 680.60 for ONE coach ticket--I thought Spirit was a discount carrier...

 

[zippehsmom]

I checked Spirit's prices today and they are $680 . I think they must all be bonkers over there, especially since Northwest is running $250.

I just find it hilarious!

 

[Savin4Disney]

I booked awhile ago. I wanna say early Feb. $434.80 direct flight on Midwest Express from Milwaukee. Arriving in MCO at 11:30 am and coming home at 7:25 pm. Now the same flight is $680.82. So glad I booked when I did.

I was worried flights would be a high since we are going Thanksgiving week. The cheapest I saw my tickets were 214.40 (the week before I bought them).

 

[4formickey]

I just booked saturday on American for $763 rt for 4. We are leaving chicago on 11/9 going to mco and returning on 11/19. When I tried the search engines ,they where about $200 more.This did not include their fees.It was cheaper to book direct with the airline.We are leaving here midday and returning in the evening In the past I would wait to after the summer to book but withall of these airlines going under and watching the price go up and down, Ifeel that I should book as soon as I see a good price

 

[DisneyPhD]

I purchased our spirit tickets on 3/6. I got 4 tickets from DTW to MCO for $779.54. I am amazed at what the prices are now. I usually check a LOT because spirit will let me change the tickets up to 30 days out & give vouchers for the price differences.... (*if there are any--for our NOVEMBER trip I kept doing this & I got vouchers for $26.95 per person plus upgraded to the spirit plus)

I just checked it's $2,323.60 for four round trip tickets now!!!

Maybe they were lower because there was competition with NWA and NWA's promotions ended????

We do the same thing, we fly Spirt all the time, but will do NW if it is cheaper (like now.) We flew Sprit in Feb and the price went down from the 89 when we booked to 69 so we called and got the vouchers. We were able to use them towards airfare in May (one month now!) to get really good rates.

Good thing you booked earlier. However I think it will go down, that is just nuts!

In DTW your only non stop options are NW or Sprit.

I just booked my dad tickets from DTW to Norfolk the 1st week of May. It was 240 a person, then it dropped to 116! I called him up and said "give me your CC number right now, we need to book it now. I was so happy, both my mom and dad for the price of one of them to fly. They haven't been on a plane for 20 years so this should be interesting for them.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

The airfare from Chicago to Orlando on Spirit for Dec 30-Jan 8 went up $279 dollars between the time I purchased 2 weeks ago and now. I couldn't believe that it went from $331 to $610 in such a short period of time. When I told people I had already gotten my airfare for New Years, they thought I was nuts, but now I can show them exactly why I did it.