Philly to MCO via Airtran rate question

[cindy17]

My college aged son will be flying solo over Columbus Day weekend for a family wedding at Disney. I was pricing flights today and found an Airtran flight, nonstop, PHL to MCO for $242. My question is, for you Philly area DISers out there, is this a good price? Or should I hold out for lower?

 

[mb187143]

My college aged son will be flying solo over Columbus Day weekend for a family wedding at Disney. I was pricing flights today and found an Airtran flight, nonstop, PHL to MCO for $242. My question is, for you Philly area DISers out there, is this a good price? Or should I hold out for lower?

is that your one way price or round trip?

 

[cindy17]

is that your one way price or round trip?

round trip. Also no charge for carry-on (unlike some other airlines).

 

[TaraPA]

I watch ABE-MCO and PHL-MCO like a hawk. A year ago I would have said no way, hold out, it will drop. AT rates back then were $69-$89 one way all the time. Since about December I've only seen AT rates go up, up & up. I'd book that now! I flew to MCO twice in March on AT, paid $225 for the 1st trip & $245 for the 2nd, and that was watching the site several times a day.

AT does give you a credit if you see the fare drop at all, to use towards seat selection, upgrades, bag fees or future flights. So it's not a refund, but some reassurance that if it would drop, you could recoup the difference in some way.

 

[cindy17]

I watch ABE-MCO and PHL-MCO like a hawk. A year ago I would have said no way, hold out, it will drop. AT rates back then were $69-$89 one way all the time. Since about December I've only seen AT rates go up, up & up. I'd book that now! I flew to MCO twice in March on AT, paid $225 for the 1st trip & $245 for the 2nd, and that was watching the site several times a day.

AT does give you a credit if you see the fare drop at all, to use towards seat selection, upgrades, bag fees or future flights. So it's not a refund, but some reassurance that if it would drop, you could recoup the difference in some way.

Your answer is very helpful! thanks! I like that they give you a credit toward seat selection, etc.

 

[cindy17]

I watch ABE-MCO and PHL-MCO like a hawk. A year ago I would have said no way, hold out, it will drop. AT rates back then were $69-$89 one way all the time. Since about December I've only seen AT rates go up, up & up. I'd book that now! I flew to MCO twice in March on AT, paid $225 for the 1st trip & $245 for the 2nd, and that was watching the site several times a day.

AT does give you a credit if you see the fare drop at all, to use towards seat selection, upgrades, bag fees or future flights. So it's not a refund, but some reassurance that if it would drop, you could recoup the difference in some way.

Boy did I screw up!! I just went on the Airtran site again, and in less than 24 hours that $242 RT non-stop flight went up to over $500! Unbelievable! I'll be watching it every day now! Now I know to grab anything in that price range as soon as I see it!

 

[TaraPA]

You didn't screw up, you just now have to play the game! It won't stay that high, rest assured, but you will have to watch it daily, even more than once a day if you have the opportunity to do so. I'd come up with a number in your head that you're comfortable paying - say $250 or $275 & once you see that, book it.

You can book AT as two one-way segments, if by chance one way drops & the other doesn't. It doesn't change anything about the booking if you book them at different times. I've done it that way before.

Good luck!

 

[TaraPA]

What part of NJ are you in - is PHL your only option? AT is stopping flights from ABE in August (wah!!!!) but Frontier is coming in 2 days a week, at $89 each way. I don't know if that's an option for him or not.

 

[cindy17]

What part of NJ are you in - is PHL your only option? AT is stopping flights from ABE in August (wah!!!!) but Frontier is coming in 2 days a week, at $89 each way. I don't know if that's an option for him or not.

This will become my new hobby! Checking on these rates - I always wanted to be a travel agent in my next life! I'm from Morris County but my son goes to college about 1/2 hour from Phila airport. I was also checking Spirit Airlines out of Atlantic City for him. Their prices are still pretty reasonable, around $310 RT, nonstop, but they charge for carryon ($30). Question - is it best to go thru a site like Expedia or go direct thru the airlines? Tonight I have been doing both and the prices are pretty similar. Do you pay extra fees when you go thru Expedia, Orbitz, etc?

 

[disneymarie]

What part of NJ are you in - is PHL your only option? AT is stopping flights from ABE in August (wah!!!!) but Frontier is coming in 2 days a week, at $89 each way. I don't know if that's an option for him or not.

That was my suggestion too. Straight up ShurKill turnpike to Allentown Bethleham. Once you get on the turnpike, it is a swift trip.

 

[cindy17]

That was my suggestion too. Straight up ShurKill turnpike to Allentown Bethleham. Once you get on the turnpike, it is a swift trip.

thanks for your suggestion! I'll check out the distance from rowan to ABE.

 

[TaraPA]

I don't ever book through a 3rd party site like Orbitz or Expedia because then you have no control over your reservation (I'm too OCD to let anyone else handle my reservations LOL!) Should a change occur or an emergency happen that you need to make a change only they can do that, and I've read horror stories on here about their customer service. You cannot get a credit if the price drops because they won't be willing to check for you or make the call to get it. You won't be able to call because technically it's not your reservation, it's theirs. If you're at the airport & there's a problem, again, you can't take charge of it, only they can, and they're not there. I'm sure though there are many here that do use them, perhaps they can give you a better first hand experience about it. I've only read the negatives, there has to be some benefit to using them or they'd be out of business!

 

[cindy17]

I don't ever book through a 3rd party site like Orbitz or Expedia because then you have no control over your reservation (I'm too OCD to let anyone else handle my reservations LOL!) Should a change occur or an emergency happen that you need to make a change only they can do that, and I've read horror stories on here about their customer service. You cannot get a credit if the price drops because they won't be willing to check for you or make the call to get it. You won't be able to call because technically it's not your reservation, it's theirs. If you're at the airport & there's a problem, again, you can't take charge of it, only they can, and they're not there. I'm sure though there are many here that do use them, perhaps they can give you a better first hand experience about it. I've only read the negatives, there has to be some benefit to using them or they'd be out of business!

Thanks for your input! I didn't realize that when you go thru a 3rd party, that they "own" your ressie. In all honesty, their prices were almost identical to the airlines directly anyway. I'll be searching for the best price and let you know how I make out. Thanks again for all your help!

 

[TamaraQT]

Thanks for your input! I didn't realize that when you go thru a 3rd party, that they "own" your ressie. In all honesty, their prices were almost identical to the airlines directly anyway. I'll be searching for the best price and let you know how I make out. Thanks again for all your help!

I would say use PHL. ABE is a long distance and not that much savings. I live near Rowan so I know PHL would be closest and easiest. I would avoid Spirit airlines out of Atlantic City. PHL to MCO is his best bet. Have you checked Southwest fares? AirTran is a good choice too since he has carryon bags. Also, don't rule out United. They come out with some pretty decent fares from PHL to MCO too. I flew United last year from PHL. Their fare was cheaper than AirTran and Southwest. So keep it in mind as an option. As the previous posts says, just pick a number you are wiling to pay and book it when you see it. Southwest also gives you a credit if the price goes down and you have a year to use that credit. But an answer to your original question, is YES, I would have booked the $242 roundtrip. I do travel planning and have seen and booked some southwest flights at $110 ($109.80) each way for October. Not sure if they are still showing that low. Good Luck.

 

[mb187143]

We usually fly SW out of PHL because i don't want to pay bag fees - we're paying $236 round trip for our flights in May. We originally were paying more, but SW lowered the fare and we have a credit for the difference. Since we're going back down in November for our wedding, we'll use it toward that, but I've been watching the flight prices for that trip. If we didn't have to check bags, i'd fly air tran - the only airline i probably wouldn't ever fly again out of PHL is US Air.

There's definitely fluctuation in flight prices so keep checking - if you see something in a range you're comfortable with, grab it!

 

[cindy17]

I would say use PHL. ABE is a long distance and not that much savings. I live near Rowan so I know PHL would be closest and easiest. I would avoid Spirit airlines out of Atlantic City. PHL to MCO is his best bet. Have you checked Southwest fares? AirTran is a good choice too since he has carryon bags. Also, don't rule out United. They come out with some pretty decent fares from PHL to MCO too. I flew United last year from PHL. Their fare was cheaper than AirTran and Southwest. So keep it in mind as an option. As the previous posts says, just pick a number you are wiling to pay and book it when you see it. Southwest also gives you a credit if the price goes down and you have a year to use that credit. But an answer to your original question, is YES, I would have booked the $242 roundtrip. I do travel planning and have seen and booked some southwest flights at $110 ($109.80) each way for October. Not sure if they are still showing that low. Good Luck.

Thanks for your response! Yes, I checked and ABE is about 1 1/2 hrs from Rowan. Too far for him! He has class Friday morning, so he doesn't have alot of time to spend driving to airports. PHL is def his best bet. I'm actually having fun checking out the prices for him! It's all a game! At least I have time on my side. And I'm constantly learning from all you DISsers!

 

[jthelman]

Couple observations, I am flying from Philly to MCO June 8-17 on Airtran:

• I would grab the $242 - thats what I got, and was pretty much as low as it goes. OK, maybe you could shave $10, but why risk it?
  
• I needed to use Friday as the travel day, which brought the fares down. I'm buying 3 RT tix for my family, leaving at about 9:30pm, arriving at midnight, and staying at the airport. That was cheaper than using Sat to travel.
  
• The time of day made a big difference. I could have traveled on Sat morning (easier than the Fri night for me), but it was much more expensive
  
• Southwest was a complete waste of time/research. Their fares were such that I could pay the baggage fees for airtran and break even. I still will push for my wife and son to go carry on, but may lose that fight Ironically, Southwest owns TransAir.
  
• Be careful with the itinerary. I thought I had some great flight prices until I noticed they had 5 stops and went from Philly to Florida via Tibet. Some were literally 6-7 hours long, with plane changes. No thanks, I'll pay the extra few bucks for my sanity.
  
• Kayak and Bing seemed to be the easiest site to use for airfare. Bing gives an opinion on fare prices on the future, and Kayak has some nice search criteria like search by time leaving or arriving.

Good luck, airfares seem to be a real crapshoot these days. Oil prices are volatile and not helping.

 

[TinkPirateMom]

We live very close to Rowan and are traveling to MCO in November. Not all fares have been released for our dates yet but what is out so far is in the $370 RT range so I would say book anything you find in the $250 range. Good Luck!

 

[luvmyguyz]

AT does give you a credit if you see the fare drop at all, to use towards seat selection, upgrades, bag fees or future flights. So it's not a refund, but some reassurance that if it would drop, you could recoup the difference in some way.

This very good to know - thanks for sharing!!

 

[luvmyguyz]

We live very close to Rowan and are traveling to MCO in November. Not all fares have been released for our dates yet but what is out so far is in the $370 RT range so I would say book anything you find in the $250 range. Good Luck!

I just wanted to say if you haven't booked yet, Airtran and Southwest are available for November flights now. We booked Airtran out of Philly for $241 pp RT.

P.S. - we live about a mile from Rowan!