Questions on buying airline tickets online

[vald1977]

Last night MIL springs on me that she and FIL may be coming into some money soon and would like to fly the whole family (9 in total ) to Florida in November. Sounds great to me! She wanted me to try and get some info so of course I came to the Dis. Since I haven't looked online for airline tickets before I have a couple of questions. 1. Is it too early to look for ticket deals for November? 2. Where should I be looking? 3. Does anyone know if there is some kind of group discount for nine tickets? Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[kitnrose]

Where are they flying from? If possible, I'd highly recommend Southwest. They're incredibly easy to book on-line and if you need help, call. The people on the other line are almost as nice as Disney CMs! The downsides of South West are that they don't fly everywhere and they make very few direct flights because they have smaller airplanes. Plus there's no first class (personally I love that... There's nothing as disheartening as walking past those huge leather chairs to your two cubic feet of claustrophobia) and no movies. Also no official meals, though their snacks for longer flights are MUCH better than any other airline's "meal". The good sides are their price, their comfort (more seat room than Delta or United!), their awesome employees, and just the whole "how can we make this flight better for you" attitude. The perfect lead in to Disney! So if your inlaws don't mind the lack of movies and one touch down to refule and grab more passengers then I'd recomend running to www.southwest.com and start getting a feel for how it works. But give it a little longer before actually booking. Sorry so long... I need to call up Southwest and see if they'll hire me as an advertiser. I certainly do it enough!

ps - no group discounts. But at SW's prices it doesn't matter. There, now, did I do a good job of selling you on this airline?

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

I second SWA, but, they do have Non stop from CT to Orlando and Tampa. Another alternative is Providence, which also has non stops to Orlando and Tampa.
It might be a touch early for Nov. on SWA as their fares for that time frame are not out yet.
They fly 737s exclusively.

TYPE NUMBER SEATS
737-200 27 122
737-300 194 137
737-500 25 122
737-700 131 137

They are safe, reliable, the ontime record is excellent and the Flight Attendants, pilots etc. are a hoot.

I used to fly Delta only and after SWA I really hesitate to fly anyone else. The are WONDERFUL!!!!

For more information on this airline, visit : www.southwestair.com

 

[safetymom]

It is not too early to start looking for good prices. Usually group rates start at 10 people.

 

[Cyndo723]

In addition to swa try expedia and travelocity. The only problem with these sites are that they only allow you to search for 4 seats at a time but you should get a good feel for the range of fares and flights. Once you've found which carriers have the best options for you try their specific website. Many times you can save between $10 and $20 per ticket because you avoid the upcharge from these sites. You will almost always do better booking online rather than calling the airlines directly because they want to encourage you to do your own searching, thus reducing the number of "real people" that have to handle passenger requests. If only a few airlines fly out of your airport then also subscribe to these airlines' online newsletters. Sometimes they will let you know when there is a lower fare. Other than that just keep checking. Sometimes the best deals don't come out until closer to your travel date. The best advice is to do your homework, decide how much your willing to pay, and then book your flights when the price comes close. I been booking exclusively online for years now and have never had any problems. Good luck!!

 

[vald1977]

Thanks, everyone, for your help! I checked out Southwest and they will only book to the end of October right now but I will keep a lookout. I'll also check out expedia and travelocity. If group rates start at 10, maybe we'll have to find one more person to join us!