Shocked with April Air Fares ?

[poohbear2]

Am I the only one sticker shocked with Southwest Fares for April vacation?( last week of April in MHT). I thought I paid a lot less last year and it was during the Easter time frame. I was really surprised how expensive the fares opened up at.
A lot of people must be doing Disney this year.

 

[DebbieB]

Am I the only one sticker shocked with Southwest Fares for April vacation?( last week of April in MHT). I thought I paid a lot less last year and it was during the Easter time frame. I was really surprised how expensive the fares opened up at.
A lot of people must be doing Disney this year.

They may go down. I think they start out with high fares with hopes that impatient people will just buy it. Is that a school holiday week? In that case, they may not go down.

 

[Tinknalli]

With spring break I always find it's best to buy flights ASAP. Seems like once airlines catch on to what week the area spring break is the prices climb and climb and never come back down. I don't wait for a specific airline to release, just book once I find a good fare. I start looking at 330 days out and book flights down and back separately if needed. We have also expanded our search to airports that are less than 4 hours away (nearest one with decent availability is 2 hours away anyway). Last time I waited for Jet Blue at the closest airport we ended up paying $1700 for 4 people to fly over spring break and this was booked the minute the flights came out and the fares climbed to $1200 roundtrip per person and never came back down.

 

[Tinknalli]

Have you tried looking at BDL? We are in VT and used to fly out of ALB and BTV exclusively. This year the fares at BDL were worth the drive.

 

[ellie&mattys mom]

I agree they are very high more so on the weekends
during the week we got $89 didn't book going down yet!!

 

[clanmcculloch]

That week from MHT the prices will NOT go down. February vacation week went up just as quickly.

I suspect that people are planning vacations much farther out these days because everybody knows they need to really budget more than ever so they're taking the time to really save up and scour for deals. That being said, I've booked over school vacation times before from MHT and prices have always jumped up within the first hour or two of fares being released, though maybe not quite as fast as this year.

PVD over NH school break is usually a bit slower to go up in price if you're willing to drive the additional 2 hours each way.

 

[kkandaj]

I feel this way for May from Kansas City. For the next 3 months, right until close to Christmas, you can get flights for $99 each way. There is not ONE flight anytime from Jan-May for less than $148. I don't get it--and St. Louis, which is only 4 hours away has $99 flights from Jan-May.

I did book the morning the flights came out for our trip to MCO, just because we want that specific flight. MIL is flying in from Wash DC ($69 each way on Air Tran, SW wanted $212 each way!) so we are schedule to arrive within 45 mins of her. I am hoping flights go down and we can get the rapid rewards points back to use on our flight home.

I don't get SW prices right now.

ETA: Our trip is May 12-19, so not even a busy week. ???

 

[Donna M]

We can usually get flights out of BOS for about $250 or under. Usually the last week of April. This year we got 6 of the 8 tickets for $286, and that was during the summer on Jet Blue. The price for the same seats are now $400 something
I didn't want to take the chance with SW because last year the prices went up an hour after I got my tickets. I was on the site at around 7 am the day they came out. What would have happened if I missed the opening window!!

Even rental cars are much more than last year.

 

[dbragas]

We're actually paying less for out April vacation flights than we did in 2010! Flying out of PVD, basically the same schedule as 2010 and we're paying about $30 LESS per person. Both times, I jumped on SW the minute the fares were released. I don't get it it, but I'm not complaining. I have to thank these boards for educating me on how to get decent fares I feel badly for those that tried to get fares later on in the day and are paying 2x+ what we paid!

 

[ZooKeeper13]

I was thrilled with the price I got; $89 each way for ISP to MCO on 4/24 & 5/1! With the credits we had, it came to $68.50 each out of pocket roundtrip.