Someone who flies a lot, please help me!

[Luv2Travel]

Here is the situation...I live in North Alabama, 1 1/2 hours to either Nashville or Birmingham. Each of these airports has Southwest airlines. The rate out of B'ham to Orlando is $144 (n/s going down, 1 stop on the return), the rate out of Nashville is $170 (n/s both ways). I also am only 20 minutes from the Huntsville airport which has Northwest, USAir, and Delta. Currently airfares on these carriers are around $165 with each having 1 stop. Here are my questions:

(1) Our trip is November 23-29... do you think fares will drop anymore since that is 4 months away? Or do you think this could be the lowest fare since it's around Thanksgiving?

(2) Would you drive 1 1/2 hours to fly nonstop, or would you fly out of your local airport and take the 1 1/2 hour in the lay-over in Atlanta? Note: We can get down to Orlando earlier (before lunch) if we fly out of Huntsville on one of the other airlines (it'll be dinner time if we fly SW).

(3) If I buy 5 tickets now, then the fare drops and I get vouchers for all 5 tickets, can I use all 5 off these vouchers together to buy 2 more tickets? I would love to buy MIL's and FIL's tickets also.

Sorry for all of these questions, but we rarely fly and I'm no pro when it comes to getting lower airfare. Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

[ducklite]

1) Our trip is November 23-29... do you think fares will drop anymore since that is 4 months away? Or do you think this could be the lowest fare since it's around Thanksgiving?

The closer you get to your travel date the higher the fares will rise, as more tickets will be sold. It's a law of supply and demand thing that the airlines call "yield market management". There's a great article to read about it here: http://airtravel.about.com/library/weekly/aa122999.htm

Fares are pretty low right now. I always ask myself "Will I be happy with this rate, or do I want to wait for a lower one but risk not getting it and actually paying more?"

(2) Would you drive 1 1/2 hours to fly nonstop, or would you fly out of your local airport and take the 1 1/2 hour in the lay-over in Atlanta? Note: We can get down to Orlando earlier (before lunch) if we fly out of Huntsville on one of the other airlines (it'll be dinner time if we fly SW).

I would look at a lot of factors. That time of the year weather can play havoc, so a direct from a larger airport might be a better option. That way if you're flight is cancelled, you have a better chance of being rerouted in order to get to your destination. I always avoid as much as possible carriers or routes that the carrier only offers ervice to my destination or departure city once or twice daily. That mean sif you miss the connection it's a long time before you can hopefully get on the next plane.

(3) If I buy 5 tickets now, then the fare drops and I get vouchers for all 5 tickets, can I use all 5 off these vouchers together to buy 2 more tickets? I would love to buy MIL's and FIL's tickets also.

Well, the fares would have to drop substantially. Most (not all) carriers require you to pay a rebooking fee of $50-100 per ticket and they will then give you the difference in the form of a voucher. You'd already be getting a rock bottom fare based on what you are saying here, I doubt it would be eligible for a fare refund. My advice on question number three is to call Southwest directly.

Anne

 

[Luv2Travel]

Anne - thank you so much for your advice, and promptness too! I do feel like this could be the lowest airfare that I will be able to get flying out of Huntsville. The price just dropped $30 today, it has been $195. Your advice does help me to feel better about wanting to go ahead and buy the tickets now.

Although the weather issue is an excellent point, being in the South, weather is really not a problem at that time of year. We don't usually get any snow or ice until at least December, if not January. Therefore, I am leaning towards flying out of Huntsville and taking the layover in Atlanta. I have 3 kids (8, 8, and 6) and I'm thinking it'll be easier to entertain them at the airport for an hour (they love to watch planes land and take off), then it would be to come back from vacation and drive 1 1/2 hours home. What do you think?

I also took your advice and called the airline directly about the voucher thing. Even if I did qualify to get vouchers, I could not combine them towards the purchase of one ticket. The vouchers are only good for each individual they are issued for to buy another ticket.

I guess the only thing that I worry about now is if I go ahead and buy the Delta tickets out of Huntsville, then (with my luck) SW will drop the price on their tickets to $100 or less (which I have often seen, but I don't know about this time of year). It drives me insane trying to make decisions like this!

 

[ducklite]

You can have gorgeous weather at your deparure airport, but that doesn't mean it's gorgeous in the rest of the country. Unless your flight is very early in the morning, your plane is coming in from someplace, and the trickle down effect can screw up the entire country.

I do think you're best off flying Delta, only because many other carriers won't honor Southwests tickets, but most will honor Deltas. So if you get to ATL and miss your connection or it's cancelled, and there isn't another Delta flight, they could put you on another carrier to finish your trip.

Just make sure that you leave yourself at least an hour in ATL for your connection. It's a HUGE airport with "subways" between the terminals, and even though I fly a lot, I still find ATL one of the most intimidating of all the airports in the entire world. Don't let them tell you "Oh, half an hour is a legal connection." Half an hour is NOT enough time to navigate ATL IMHO.

BTW--I've purchased some books from Shavers Bookstore in Huntsville, very nice folks to do business with

Anne

 

[Beverly Lynn]

well in my 15 yrs experience and 13 yrs of it in res for a major airlines I can tell you this they ahven't even yet begun to put the fares out for your travel dates. but if you do buy the tkt now and the fare goes down you can get vouchers but they are ususally non transferable. the 3 I have all say nontransferable on them. which means only the person named on them can use it towards the purchase of a tkt. go with whatever airport is the most convenient. and if you belong to an FTP program try to stay with that airline too. this way you can build up your miles for the free tkt.

 

[Luv2Travel]

Anne - I didn't even think about the "trickle down effect" that weather can have on flights. I told you I'm a newbie when it comes to flying! The layovers that I was looking at are actually about 1 1/2 hrs. I was just saying an hour to kill time meaning after we found our next gate.

Beverly Lynn - you're killing me here! I can't decide what to do! I guess I've decided flying Delta out of the nearest airport would be best, but I can't decide when to buy. Are you saying that fares out of smaller airports might go lower too? I could see fares for larger airports go down, but I'm worried about my local one. I know the flights that I've looked at are about 1/2 booked at this time. Both from HSV to ATL and ATL to MCO. Does that mean any more to you? Thanks for your help and advice.