Spring Break (March 2006) Airfare?

[westjones]

Has anyone flown at spring break. Does anyone offer good rates at this time or do they know so many will be flying that they won't have to?

We do have Southwest here, but I have never tried them. They don't have March 2006 out yet. Anyone have a guess as to when they might offer rates for the last week of March?

We could drive if we had to (we have a 17 hour drive to WDW), but flying is much more relaxing and we get to spend more time having fun!

We use to fly ATA, but now we have been flying Northwest. Northwest is listing tickets at $300 round trip each! We have been getting tickets for $150 round trip each. I am hoping we can get $150 round trip each again!

DJ

 

[dizplanner]

I don't know. I'm looking for March 2006 tickets too. Unfortunately I want to fly out on Saturday and back on Sunday. And I'm flying from Denver. Direct flights at the times I like are $475-$500 a person! And are going up not down. :-(

There used to be American connecting flights for ~$250 a person. I almost was ready to break down and purchase them and they shot up. They are now ~$350 a person.

If I fly out on Sat and back on Monday (not the time I really want on Saturday, but it would work), the direct flight is $330. I'm debating if I should have the kids miss a day of school (they are in junior and senior high).
This flight thing is really stressful. I could get a less expensive connecting flight if I was willing to fly on Tuesday - but that doesn't work with kids Spring breaks. And I'm trying to go during Spring Break so the kids don't miss school. The airlines are just taking advantage of us parents.

I really don't know what to do - wait and watch for a couple of more months or buy now before it gets any higher? I do know the waiting until 2-3 months won't work. In 2004 I decided to go over March spring break in January - tickets were a little over $500 a person. However I had miles from my credit card that I used for four tickets that paid up to $500 a piece - I did have to pay $35 a person to get the direct flights as the tickets were $535. So I know waiting until January is bad.

 

[westjones]

Karen,
Do you have Southwest in your area? They haven't come out with rates, and right now I feel like they are our only hope for a good rate. I wouldn't buy anything until Southwest posts their prices if you have then in your area.

I know what you mean about spring break though. This is our first time trying to fly at spring break and it isn't looking good. We are lucky in that we could drive if we wanted (17 hours each way, but it is doable). It just takes up so much of our trip to do that though.

Anyway, DH said for us not to make any decision until we see what Southwest has to offer. Then we will decide to drive or fly. I really don't want to drive, but if that is our only choice, we will do it.

In your case, flying would be the only option, so I hope something opens up with a good price for you. It is depressing, isn't it.

I have no idea when Southwest will open the March dates. Right now they are only open through October. I would guess they would open Nov-Jan first and then a few months later open Feb-Apr. So we may have a long wait. We haven't used Southwest before, so I really am not an expert on how they work, but that is my guess.

Hope it works out for both of us!
DJ

 

[dizplanner]

Unfortunately we don't have Southwest. Wish we did. The only direct flights are Frontier (2 flights a day) and Ted (4 flights a day). Frontier is a nice airline, but they want over $500 for the earlier flight on Saturday and the later flight on Sunday. If I take the later flight on Saturday and either flight on Monday, I can get it for $330.

American, Delta and others have connecting flights. Only American's prices are worth considering recently. (Earlier Delta had some lower prices, although the flight I was considering is gone, so maybe it is just as well I didn't book it.)

At this point I'm really wishing I had booked the $250 flights with American. They are $340 now and I may have to go with them.

 

[DANAW]

We flew Southwest during our spring break last April. I think Southwests flight scheduled opened up in January. I found out the exact date & even time the new dates would open (somone answered a post of mine on another message board...that person must have worked at SW), and I must have been one of the first to book. The price was $312 per person (out of Hartford, CT non-stop to Orlando). The price never came down, and since it was spring break time, the flights filled up pretty quickly. In my case, the only other choice of non stop flights out of Hartford is Delta. Their prices for their Song Airline were through the roof...$500 or so. I had heard of people getting a much lower rate through Song by booking the 330 days in advance for our spring break dates. Good luck

 

[westjones]

We flew Southwest during our spring break last April. I think Southwests flight scheduled opened up in January. I found out the exact date & even time the new dates would open (somone answered a post of mine on another message board...that person must have worked at SW), and I must have been one of the first to book. The price was $312 per person (out of Hartford, CT non-stop to Orlando). The price never came down, and since it was spring break time, the flights filled up pretty quickly. In my case, the only other choice of non stop flights out of Hartford is Delta. Their prices for their Song Airline were through the roof...$500 or so. I had heard of people getting a much lower rate through Song by booking the 330 days in advance for our spring break dates. Good luck

Thanks! I guess I won't get worried until January for Southwest dates. We are going to drive if we can't get a good rate, but we are REALLY hoping for a good rate. I didn't realize it might be as late as January (although we are looking for a March spring break--the last week of March, so maybe that will be available sooner than January).

If the price is as high as you listed, we will be driving. There are 4 of us, so it wouldn't make sense to fly at that price.

Thanks again for the info from last year, it gives me something to go by for this year.

DJ