Starting to panic...don't have flight yet.

[Nadjalu]

UGH, we are 38 days out from our vacation and we have yet to purchase our flights!

2 months ago I decided to wait a bit to see if they would drop in price, think I waited to long.

So I have a question....how often do they add flights to a daily schedule? Does anyone know?
Right now there is 2 nonstop flights from detroit to mco on our day, but the times are horrible! Is there anyway to know if another flight or 2 will be added that day?

 

[drew64]

Flights are scheduled months in advance, they are not going to add any this close to your travel dates.

When are you traveling as there are quite a few nonstops daily between DTW and MCO

1*S#DL1605 F9 P9 A9 Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 DTWMCO- 800A1054A 9 753 0E
2*S#DL1305 F9 P9 A9 Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 DTWMCO-1005A1255P 8 753 0E
3*S#DL1505 F9 P9 A9 Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 DTWMCO-1215P 255P 9 753 0E
4*S#DL1905 F9 P9 A9 Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 DTWMCO- 205P 448P 9 757 0E
5*S#DL1805 F9 P9 A9 Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 DTWMCO- 555P 843P 8 753 0E
6*S#DL1405 F9 P9 A9 Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 DTWMCO- 755P1042P 7 753 0E

 

[Tara]

The answer to your question is not very often at all. My experience tells me it's highly unlikely they'll add 1 flight, let alone more than that. If it were a busy time of year and there was high demand (meaning the flights that were available were sold out), then possibly. You are traveling at a lower-demand time, so you probably will have to take one of the flights at a less desirable time, I'm sorry to say.

But...you said 38 days. Are you traveling on January 30? Because I see a lot of Delta nonstop flights that day. What airline are you looking at?

 

[elainesj]

I fly from detroit to MCO too and I'm 29 days out now.

it sounds like u are tryig to fly on spirit. i agree - their times suck and there are only 2 flights a day. Their prices are fairly comparable i find for the flight dates I wanted (thurs/fri), it was about $300 all incl. flying midweek was much cheaper (under $100 per ticket).

the others have posted delta's flight schedule and this seems pretty consistent every day of the week from what I've been able to tell. a couple of days ago i checked and there were flights on delta nonstop for $160 for any of those times...which is awesome because when I was checking 2 months ago., they were all $300.

I rarely see airlines add flights to their schedule. usually it's pretty routine.

 

[Nadjalu]

Tara, yes we are flying out Jan 30 and returning on Feb 5.

The departure times (I have been keeping my eye on) of 10:05am and the noon one would be perfect.
However it is the return flight that is kicking my butt. I want something between 2pm and 4pm...but it doesn't look like I may get that. I certainly don't want to fly out of Orlando before noon, geez I would have to board ME at 9am!! LOL ugh on my last day I don't know if I can get my butt moving that early.

What ticks me off, is if I choose the departure flight that is $164 (I believe, the 10am one), then choose a return flight that in the afternoon (the $204 flight), I am charged the higher fee. Not sure how they do that.
Why, do you know?

I am hoping that later flight comes down in price a bit. Just don't understand why the same flights would be $$ different....just drives me nuts!!

 

[drew64]

Tara, yes we are flying out Jan 30 and returning on Feb 5.

The departure times (I have been keeping my eye on) of 10:05am and the noon one would be perfect.
However it is the return flight that is kicking my butt. I want something between 2pm and 4pm...but it doesn't look like I may get that. I certainly don't want to fly out of Orlando before noon, geez I would have to board ME at 9am!! LOL ugh on my last day I don't know if I can get my butt moving that early.

What ticks me off, is if I choose the departure flight that is $164 (I believe, the 10am one), then choose a return flight that in the afternoon (the $204 flight), I am charged the higher fee. Not sure how they do that.
Why, do you know?

I am hoping that later flight comes down in price a bit. Just don't understand why the same flights would be $$ different....just drives me nuts!!

It is yield management. There ar edozens of fare basis codes each with a different fare on each flight. Depending on which are left avail, determines what the roundtrip price will be. The lower fare basis code is most liekly sold out on the other flight already.

 

[drew64]

It is the return flight driving up the price a sthe cheap far eis T class and no T class is avail on any flight on Feb 5 making the total fare $303.40

TICKET BASE USD TX/FEE USD TKT TTL USD
ADT01 262.33 41.07 303.40
*TTL 262.33 41.07 303.40

*LOWEST FARE
FBC ADT TA07A0UN/WP1W*QA00A0UJ
ADT DTT DL ORL 57.68DL DTT 204.65USD262.33END DL ZPDTWMCO XT
)>

If you can return on the 620P flight on Feb 6 the fare drops to under $150 round trip

1 DL1305T 30JAN SU DTWMCO SS1 1005A 1255P/O $ E
2 DL2428T 06FEB SU MCODTW SS1 620P 903P/O $ E

TICKET BASE USD TX/FEE USD TKT TTL USD
ADT01 115.35 30.05 145.40*TTL 115.35 30.05 145.40

FBC ADT TA07A0UN/WP1W
ADT DTT DL ORL 57.68DL DTT 57.67USD115.35END DL ZPDTWMCO XT
)>

 

[rigs32]

Why can't you book your flight to MCO on that airline and book the return trip on another airline? I've done that many times in order to get convenient or cheaper flights.

 

[elainesj]

if i recall correctly spirit airlines time is crappy. and that's the only other airline flying nonstop from detroit.

OP: $200 is very reasonable for a round trip flight. it really is only $40-$50 more than the cheapest option. and flights are typically $300 so you still got yourself a deal right now. your other option is to split your ticket up and see if you get any savings going one way instead of return

i also found out if i buy tix on orbitz.com, there is a price protection in place and they mail you a cheque if tix drop in price. there are some conditions of course...but worth checking out.

 

[greenclan67]

If you are flying out of Detroit, how much further would it be to drive to fly our of Grand Rapids, or Flint Michigan? We always check them out because their flight times are better on Airtran, and they are non-stop from eithier place! Also try sun country vacations out of Lansing, Mi! I drive to eithier Grand Rapids, Flint, Detroit, Buffalo, or Lansing, and any of those drives will take me between, 7 to 9 hours regardless coming from Northern Ontario! But we would have to drive 6 to 6.5 hours to get to Toronto anyhow, so we drive the extra for the cheaper flights!

 

[goofy4tink]

I seriously doubt they will either add any flights or reduce their fares. The airlines really don't much care about what is perfect for you or any other traveler. They care about their bottom line.
They charge a higher fare simply because they fully realize that most people want certain times, and will pay addtl for it.

 

[sam_gordon]

i also found out if i buy tix on orbitz.com, there is a price protection in place and they mail you a cheque if tix drop in price. there are some conditions of course...but worth checking out.

Please be careful here... they only send you a check if the tickets drop in price AND someone else books the same flight THROUGH ORBITZ! So the tickets could drop $150pp, but if passengers book through the airline, priceline, travelocity, or anything other than Orbitz, you're still SOL.

 

[jenseib]

You could also check out flying out of Toledo. But you have to rent a car then

 

[Tara]

Your preferred times are available on nonstop flights on Delta for $225 per person with taxes/fees. I seriously doubt they are going to come down from there at this point - that is pretty darned low for great departure times. If I were in your shoes, there's no way I'd wait.

 

[n2mm]

OP, you realize you don't always have to buy round trip. I've not purchased a round trip ticket at least 20 trips ago. I have many times purchased one way and then purchase the other way when the price or times are right. I mix and match often. Fly down on SW home on United, down on Jet Blue and back on Airtran. Now I pretty much stay with Jetblue but always buy one ways. I leave in 22 days and even my airfare keeps going up and down. Last week it was $49 each way out of Dulles, this week it's back up to $64 each way. I do find that the prices are always higher on the weekends and lower from Tuesday to Thursday. As for adding flight, I don't see that happening this late in the game. If anything, this is when they tend to drop flights.

 

[Brian Noble]

Your preferred times are available on nonstop flights on Delta for $225 per person with taxes/fees.

For a nonstop winter roundtrip DTW-MCO, this is a fair price. Buy it.

 

[dis_guy]

Add flights, no. Schedule a larger plane to handle larger than expected demand, maybe. Seen this once in 8 trips the last 4 years. Ask for volunteers if oversold, likely. Lower the price, not likely. I'd grab whatever fare I could live with at this point.

 

[Nadjalu]

Thank you for all your suggestions.

Flying out of Lansing or Flint is a no go, way to far from our house.

I will check into flying out of Toledo though, hadn't thought of that, we are close to the Ohio border, so that might work.

Do realize that $200 a ticket is pretty good, but when I was trying to combine the different flight times (you know choose this then choose that), total cost was over $600 for 2 tickets, somehow with taxes and such another 100 was added on. NOT cool.

I will have to get down to business and book it. We usually go thru Orbitz, but may look at other options this time.

Thanks again for your help!!

 

[Tara]

Thank you for all your suggestions.

Flying out of Lansing or Flint is a no go, way to far from our house.

I will check into flying out of Toledo though, hadn't thought of that, we are close to the Ohio border, so that might work.

Do realize that $200 a ticket is pretty good, but when I was trying to combine the different flight times (you know choose this then choose that), total cost was over $600 for 2 tickets, somehow with taxes and such another 100 was added on. NOT cool.

I will have to get down to business and book it. We usually go thru Orbitz, but may look at other options this time.

Thanks again for your help!!

I highly recommend booking through the airline directly. I used Delta.com to find the fare I posted earlier.

 

[jenseib]

I have also always booked directly through the airlines, and always get a better deal. Or at least the same.
With Toledo, Allegiant flies back and forth a couple times a week. But you do fly into Sandford, which is fine for us, because my DH wants to have a car anyways.