Starting to Worry...My Airfare has Jumped from $289 to $368!

[WaltD4Me]

I'm starting to worry about our October trip. I've been stalking Continental for airfares...it's pretty much been $289 RT since I started looking. Friday morning it was still $289.....Friday night it jumped to $368! I never dreamed it would go that high. We've got the tickets and we rented DVD points and those are 1/2 paid for so we really can't cancel, but I seriously don't know how we are going to get there. ... $ 368, unbelievable.

They say Disney is more full than ever, but I really wonder what is going to happen once trips that were planned and paid for end and people start cancelling plans they were just planning and hadn't bought yet. Even with foreign travelers, airfares have start making them re-think travel too, no?

 

[Boardwalker]

It is getting a bit nerve racking... With the price of oil jumping so fast, the airfares are going to have to follow.

Then last night one of the tag lines on the news was that for some of the airlines, bankruptcy is inevitable. It makes you think twice before buying a ticket at all! You could get stuck holding a ticket to a defunct airline.

So now the desperate airlines are going to start charging people for every bag they check to increase fee income. That means that there will be twice as many carry-ons which slows security and makes for a cramped flight.

I don't have the patience to drive, so I will still fly, but will probably start taking fewer trips and staying longer. I will miss the quick trips, but you can only justify spending so much before you even get there.

 

[Allison]

I want to go in October and have the room reserved and the plans made but I won't be going at the current airfare prices.

 

[carol1231]

I am greatful that we are within driving distance. Even though gas is more expensive, driving still costs less than the four of us flying.

 

[Derby4me]

Don't worry. You will find a great price. This week I bought my RT tickets for $150 and I live in Ohio also. Just keep looking and be patient. You still have lots of time. When looking for flights, I use Kayak.com to see if I'm really getting a great price, and I make sure I look on Tuesdays and Wednesdays because flights seem to be a LITTLE cheaper on these days.

 

[Kimberle]

With the rising cost of oil, air fare, along with everything else is only going to get worse. I wouldn't be suprised to see some airlines go out of business.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I had some frequent flyer miles that I'd been hanging onto for awhile trying to amass enough for a flight to Europe but decided to use them for our trip in August as I realized they would be worthless if the airlines go bankrupt before I could use them.

So at least our next visit to WDW is covered -- after that, who knows.

 

[WaltD4Me]

You just don't know what to do....should you book at the high price because you afraid it will only get worse, or do you wait, hoping for a sale that might never come? I can't book at $368 I know that, but it is very nerve racking. I'm going to check Kayak and see what I can maybe find flying out of Akron/Canton, although last time I checked there wasn't anything decent and from all I hear about Air Tran (always changing/cancelling flights)
I'm scared to book with them.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Lisa -- what are your dates? Have you been watching Southwest? Are you signed up for Ding?

 

[cocowum]

You just don't know what to do....should you book at the high price because you afraid it will only get worse, or do you wait, hoping for a sale that might never come? I can't book at $368 I know that, but it is very nerve racking. I'm going to check Kayak and see what I can maybe find flying out of Akron/Canton, although last time I checked there wasn't anything decent and from all I hear about Air Tran (always changing/canceling flights)
I'm scared to book with them.

Lisa, I was in the same boat as you. I was really scared to book AirTran because of all the changing and canceling flights. Every other airline was outrageously priced. Well when AT offered those $25off coupons I jumped. Now the 3 of us are flying for $430 RT. I'm used to flying out of the Albany airport which is 15 mins from my house. Now I'm flying out of Newburgh which is an hour and a half away. I used flying a nonstop SW flight, whose time never changes. Now I'm flying on a connecting AirTran flight. But at least it's affordable. I also added a day to our trips just in case we have any issues with our flights.

Over on the transportation board they seem to think AirTran is going to be doing another coupon/one day sale on Memorial day so be sure to keep an eye on it. Good Luck.

 

[Iggipolka]

We are also going to WDW in October and I've been watching the prices of flights go up and up. I haven't bought our tickets yet and I keep hoping that there will be a drop in price soon.

We're flying next month on American and I'm so glad that we got our tickets awhile ago, way before the $15 for the 1st checked bag thing went into effect!

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Can you fly out of Cleveland? SW has r/t as low as $239 during October (and some were nonstop flights).

 

[ssmerdel]

We booked Air Tran out in Indianapolis for next week, May 30. I purchased these tickets on January 29th and the schedule went from 7:45am departure to a 7:05am departure. Nothing else changed or cancelled. The tickets were about $250 per person. I have never used AirTran before, so I will let you know how that goes, but as for changes or cancels, they seem to be ok. Also, I have been watching the flight we are on for over a month now, and it has never been delayed when arriving at MCO, even in rainy weather.

 

[Cruz Family]

I booked with Jet Blue (I refuse to use anyone else) for my November trip the day the prices were released. I paid $344 (w/taxes and fees) per person round trip from Boston, the next day the price jumped and was $344 just one way (with out any taxes and fees)
Thank god I booked when I did!!!!

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I just got an email saying JetBlue is waiving their change fees -- so now if your fare goes down by some miracle, you can change with no penalty!

 

[rotlex]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who this is really starting to worry. Fares have doubled in some instances from our area, and frankly, it's already putting a damper on possible trips for the remainder of this year.

What's really bad, it is the one big thing really holding us back from making a DVC decision at this point. I keep thinking that DVC sounds just perfect for us, but I also keep picturing us not being able to afford to FLY in the future.

 

[cccm]

I booked airfare out of Providence instead of Boston, first time for vacation, but have flow out of PVD for business.

SW was $95 each way per person. So I booked, still haven't done hotel yet.

 

[WaltD4Me]

I just got an email saying JetBlue is waiving their change fees -- so now if your fare goes down by some miracle, you can change with no penalty!

Sadly Jet Blue doesn't fly out of Cleveland. Believe me, I wish they did.

I checked out Pittsburgh and I can get a good fare from there, only thing is there are 5 of us and no one has a car big enough to take all of us and the luggage. Flying out of Cleveland is no problem, my BIL was going to take my sister and her kids to the airport and my brother was going to take me and my nephew. I guess we could look into renting a minivan but geez, I live 40 minutes away from a pretty big airport, it would be SO much simpler to fly out of Cleveland.

 

[chirurgeon]

I will be trying SW for the first time for my December trip. With prices going the way they are, I am going to book as soon as I see them post December fares. I know that will be June, and I won't find out until the first week in August if I am going on strike, but I don't want to risk the fares getting more and more outrageous. At least with SW I won't have to pay a change penalty if I have to cancel my trip. I'll just use the amount I pay for the Podcast cruise.

Kim

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Can you fly out of Cleveland? SW has r/t as low as $239 during October (and some were nonstop flights).

Quoting myself seems a bit weird, but you never said whether or not you had looked at SW -- October's got several days where the fare is very reasonable (at least by today's standards!). Plus, if the fare goes down you can just rebook and either have the difference applied back to your card, or use it later (depends on the circumstances). Check it out if you haven't already done so.