Tired of searching for reasonable airfare!

[buzzrelly]

Ugh...is anyone else having trouble finding a decent airfare from CT? I've been looking ever since the fares were released. I think at one point in October Southwest from BDL to MCO was reasonable, but of course, I had the flu at the time and didn't find out until after it was too late! Otherwise, I've been diligent about checking Southwest and Jet Blue at least once (usually twice!) per day and they haven't come down at all!

I've looked at fares from JFK because my friend has told me its easy to get to but frankly, it's NOT easier than driving 20 minutes to Windsor Locks! Plus, my mom really doesn't like the idea of having to drive to NY and leave the car there all week. We are seriously thinking of rescheduling our trip because of this . We've had it planned for a long time, and I've even applied the Visa discount, and have all of our ADRs made so this really stinks. Anyone else feeling this way?

 

[deakam]

We also just went through this. I got one way tickets from Chicago several months ago for $87.00. Kept checking for the return trip finally ended up paying $117.00 last week but my niece who is traveling with us ended up paying $177.00. My daughter paid $214.00. The flight we normally take back was $356.00 one way the last time I checked.

I think it has something to do with the fact that there is no competition. Airlines are cutting back on the number of flights. Airtran and Southwest are now the same company. The past 5 times we have flown there were no empty seats on the flight. Fewer flights, fewer seats equals higher prices.

I have also noticed that there are more overbooked flights. Folks that do not pay the extra for an assigned seat are getting left behind. With the new rules on what the airlines have to compensate for this I might consider not pre-paying for an assigned seat but then you run the risk of really messing up your vacation.

Last September I watched as a family of 6 actually had to put their small children with strangers because there were no 2 seats together. If things do not change I will be taking several extra days for our next trip and drive. It surely could not cost anymore.

I found the best fare on American Airlines, surprisingly enough, not one of the discount airlines. I went into the specials tab and clicked on us fare deals. It was not easy to find.

 

[Paging Tom Morrow]

When are you looking to go? I booked JFK to TPA for only $90 per person each way on JetBlue for 8/20 - 8/26. With a rental of $200 for the three of us for the week, that made our total transportation cost less than $500.

For our upcoming March trip, we are flying BDL to MCO and best we could find was $150 each way (JB down, SW back).

I'm not a huge fan of driving more than 1 hour for an airport, but if the savings are there, we just consider it part of the journey.

 

[buzzrelly]

Sorry. I should have said that we are supposed to be going in April! I realize that's part if the problem but I never dreamed airfare would be so outrageous. I'm hoping to not spend more than $300 per person. I just don't think it's going to happen.

 

[Paging Tom Morrow]

Have you priced flights out of Providence? You may find better prices there.

 

[buzzrelly]

Have you priced flights out of Providence? You may find better prices there.

Sadly, I have. No luck

 

[shoney]

Have you tried LGA in NY? It would be a little closer than JFK.


as a random date, I put lga to mco 4/6 to 4/13 and came up w/ $251 round trip.

Parking is probably about $20 a day, though.

 

[njmom47]

Have you signed up with an email alert site such as BookingBuddy? They will send you emails about your flight.
I did a quick random search, and depending on your dates, late April was $251 per person opposed to mid April, which I could see $500 and up.

Were you planning on renting a car? Maybe it's cheaper to fly into another airport and rent a car.

 

[DebbieB]

Sorry. I should have said that we are supposed to be going in April! I realize that's part if the problem but I never dreamed airfare would be so outrageous. I'm hoping to not spend more than $300 per person. I just don't think it's going to happen.

Is it a school break time?

 

[buzzrelly]

Is it a school break time?

Yes it is, unfortunately. My DS is in middle school so we have to now go at these busy times.

 

[buzzrelly]

Have you tried LGA in NY? It would be a little closer than JFK.

as a random date, I put lga to mco 4/6 to 4/13 and came up w/ $251 round trip.

Parking is probably about $20 a day, though.

I just checked and I'm getting about $1400 for the 4 tickets. They don't have non-stop though so that's one drawback. And parking would cost $192 so about $1600 plus gas and (tolls?). Kind of more than we wanted to spend for more of a pain than getting to Bradley. I'll keep in mind though. Have you flown out of LGA? How easy is it to get here and get around in? I'm definitely not a seasoned traveler and I am by far, the most seasoned of the four of us so going to another airport makes me nervous!

 

[shoney]

LGA is fine to navigate. Much smaller than JFK and easy to get to from CT.

What dates are you looking for? Are you limited to a certain airline? There are usually plenty of direct flights to MCO.


I would check www.kayak.com to see a list of all the airlines with flights from lga to mco

 

[buzzrelly]

LGA is fine to navigate. Much smaller than JFK and easy to get to from CT.

What dates are you looking for? Are you limited to a certain airline? There are usually plenty of direct flights to MCO.

I would check www.kayak.com to see a list of all the airlines with flights from lga to mco

4/12 to 4/20. I went through the Southwest website. I'll check kayak. Thanks.

 

[shoney]

4/12 to 4/20. I went through the Southwest website. I'll check kayak. Thanks.

Southwest may not fly direct out of lga...I know they do out of Islip on LI, but that would be a royal pain for you to get to.

Jet blue is 198 a ticket, non stop out of LGA.

 

[njmom47]

I'm also seeing Newark NJ (don't know how far) for $270.

 

[Greysword]

What is the price point you are hoping to hit? I'm not sure I agree that prices are outrageous in comparison to the grand scheme of air travel. When it hits $700 pp, then it is getting outrageous

I have also noticed that there are more overbooked flights. Folks that do not pay the extra for an assigned seat are getting left behind.

I would like to see the reference for this statement, as I do not think airlines condone this practice. Personally, I have yet to be left behind for not buying an assigned seat, and many times the determinant for who does not get on the plane is based on the time of arrival at the airport.

 

[buzzrelly]

What is the price point you are hoping to hit? I'm not sure I agree that prices are outrageous in comparison to the grand scheme of air travel. When it hits $700 pp, then it is getting outrageous

I would like to see the reference for this statement, as I do not think airlines condone this practice. Personally, I have yet to be left behind for not buying an assigned seat, and many times the determinant for who does not get on the plane is based on the time of arrival at the airport.

I haven't seen less than $800 from Bradley. For 4 tickets, it's almost the cost of another vacation! Ouch! And whenever I've searched for nearby (2hours away) airports, I haven't seen less than $300-400. Considering we'd have to pay for travel and parking at those places, that's not saving us bunches of money.

 

[Casemily]

Most airlines do not charge for assigned seats. However, there are preferred seats that, depending on the airline can be purchased (legroom/exit row/etc), or are reserved for elite mileage plan members, that aren't released until the day of departure if they haven't been reserved. Plus there are some seats left unassigned/unreserved specifically for the agents to release at the airport on the day of departure, usually so families with young kids can sit together. These are also the seats that get released to folks checking in without a pre reserved seat. So the earlier you check in, the better. When it comes to oversold flights, during check in at some point there are no more seats open and people are then put on to a list in order of check in. At 30 minutes prior to departure, if you have a pre reserved seat, but have not checked in for your flight yet, you've missed your flight and your seat goes to the person at the top of the oversold list. If there are still people on the list after that, then volunteers give up their seats to people on the list. Thru out check in, agents would be looking for volunteers to go on a later flight for compensation. Only at this point, if there are still people on the list, would folks without pre reserved seats be denied, compensated, and booked on the next available flight(s). 30 minutes cutoff for check in prior to departure is an industry standard. I imagine some of the above details would be different for airlines like Southwest and Allegiant Air. Most airlines have seats that can be pre reserved at no additional cost, although the number of seats may be fewer than previous years due to priority seats now.

 

[DLB]

Have you tried white plains? We flew out there once and saved a substantial amount of money. The drive there wasn't awful (we are in CT)

 

[buzzrelly]

Have you tried white plains? We flew out there once and saved a substantial amount of money. The drive there wasn't awful (we are in CT)

Ugh...I have. Still looking! Getting more and more confused and aggravated. Plus, it falls all on me since my mom wouldn't have any idea how to go about booking airfare. Stinks to be doing it all on my own but I'm glad I have you guys helping! Thanks for everyone's advice...keep it coming!