What is up with November flights?

[kimwim8]

Why in the world are the prices so high? We usually fly Spirit out of Atlantic City...but the prices are around $500/ticket!!! So I went through Travelocity & searched out of Philadelphia...and there is only one flight for under $250 & that is a night flight...all other options are at least 1 stop (for a 2 hour flight total!!).

Anyone out there going to MCO in November?? How are you handling it? Do you just wait for Southwest?

We usually book our flights at least 6 months in advance..it's making me really nervous to not have this settled.

Any info or suggestions are appreciated!!

 

[tbrenk]

What are your dates? November 9th and 10th is the NJ Teacher's Convention and they are no calling the whole week "Jersey Week" because alot of people take their kids out the whole week and go away. Plus, you have Thanksgiving.

 

[Dopey Sharon]

I see you're from Pitman...hi neighbor!

I booked our flights for our "Jersey Week" trip back in January. We're leaving PHL at 7:55am on the 5th and leaving MCO, to come home on the 10th, at 7:35pm. I paid $224 for each ticket.

I checked the other day, and it would cost us over $1,000 for two tickets!!!

I almost always book flights as soon as I can. So far, the prices have always gone up, especially for that week in November.

I just booked a trip for next month when I saw Southwest had a $59 sale. That's the first time I've ever booked that late.

A couple years ago I got a good fare on Spirit, out of Atlantic City, for "Jersey Week", but, again, I booked it very early.

Good luck. Hopefully, you can grab a reasonable fare.

 

[kimwim8]

Thanks for the responses!! Our dates are 11/5 - the 11th or 12th (not sure yet). I did realize it was Jersey Week in Disney...but I didn't think that would effect the airfare so much!!

I don't know what to do. Maybe we need to not worry about the kids missing school, and go a different week. grrrrrrrrrrr

Hi Dopey Sharon!! I think we've talked before. I'm running a race in Pitman, but I actually live close to the AC airport, in Galloway. If we actually make it down there, maybe we'll see each other!

 

[rdsx28]

HI, I agree with you the prices have been quite high. I will be flying PVDto MCo hopefully November 19th to the 27th.The jet blue price out of Boston now would be 378.00 pp which I think is quite high. I went the same time last year and the tickets were 220.00 on SW. I am hoping to get close to this rate on SW. The waiting stinks however for the fares to come out. I too like to have everything all set. At least we are all waiting together! Good Luck!

 

[Ishy]

Last year sept flight sales for Airtran out of philly, Continental out of Newark and Spirit out of AC came out mid-end of July. I hate waiting till the last minute to catch a good deal tho...

I asked about Airtran specials for my trip in August thru the WDWTravel Co - I heard about from others at this board. I am flying 157$ pp total -- when I booked that flight, the only seats available on it (NS out of philly) were 300$ seats. You may want to price it thru WDWTravel....

I was going thru AAA and canceled so I could get the flights I wanted on the days I wanted for a good price.

 

[CleveRocks]

Thanks for the responses!! Our dates are 11/5 - the 11th or 12th (not sure yet). I did realize it was Jersey Week in Disney...but I didn't think that would effect the airfare so much!!

I don't know what to do. Maybe we need to not worry about the kids missing school, and go a different week. grrrrrrrrrrr

I had the same experience you're having. It's our first time with a child in the school system, so I guess we jumped on the Jersey Week bandwagon a little late, last month, a full six months in advance!

Since there's a half day of school on Wednesday 11/8 and no school on Thursday and Friday 11/9 and 10, we initially decided we'd go to The World from Tuesday 11/7 through Sunday 11/12 (figuring missing 1 full day and one half day wouldn't be the worst thing in the world). I was completely shocked when I found those horrific $500+ Spirit fares! And the fares outta Philly were higher than usual, too. We just couldn't find ANY acceptable airfares and flight schedules on those exact dates

We decided to be very flexible with our dates. We figured if our son will miss Tuesday and the half-day Wednesday, why not just have him miss Monday, too, which then gives us a lot more flexibility, to travel within the window of Saturday 11/4 and Sunday 11/12. We looked at just about every combination of days to give us 5 days in WDW.

We didn't like the idea of connecting flights, and also didn't want to spend $500+ a ticket. So we're flying out after dinnertime on Saturday 11/4, landing in MCO around 9:30 p.m. We hope for a good night's sleep and then wake up in The World, ready to go! Our return flight leaves around 8:00 p.m. on Fri 11/10. Both are non-stops. With taxes and fees it came to about $270 per person. Still higher than I'd like, but I got nervous about being locked out or having prices go higher. I'm not much of a gambler (which doesn't at all explain why I relocated so close to Atlantic City!), and I just couldn't stomach waiting for months to see if Southwest has good fares at good times. I would worry that we'd be locked out and then not have our vacation at all.

Part of this hesitation is something that happened to me while I was on the phone doing flight reservations through CRO. I was on USAirways' website, while I was on the phone with CRO making the flight reservations for flights that were about $320 each (you have 24 hours to pay, or the reservation disappears). WHILE I WAS ON THE PHONE, I REFRESHED THE WEBSITE AND THE PRICE WENT UP BY $150 PER TICKET, but we got in with the original price. This really freaked me out, so when I saw the cheaper price with a different airline the next morning I was on it like white on rice.

 

[ryanally]

We are traveling 11/3-11/11 and were experiencing similar $$$$. Was wondering if PHL prices are higher than other areas for that week due to the Jersey Week traveling. Will probably not pick this week again next year. Last year we were there the week before over Halloween.
I was going to wait for SW as we have the last 2 trips, but in the interim, I signed up for Airtran email updates and got one a couple of weeks ago for a fare sale through 11/8. Was able to get trip down to MCO for $99 per person. I know this is not as good as some other posters with DINGs, but at this point if I can get RT for about $200/person, I'll be As for return flight, hopefully either another Airtran sale or SW will have something when their Nov dates open up this summer.

 

[Ambassador]

We are flying Nov 4-11, and found fares recently from the NY area for $79 and $99 one way; same fare as our flights last Fall. That's actually the key these days: even the legacy airlines are basing their fares on the low-fare airline model of filling one-way seats. We are flying two different carriers, unheard of in recent memory. Most flyers think only of round-trip fares.

The cheapest fares go the moment they are announced. One must know airline schedules and then check constantly for the best fare. It is risky to wait to purchase for Fall travel, but we were anticipating fares to fall slightly after the Summer travel season. Carriers like Southwest have not released their November schedules and fares yet.

 

[Esmerelda]

try booking your fare about 8-12 weeks out from your trip. Airlines run the best sales closer to time of travel....not this far out.

Esmerelda

 

[Esmerelda]

Wait....on a whim...I just started to snoop to see what exact fares there were from your area.

I found Airtran 11/5-11/12 for $99 each way from Phildelphia to MCO...that's $200 per ticket...that is really not that bad. Me personally, I would still wait quite a while.

best wishes,
Esmerelda

 

[DGM]

I booked our trip 11/17 -- 11/24 leaving from PHL USAir at $281/pp. Both flights are around 12:00...
Originally wanted 11/18 -- 11/25 and found the cost to be around $450/pp, because of the Sat (Thanksgiving weekend) return. So, we changed our dates....

 

[tiki23]

Why in the world are the prices so high? We usually fly Spirit out of Atlantic City...but the prices are around $500/ticket!!! So I went through Travelocity & searched out of Philadelphia...and there is only one flight for under $250 & that is a night flight...all other options are at least 1 stop (for a 2 hour flight total!!).

Dang! I can't believe that it costs more to fly from the east coast than it does from way out here in the PNW! I booked our 11/9 flights in early March at $233 per person, that same flight is now up to $404 pp, but still less than what you're finding.

I hope you can find a better deal!

 

[j's m]

Hi Sharon from my town

We booked our Jersey week flights in April. I should have done it in March when 3 tix were $ 530, same as we've paid the last 2 years. Then I watched them go up and up, and finally bought at $ 700. I was afraid to wait for SW since I figured prices would only go up, and I like having everything booked early. We're going Nov 7-13 since weekend flights were even more ridiculous. Now our tix are over $ 800 and sure to climb more.

Hope you get decent flights at a reasonable price. But I think the days of cheap airfare are gone.

 

[j's m]

Curiousity made me go look, our return flight from MCO to PHL is already sold out. I thought great, we'll take a bump, but it's their last flight of the night leaving MCO at 7:35. Now we'll have to get to the airport even earlier to make sure we get seats, I'm sure some people will be stuck there.

 

[Dopey Sharon]

j's m


Checked my flights...guess what? Both of mine are sold out!