When should I start looking for airfares

[infobahn]

Okay, I have booked at my 11 months window (a GV at OKW in Feb) and am wondering (as this is our first 'official" point based DVC trip) when should I start looking for airfares (without being obsessive).

We are in Minnesota (BTW, it's snowing - no April Fools Joke), and would fly out of the Cities (there are a few of us on this board).

We generally get vacations in package deals, or buy much closer to the travel date.

Guide me oh smart ones, I am but a DVC newbie...

Thanks,

 

[zulaya]

first questions: What days are you departing/returning home on? And do you want non stop flights or will a stop fit with you?

 

[ncligs]

You should sign up for Travelocity's fare alert. Put down your destinations, airports, etc. They will send you e-mail alerts when prices drop on your intended destinations. Most major airlines you can book 11 months out. Depending what week you are going in Feb, Presidents week is always a higher fare, when you are booking that far ahead.
We go every year in Feb(Presidents week), and last year we needed 6 rt tx for a direct flight, Pittsburgh to Orlando. We didn't want to take any chances(Holiday week, be on same flight,direct flight,convienent times,etc) so we booked 11 months out on US Air and our tickets were $340 each, we only had to pay for 3 tickets ourselves. I kept checking the rest of the year, up to 1 month before, and the prices for that week never went down, only "up". But I checked out of Cleveland, Continental Airlines, 1 month before and we could have gotten 6 rt tix for $250 each. Those same tickets were $450 when I checked at 11 months out on Continental.
Bottom line is whenever you see a low fare ($150-250) for your dates, you should jump on it. But the airlines know people traveling during Holidays, will have to $$ pay dearly for their seats.

 

[infobahn]

We will be flying in Saturday the 8th, and out the next Saturday, the 15th.

We would like direct, as we will be traveling with an infant and 2 Grandparents (77+). If we do connect, we will need ample time to make the connection. Direct would be worth something extra.

Thanks to for the quick replys!

 

[KathyR]

I agree w/the above posters. Start checking as soon as you know when you are travelling. If the price and flight times are right, I would/do go ahead and book. I always try to get an early flight down and a late flight back. I get both non-stop flights, so I book when the price is around $200 (over or under). This year I got $179/ticket in late Jan for our late Oct trip. Those tickets have done nothing but gone up since I purchased. Sure they could go down and be less than I paid, but I am happy w/what I paid for the flights that I wanted Plus, I don't have to be checking fares constantly for the rest of the year which is worth something to me as well Good luck w/your search

 

[zulaya]

infobahn...since you are going Sat to Sat and need direct, your very best bet is to book a charter flight. Check out worryfreevacations...you can book air only on Champion or Omni Air.
Just to give you an idea of the prices and how much you save from NWA, I am going Dec 4-11 (weds. departures) and NWA is STILL charging $373 per person and going the charter flight I will pay only $203. They don't have Feb 2003 dates available on their website yet, but you can probably call their 1-800 number and book those dates over the phone. Be aware that the flights generally leave MSP at 7am and leave MCO around 12:30pm. I personally am a morning person and love the 7am flight, but i know there are others that don't like it and there really aren't any other charter choices. But give them a call and they can let you know. I do know that Sat deparetures are a bit more per person, around $230 but that's a heck of a lot better than $373.

 

[dianeschlicht]

From the Twin Cities, we usually find our best air fares near the end of September to November. We usually go to DVC in January, so you might have a little more leaway. Check on Orbitz. We got $145 RT fares this last January from them. I believe we bought our tickets the end of August or early September.

 

[Landof10000lakes]

I'm from Minnesota too. (Yes is is snowing here today, , when will winter ever end?)

I would start looking now, but by end of summer have something booked for sure! With SunCountry Airlines out of business, Northwest airlines has little or no competition to FL. We go every year to FL and noticed that this year the airfare prices were outrageous!

Good Luck!

 

[llp479]

I start looking as soon as I have the dates. I check all the sites on a daily basis - Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, and the airlines' sites.

We're going in August. Last Thursday the fare from O'Hare to Orlando was $351, Friday AM when I checked I found direct flights on both UA and AA for $198. Snaped those babies right up!

Also check with Member Services. For our trip last February, they had the lowest fare - $50 less than anything I could find.

 

[caverill]

We are from Minnesota also and have to fly through MSP to go anywhere.

We always go during President's week and the last two years have paid about $ 325 per ticket from Duluth (non-stop from MSP).

I would begin looking now just to know the current prices. I don't believe you will see any big drop in price until July or Aug.

Since it is so easy to look at prices, I tend to do it daily and keep a log of the prices.

If you see a good deal, don't wait!!!!

Good Luck,

 

[matty204]

We went down on 12-1-2001 and had purchased the tickets 7 months before. They were around 186.00/person flying from MSP on a saturday and turn 8 days later. We flew deta stop in atlanta for about 90 mins, then flew deta to orlando. That flight was great in flight TV my girls loved it. Coming back we stop in Ohio for about 90 mins. The stops were just long enough for bathroom and soda breaks.
During the 7 months between purchasing the tickets and leaving the fares jumped up and down but our price was as good as it got. We get them through expedia or travelocity, I am not sure my wife does that type of stuff. We found the layovers were ok and worth the price reduction as it allow for more purchases on the cruise.

 

[iluvtig2]

Start looking now - and - definitely book non-stop, not direct. FYI all direct means is no changing planes, but the plane can stop one or more times. Non stop means it does not stop til you reach your final destination. BTW - you pay a surcharge for each take off and/or landing, which can add up on a direct vs non stop flight. The other response that says when you see a low fare grab it is right on the money. Airfares are running pretty high right now, but periodically a sale fare gets popped into the system.

If you use the web, make sure you when you are booking you can specify times, layovers, etc - often you can get some pretty funky flight schedules. We get lots of calls from people that have had problems. One person flew to Ft Lauderdale, FL via Chicago-Ohare and got stranded in a snow storm. Took him 27 hours to get to FLA.

Good Luck!

iluvtig

 

[Gigashadow]

This year was the first time we booked an "advance vacation", normaly we book a week before leaving, but kids/school changed that - hehe. Having the 11 month window avaliable at our Home, we looked at flights for Christmas (JFK/LGA) last month. We saw a $700 flight on Delta out of JFK but didnt know if we really wanted to go for a December trip - 2 days later, we looked at that flight again and it went up to $1359. After looking at the Airlines we will only use - we were able to get the same dates out of LGA on Delta for $680 with tax for 4 adult prices, non-stop to Orlando ( On Delta's Website ). So I guess my opinion is - The minute you think about going away, start looking ASAP and check a lot to see the trends for prices and avaliablity. Also remember that certain days are always HIGHER priced for flights such as Mondays - we always look at the cheaper dates for our flights before making resort reservations. I have been on the web every other day checking for "lower price changes" for our car rentals reservations for our May and December trips. Good Luck !

 

[Regina]

Geez Gigashadow, I hope that was for all 4 of you, not per person.

We already have our Delta tickets for our 12/22 - 1/4 trip. When they first became available, they were $185.00 roundtrip from Hartford, CT. We had to wait a few days to see when one of our kid's friends would be joining us,(we needed to coordinate the same return flight), and the fare rose to $200.00. We snapped it up. It's still a bargain for peak holiday travel.

For the most part, it's been our experience that getting them very early has gotten us the best price.

 

[zulaya]

Those of you who don't know, here in MN, Northwest has a monopoly on direct flights to MCO. Delta, United, American, all of them have connections of some sort. Hence, the fares don't always appear cheap, if ever. I have been watching fares on NWA since they were available for my dates. I check EVERY day. They have always been $373 per person. They have not once changed. My experience has been that if they do change, it will be around 6 or 9 months out. But with Sun Country not having flights available, they being the only competition for NWA before they went bankrupt, NWA doesn't have to give us cheaper prices.

 

[WiseGirl]

Another Minnesotan here - the NWA flights to MCO for our December trip are over $500 - this is the worst I've seen it since we joined DVC in '99. We are traveling in early December and I've invited my sister and BIL to stay at BWV with us for the first time so I really want to find cheaper flights. I've typically found fares under $300 with good travel times on NWA when I check 10-11 months out. I hope the fares drop in the coming months! Isn't the lack of airline competition in MSP great?

We have also flown Sun Country in the past - my understanding is that they have resumed flights to MCO and about 12 other cities. This is on their web site although you can't book using the web. I wouldn't rule them out if you need Saturday flights. We need to fly on Sundays for this December so charters don't work as well for us.

 

[Lyndarella]

I have also been checking prices frequently on travelocity and expedia. My travel agent actually had a better deal!

We recently bought 2 tickets (Northwest) for $310 each including all taxes and agent's fees. Almost $100 of it is to get us to the cities and back. We leave MN around noon and leave FL around 6:00, both on Sat.s in mid-May.

I don't understand why ticket prices vary so greatly.

 

[infobahn]

So far, I am pretty much out of a decent booking window (2/8/03). NWA has flights, but as stated before they are in the $380 range.

There are a couple of charter services and one scheduled service that are advertising $200 rt, but aren't booking anything later than November.

Sun Country has started flying again as a charter, so I can hope they are active at that time. I flew them to Phoenix, and enjoyed the service greatly.

 

[zulaya]

Yeah, Sun Country is up again, but they only release their schedule a couple of months at a time. I think their new owners group are still trying to get things set up so they probably don't want to sell tix too far in advance in case things don't work out. They aren't necessarily strictly charter. You can book tix from them, just not on their website. You have to call them and get the tix. From what I have seen on Travelocity, etc., Sun Country is typically $50-$100 cheaper than similar NWA flights. I REALLY hope they can get back and stay in business. I'd also like it if Delta or American or another major carrier would at least TRY a couple non-stops from MSP. I think they would be shocked at how much business they would get. Ahhhh...one can dream.

Just for kicks, I checked some departures for May (since Sun Country doesn't have an advance schedule) and flights are running $256+ on Sun Country and $284+ on NWA. Still pretty darn high if you ask me, but a lot better than the $373 I am seeing for my Dec dates. Maybe prices will drop. Time will tell.

 

[dianeschlicht]

The best we have done on NWA was about $245 a couple years in a row. This January we got tickets at Orbitz for $145 round trip. It was on Delta with a plane change in Atlanta, but for that price it was worth it!! Also flight time was only slightly longer than NWA's direct flights.