When to buy plane tickets to MCO?

[nlenguyen]

I have always booked Southwest flights, but this year I am thinking about traveling with a different airline. The time frame is mid December. I am traveling from PHX. I see currently round trips to MCO are about $300-350 which is about what I have paid with Southwest in the past. I have the Venture X and have the $300 travel credit in the Capital One Portal to use. Is this something I should wait until 3 to 4 months before the flight to book? What are some tips booking with the other airlines?

 

[sam_gordon]

I have always booked Southwest flights, but this year I am thinking about traveling with a different airline. The time frame is mid December. I am traveling from PHX. I see currently round trips to MCO are about $300-350 which is about what I have paid with Southwest in the past. I have the Venture X and have the $300 travel credit in the Capital One Portal to use. Is this something I should wait until 3 to 4 months before the flight to book? What are some tips booking with the other airlines?

You mention "other airlines", but you don't say whether you're talking Legacy Airlines (Delta, United, American), Ultra Low Cost (Spirit, Frontier), or something in between (Allegiant).

First thing to do is make sure you're comparing apples to apples when it comes to pricing. Do you need to be able to select your seats? Do you need to check luggage? How many pieces? What's the weight limit (varies by airline) for checked luggage? Does the airline charge for checked bags?

The next thing to look at is schedule. Does the airline you're looking at have flights every day? Multiple times a day? This can be important because if there's weather or mechanical delays, or even cancellations, when can they get you out next?

As soon as I know I'm planning a trip, I start stalking airlines. You can set up "watch lists" on Google (google.com/flights) among other sites that will track your flight and let you know what prices are doing.

I prefer booking sooner rather than later. People will CLAIM they "always" get the best price 'x' days/weeks/months out from the trip, but unless they were tracking from when prices were released, they don't really know. A number of years ago (pre-Covid), a company did an article about the best time to purchase airfare. It came out that on AVERAGE, the best time was 7 weeks before, but they also stressed that was the average and didn't work for every flight. When you're flying and where you're flying from/to make a HUGE difference on prices.

TL;DR: Book when you're comfortable with the price, and know you'll probably pay more than others on the flight. Southwest and now Delta don't have change fees so you can keep looking at those after you book and get a refund/credit if the price drops.

 

[nlenguyen]

Flying out of phx and what is available to book, there is delta, united and american. I honestly have not flown any of them so i don't know what the experience is like. I am making sure that the airline is good in that they will leave on time. Knowing these heavier travel periods, I don't want an airline like last year with mass chaos at the airports. I would be picking the cheapest seats so that may or may not include seat selection. I also know that I will have to pay for one bag of luggage.

 

[sam_gordon]

Flying out of phx and what is available to book, there is delta, united and american. I honestly have not flown any of them so i don't know what the experience is like. I am making sure that the airline is good in that they will leave on time. Knowing these heavier travel periods, I don't want an airline like last year with mass chaos at the airports. I would be picking the cheapest seats so that may or may not include seat selection. I also know that I will have to pay for one bag of luggage.

I believe PHX is a Southwest hub. Of course, Southwest hasn't released fares for that time frame yet. They will on May 4, which isn't that far away. Again, start stalking airfare. Pick a flight you like and take notes on the price. Repeat at least once a week if not more often. Once SW releases their tickets, compare them.

I am partial to Delta, but would consider SW if it saved significant $$. You can save money on Delta (and I think United and American) by doing "basic economy" and letting them pick your seat. Of course, that will probably mean you get a middle seat, which isn't the most comfortable (IMO) and for a cross country flight at that.

Also know that booking this far out with legacy airlines will probably result in them changing flight times, possibly multiple times.

Look at how many connecting flights you'd have (if you can't get direct). What time you need to be at the airport, what time you get to Orlando, etc.

 

[nlenguyen]

I believe PHX is a Southwest hub. Of course, Southwest hasn't released fares for that time frame yet. They will on May 4, which isn't that far away. Again, start stalking airfare. Pick a flight you like and take notes on the price. Repeat at least once a week if not more often. Once SW releases their tickets, compare them.

I am partial to Delta, but would consider SW if it saved significant $$. You can save money on Delta (and I think United and American) by doing "basic economy" and letting them pick your seat. Of course, that will probably mean you get a middle seat, which isn't the most comfortable (IMO) and for a cross country flight at that.

Also know that booking this far out with legacy airlines will probably result in them changing flight times, possibly multiple times.

Look at how many connecting flights you'd have (if you can't get direct). What time you need to be at the airport, what time you get to Orlando, etc.

Good to know. Thank you

 

[_19disnA]

Orlando is a popular travel destination so I don't see a lot of value in waiting to book your flights. Airlines tend to offer sales on less popular destinations to help fill up aircraft. If they can sell all of the seats at regular price to popular destinations, there is little incentive to offer lower fares. Southwest had that disaster last year when bad weather and an outdated IT system caused all sorts of issues for them. I don't think they have changed anything about that and certainly mid-December could have bad weather affecting many airlines. Saving $100 goes out the window if your flight gets cancelled and the next one isn't for another 3 days.

All of the smaller airlines can has issues when bad weather results in pilots/planes being out of position and slows down their ability to get things back to normal. Larger airlines have more planes in service they can move around to handle various types of disruptions. It is partly a matter of how much you want to risk that in choosing a budget airline in the winter.

I prefer non-stop flights that depart mid-morning since it makes travel easier. If you wait to book your flights, the optimal choices might already be gone and/or the price has jumped to a higher fare since the lower price seats typically sell first. As mentioned above, make sure you also compare the TOTAL cost of the ticket since many websites only display the BASE price and there are various add-ons to consider.

Don't choose a 5 am departure if you live 1 hr from the airport. You need to look at what works for your particular situation before you buy the 'cheapest' tickets. Same goes for the return flight. Consider how early you have to get up as well as the transit time to the airport when picking a flight option that makes sense for your plans.