Will Jetblue's Airfare for March 2013 Come Down?

[disneyokw]

My family has had some medical issues and we have not kept track on the airfares. We live in New York, fly out of JFK and love Jetblue. I wanted to ask if any of you know if the March 2013 air fares will come down? Another family member just booked Disney without checking airfares. I am always on the phone with Disney as I go on Jetblue's date and compare with eligibility of at Disney. Those two determine how long a stay we will have. He booked March 21st to March 31st. Also, does anyone know when they went on sale?
Thank you.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

He booked March 21st to March 31st.

Do these dates correspond to Spring Break in many of your local school districts?

Airlines have become very good at calculating demand for future flights, taking into account local school vacation schedules, major conventions, and historical trends. This allows them to determine how many seats to allocate to various fare classes. For flights with expected high demand, this can mean few, if any, deeply discounted seats. When these fare classes are sold old, only higher-priced fare classes remain.

It's possible there could be a sale with lower prices than you're seeing now. It's also possible that inventory will be juggled to offer additional deeply discounted seats, if actual bookings don't keep pace with the airline's expectations.

Unfortunately, another possibility is that fares will just keep going up from now until your travel dates.

Finally, fares this year are higher in general than fares in earlier years. The domestic airline industry has seen consolidations (no more Continental or Northwest) and reduced seat capacity. The industry is desperate to stop losing money. Add higher demand due to a (slowly) recovering U.S. economy, and super-cheap roundtrips are pretty much a thing of the past.

 

[disneyokw]

I never thought of school breaks. I saw the fares very late last night and had a hard time sleeping afterwards. I will check about the school breaks.

 

[n2mm]

Easter is March 31st. Since WDW is usually the most busy the week before and the week after Easter, I suspect airfare to stay high and even sell out.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Easter is March 31st. Since WDW is usually the most busy the week before and the week after Easter, I suspect airfare to stay high and even sell out.

Good observation.

The OP's WDW vacation is the week leading up to Easter. It's one of busiest weeks of the year at WDW.

The first day is March 21, the day before school lets out for many school districts nationwide. The last day is March 31, Easter Sunday, when people want to fly home to be back at school and work Monday morning.

Airfare pricing is a matter of supply and demand. The number of available seats on given route does not materially change from day to day, so when demand is high, the airlines can set pricing accordingly.

To the OP: Is there any chance that the family member can change the dates a few weeks later? Or are there people going who can only go that week because if the school schedule?

Going a few weeks later should mean lower airfares and, more importantly, smaller crowds and shorter lines at the parks.

 

[ctl]

If you can't find cheap enough flights could you drive? it's always a back-up plan.

 

[Hunclemarco]

I know that with Jetblue, if you book now and the price reduces between the time you book and the date of your travel, you can get a reimbursement for the difference. You have to watch the rates regularly though... one day they can go down, and the next they can go right back up. If they don't give you a cash credit, they'll give you credit toward a future trip using Jetblue. Hope this helps a bit.