Would you book Dec. flight now?

[dogsmom]

Looking at flights for Dec. 15. Air Tran and Southwest won't be available until around May. US Air has round trip, non stop flights from Phila. to MCO for $286 ( includes taxes and fees). Should I wait for the other two airlines to announce their flights or does US Air seem like a good deal? Of course we would have to add $25 per checked on bag. Just looking for some opinions.
Thanks.

 

[ktsmama]

Personally, I would wait. AirTran and Southwest are very competitively priced in my opinion. You could stand to save quite a bit if you wait.

 

[dogsmom]

Thanks. I was thinking that , too. Just worried about gas prices. Plus, I tend to obsess over every detail of our trip until it's all planned and done!

 

[Ed J]

I booked PHL to MCO last week for a November trip. SW vs AT was a virtually no difference in cost. AT was cheaper but after adding a bag it was only a dollar difference. 134 vs 135, 1 way. No seat assignment included with AT or early boarding with SW figured into those prices.

I figure I'm gonna spend a little under 300 rt, so if I see flights at that cost I book them and don't look back. I know I can find cheaper rates, butvim not picking a travel day based on price, my time away is limited and I'm not going to waste vacation time to save what turns out to be 1 or 2 % of our vacation budget.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

If I had firm travel dates and found a price I liked, I would book now. I don't usually fly SWA or AirTran, so I wouldn't be looking at their prices anyway.

 

[webworm]

Looking at flights for Dec. 15. Air Tran and Southwest won't be available until around May. US Air has round trip, non stop flights from Phila. to MCO for $286 ( includes taxes and fees). Should I wait for the other two airlines to announce their flights or does US Air seem like a good deal? Of course we would have to add $25 per checked on bag. Just looking for some opinions.
Thanks.

You don't say what date you are looking for on the return but I looked at other options like Newark - Tampa and then just drive across to Orlando and found nonstop flights with United for $229 inc taxes.

Sat., Dec. 15, 2012 | New York/Newark, NJ (EWR - Liberty) to Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL (TPA)
Depart:
2:30 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 15, 2012
New York/Newark, NJ (EWR - Liberty) Arrive:
5:11 p.m.

Sat., Dec. 22, 2012 | Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL (TPA) to New York/Newark, NJ (EWR - Liberty)
Depart:
5:00 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 22, 2012
Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL (TPA) Arrive:
8:00 p.m.

Fare Details
Taxes/Fees
U.S. Federal Transportation Tax $14.52
September 11th Security Fee $5.00
U.S. Passenger Facility Charge $9.00
U.S. Flight Segment Tax $7.60

1 Adults (age 18 to 64) $208.00

Additional Taxes/Fees $21.60

Total Price $229.60

 

[living20057]

You don't say what date you are looking for on the return but I looked at other options like Newark - Tampa and then just drive across to Orlando and found nonstop flights with United for $229 inc taxes.

Sat., Dec. 15, 2012 | New York/Newark, NJ (EWR - Liberty) to Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL (TPA)
Depart:
2:30 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 15, 2012
New York/Newark, NJ (EWR - Liberty) Arrive:
5:11 p.m.

Sat., Dec. 22, 2012 | Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL (TPA) to New York/Newark, NJ (EWR - Liberty)
Depart:
5:00 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 22, 2012
Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL (TPA) Arrive:
8:00 p.m.

Fare Details
Taxes/Fees
U.S. Federal Transportation Tax $14.52
September 11th Security Fee $5.00
U.S. Passenger Facility Charge $9.00
U.S. Flight Segment Tax $7.60

1 Adults (age 18 to 64) $208.00

Additional Taxes/Fees $21.60

Total Price $229.60

If you willing to leave out of Newark, I would look at Jetblue. I just booked with Jetblue for October, and it was less than Southwest.

 

[ktsmama]

I would still wait, even with gas prices going up for summer. If you can hold off until late summer/early fall to book flights you may get an even better deal. We have always had good luck with AirTran in that regard. We took a last minute trip to WDW in Dec, and got flights for under $200 per person round trip.

 

[dogsmom]

Thanks for all your replies. We actually live in southern NJ, about 30 minutes or less from Philadelphia. To fly out of Newark or NY would mean a car trip of about two hours or a hotel stay the night before. But, I have thought about flying into another Florida airport. The last time we did a Disney trip we flew on Airtran, $99 down and $79 back. Those were the good old days!

 

[Grandmalovesyou]

We are flying Dec 1- Dec 8th out of Wash DC. (US Airways) I went ahead and booked it for 228.00 Round trip. I wanted non stop and I noticed that usually those are very limited. I also did not want to fly out super early or super late. I picked around 3PM giving us plenty of time from Delaware to get to the airport on time. I also did not want a real late flight getting into Orlando so we have plenty of time to pick up rental cars and check in and still eat dinner. I also was happy we were able to pick a nice time for take off from Orlando and also a great time getting into Washington. All of this was very important to me. Especially the non stop flight. So I am happy I booked it already. Even if the price goes down a bit I will still be happy I got the times I wanted. I also needed 7 tickets and sometimes the price quoted is only for the first 2-5 tickets but when I got mine I paid the same price for all 7 and I liked it that we were able to pick seats together. My grandson is flying for the first time and it is important we were all able to seat together. But this was just me.........you need to decide what is best for you and your family.

 

[rynosmom]

We are going 12/25-1/1/13 and just booked United out of Newark for $279PP. When the flights were 1st released they were $250 and jumped to $500+ where they stayed for several weeks. We will only check one bag and do carry on for every thing else. Just yesterday they went down to $279 so we pulled the trigger. In 2006 we paid $350 PP for 12/24-12/31/06 so I was happy to get this price.

 

[dogsmom]

We are going 12/25-1/1/13 and just booked United out of Newark for $279PP. When the flights were 1st released they were $250 and jumped to $500+ where they stayed for several weeks. We will only check one bag and do carry on for every thing else. Just yesterday they went down to $279 so we pulled the trigger. In 2006 we paid $350 PP for 12/24-12/31/06 so I was happy to get this price.

Thanks for the info. I will definitely continue to keep my eye on the airfares.