Flight Advice

[Eric87]

Hello All!

I just booked my Honeymoon:thumbsup: and last time was told to purchase flight separate to save money by Wendy from Magical Journeys. Well my last trip I paid $335 for a round trip. This time I looked and Airtran for $800:confused: and $500 for SW. I am not sure how to approach this situation. Should I jump on the SW price or wait? I'm pretty much a novice when it comes to booking a vacation. This is only the third one planned on my own and comparing it to the one I planned in May of '07, the flight is just way off. Any and all suggestions welcome. Thanks in advance!!

[BronxTigger]

That seems very high. When is your trip? Plane ticket prices are up all over, but $800 and $500 still seems very high for Chicago to Orlando.

Is there another airport that you can try? Or day of the week? Typically, the cheapest day to fly is Wednesday. And layovers stink but it could bring the price down by a lot.

[teambricker04]

I agree... it does seem a bit high. Is this for one or two RT seats? If it is for two, I think the 500 bucks isn't that bad.

Instead of checking on just one or two airlines, check a few out on different sites (I always like airline sites, but I find places like orbitz or expedia give me a good place to start). Plus, how far out are you? If it is quite far out, you may want to keep watching. As said above Wednesdays are the best day to fly. You may find that if you fly with a stop it may be a little cheaper also.

[BigRedDad]

A lot has to do with when you are traveling. $800 seems high. $500 may be in line with the increased cost of jet fuel. If it were me, I would book SWA and watch for lower fares. Book the trip as two 1-way flights. This way, if a lower fare comes out on one of the legs, you can get the discount without worrying about the cost on the other leg.

[KylesMom]

I agree... it does seem a bit high. Is this for one or two RT seats? If it is for two, I think the 500 bucks isn't that bad.
I agree. We fly out of Ohare, and we've traditionally paid $300/seat round trip for United or American flights booked 6 months in advance. This year we booked 7 months in advance and are paying $278 round-trip per person. I recall last year several folks at work got steal-deal flights to Orlando-I don't know that I would count on them this year. Since you are still five months out from your August trip, I would think you would still be able to find a series of flights under $500 round-trip. I'd keep looking. Look every day and search all of the major carriers out of Chicago - not just Airtran or Southwest. Good Luck and Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials!

[MNNHFLTX]

I just did a generic search for August (Chicago to Orlando) and am coming up with $248/RT price per ticket on Spirit and JetBlue, and $279 on Airtran (haven't checked Southwest). Assuming then that the $500 price you quoted was for two people, I'd say that's probably a pretty good deal and not likely to go much lower. You can wait a while to see, if you want--however, in my experience once you hit the 90-day window before your departure date, the prices often go up.

[sainter]

Eric87,
What exactly are your dates and the $800 and $500 numbers you quote, are those for both of your tickets together? The $500 would not be bad for 2.

[JMTStone]

I look on Priceline.com (an Intercot sponsor, by the way - see ICOT Affiliates LEFT) for the cheapest. Then I book through the airline if they have the same price.

They say the sooner you book, the more you save. With 4 of us, we usually end up at 1K or so for the airline.

Good luck

[Eric87]

Thank you for all of your suggestions. We have to fly on Saturday we are getting married the night before. I have continued to search and it looks like the $500 from South West may be my best bet.