Airfare Tips

[5thGenTexan]

New house? Who cares!!! I can't help searching for a trip.

Our last two cruises we were able to sail out of Galveston. That however is obviously no longer an option. Cruise prices are not that bad IMO. Airfare on the other hand is as much or more than the price of the cruise for 4 of us from Dallas to Orlando or Miami. To say that I don't fly often is an understatement. What is the best place to search airfare? There seem to be A LOT of choices and I don't know which is my best bet.

Thanks!!!

 

[Zortek]

Southwest flies to Dallas, so southwest.com would be one place to look for sure. I never see them show up on any of the multi-airline sites.

 

[5thGenTexan]

Southwest flies to Dallas, so southwest.com would be one place to look for sure. I never see them show up on any of the multi-airline sites.

Southwest is an option, but Dallas Love Field is still restricted by the Wright Amendment. Can't fly to a non bordering state without a stop. So there is ALWAYS a plane change. Plus, they arent really much cheaper than anyone else. I will look again at thier site though.

 

[Master Yoda]

Kayak has been my go to place as of late when Southwest has not been an option.

 

[ChuckElias]

JetBlue flies out of both DFW in Dallas and Houston. They are often (but not always) cheaper than major airlines, but even if they're not cheaper, they have no charge for your first checked bag, and they have free in-flight DirectTV. (United, on the other hand, charged me $25 for my bag last night and wanted $7.95 for 3 hours of DirectTV )

 

[sweetpee_1993]

JetBlue flies out of both DFW in Dallas and Houston. They are often (but not always) cheaper than major airlines, but even if they're not cheaper, they have no charge for your first checked bag, and they have free in-flight DirectTV. (United, on the other hand, charged me $25 for my bag last night and wanted $7.95 for 3 hours of DirectTV )

I got a checked bag for free with United when I booked on points (we have a United Visa). Paid for the $89 upgrade to first class which ended up being super-smart to do because then I didn't get charged for my overweight bag. So, $104 total for first class seat + an overweight giant suitcase.

 

[5thGenTexan]

JetBlue flies out of both DFW in Dallas and Houston. They are often (but not always) cheaper than major airlines, but even if they're not cheaper, they have no charge for your first checked bag, and they have free in-flight DirectTV. (United, on the other hand, charged me $25 for my bag last night and wanted $7.95 for 3 hours of DirectTV )

Well... JetBlue does not fly from Dallas to Orlando. They don't even fly to Florida from Dallas. One must book a ticket out of Austin to get to Orlando.

BTW, this is all for informational purposes only. So don't worry @Disneyfalcon, I wouldnt book anything without talking to you first.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Well... JetBlue does not fly from Dallas to Orlando. They don't even fly to Florida from Dallas. One must book a ticket out of Austin to get to Orlando.

BTW, this is all for informational purposes only. So don't worry @Disneyfalcon, I wouldnt book anything without talking to you first.

 

[Bolna]

This website: http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ is great for finding the cheapes fares. It is not a booking agent, but it comes up with the specific fares and then you can go and hunt for that fare on other booking websites or the airline's website. I have found it very helpful in the past. Kayak is great, too, but sometimes does not cover everything.

 

[Weather_Lady]

If you find an airline that you like and that dependably flies from your area, I suggest getting a credit card which gives you rewards on that airline. Pay it off every month so you're never paying any interest. You may be surprised how fast the rewards add up.

I've had a Southwest VISA ($100 annual fee) and a Jetblue Amex card ($40 annual fee) for a little over a year, and by using them regularly (and paying them off every month), I've earned three SW and 2 JB flights from upstate NY to Orlando. (Value of those flights is over $1500). The JB points never expire, and the SW points expiration date is 12 months from the last usage of the card (meaning that if I use the card at least once per month, the expiration date for all of the points is always a year away). In fact, we just "cashed in" the Jetblue points for two of us for our next Disney World trip, saving us about $580 on our airfare ($540 if you deduct the annual fee for the JetBlue Amex card).

 

[Phonedave]

If you find an airline that you like and that dependably flies from your area, I suggest getting a credit card which gives you rewards on that airline. Pay it off every month so you're never paying any interest. You may be surprised how fast the rewards add up.

I've had a Southwest VISA ($100 annual fee) and a Jetblue Amex card ($40 annual fee) for a little over a year, and by using them regularly (and paying them off every month), I've earned three SW and 2 JB flights from upstate NY to Orlando. (Value of those flights is over $1500). The JB points never expire, and the SW points expiration date is 12 months from the last usage of the card (meaning that if I use the card at least once per month, the expiration date for all of the points is always a year away). In fact, we just "cashed in" the Jetblue points for two of us for our next Disney World trip, saving us about $580 on our airfare ($540 if you deduct the annual fee for the JetBlue Amex card).

This.

Unless you are VERY lucky, or VERY flexible with dates (and with a cruise, your not) air fare will be expensive. Reward cards work, and they can be worth the yearly fee. I have a United Presidents Card. Lounge access to everyone in my traveling party, 2 free checked bags per person, and it cost my wife and I a total of $65 for our tickets (having to buy some extra points) to go to F&W this November.

-dave

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I'm down with what @Weather_Lady said. That's why we have a United card. Houston Intercontinental was formerly a huge hub for Continental. Since the switch to United they still have a huge operation going out of that airport.

@5thGenTexan , figure out who the big boys are out of the nearest airport to you and search their sites. Get on their special fares notification lists if you can. If it's doable, get a credit card thru that airline. I know United offered like 50k miles just for opening the account then like another crazy huge bonus for purchasing a certain amount of airfare within the first 6 months or something. Also, each year on the anniversary of our account we get 2 free passes to the Priority Club Lounge which is sorta like a concierge lounge in the airport where you can relax with refreshments. Nice to have for a long airport day post cruise.

 

[5thGenTexan]

I am wondering how the rewards structure differs between the airline based cards and my card where I can acrue points. I know I have alot of points, but never have done anything with them,

Southwest is based here as well as American. Like I said in my first post, the Wright Amendment expires in a year and the news stories have already mentioned potential deals from Dallas to Orlando.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I am wondering how the rewards structure differs between the airline based cards and my card where I can acrue points. I know I have alot of points, but never have done anything with them,

Southwest is based here as well as American. Like I said in my first post, the Wright Amendment expires in a year and the news stories have already mentioned potential deals from Dallas to Orlando.

Look into what the major carriers offer for their credit card deals. I know like for our United card it's 1 mile for every dollar spent. If I use that card to pay the mortgage on our house then send the payment into the card every month I've got 21,600 miles right there. We try to seek out the flights that are 12,500 miles per leg. So, that's almost a free round trip every year just by shuffling the mortgage payment thru the card.

 

[Phonedave]

Look into what the major carriers offer for their credit card deals. I know like for our United card it's 1 mile for every dollar spent. If I use that card to pay the mortgage on our house then send the payment into the card every month I've got 21,600 miles right there. We try to seek out the flights that are 12,500 miles per leg. So, that's almost a free round trip every year just by shuffling the mortgage payment thru the card.

That's the trick right there. We are United as well. Those 12,500 super-saver flights are getting harder and harder to find. We are going to WDW in Nov for F&W. I had a balance of 74,000 miles. We could not find super-savers and air fare was insane, like $800 each. All I could find was regular saver tickers (25,000 miles each, each way). to purchase the additional miles I would need was almost as much as the cash ticket. Then one day another flight to MCO opened up for 12,500 miles, and it was at a great time for us. I pounced on that, and purchased the extra 1,000 miles I needed for about $70. So what would have been $1,600 for 2 round trip tickets became $70. Of course now I have to start banking miles again.

-dave