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ISO Airfair tips
- Thread starter Figaro928
- Start date
Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
Assuming you're not looking to cash in any credit card rewards points and that all airlines are equal for you, I'd take a look at JetBlue (out of JFK, direct) and Southwest (out of LaGuardia, 1 stop), as well as an aggregating site with fare calendars like kayak.com, to see what flights are cheapest and on what days. (*Southwest fares don't appear on kayak or similar sites, so you'll have to go to their website to check it out.) I just searched a random Monday (8/26), and JetBlue's direct flights were the cheapest by far.
Weekdays are cheaper in general, but you can play around with fare calendars to see if another day is better (Tuesday-Thursday is sometimes even less expensive). The best time to buy depends on the airline. JetBlue, for example, only gets higher as time goes by and seats are sold (so ideally you want to purchase the day the schedule is extended to encompass your travel dates, otherwise as soon as possible -- if a seasonal discount comes out later, you can call JetBlue and get back the difference, in the form of a credit to be used toward future travel), but other airlines have prices that fluctuate, or that tend to dip 1-5 weeks before the flight. To find out, Google the name of the airline and "best time to buy [or book]" and see what more experienced fliers have to say.
Good luck!
(In the future, my tip for saving on airfare is to get a rewards credit card. I have a JetBlue Amex and use it for practically everything. I pay it off in full every month so I'm never paying a penny in interest charges. The annual fee is $40/year, but in that time, I amass enough points for a $300 roundtrip flight from Syracuse to MCO. We got to WDW about every 2 years, so what it amounts to is that when my family of 4 flies down, two of us are flying for free on points, and saving $520 in airfare costs. (The math: 2 roundtrip tickets cost $600, minus the $80 I paid for two years' worth of annual fees on the Amex).
Weekdays are cheaper in general, but you can play around with fare calendars to see if another day is better (Tuesday-Thursday is sometimes even less expensive). The best time to buy depends on the airline. JetBlue, for example, only gets higher as time goes by and seats are sold (so ideally you want to purchase the day the schedule is extended to encompass your travel dates, otherwise as soon as possible -- if a seasonal discount comes out later, you can call JetBlue and get back the difference, in the form of a credit to be used toward future travel), but other airlines have prices that fluctuate, or that tend to dip 1-5 weeks before the flight. To find out, Google the name of the airline and "best time to buy [or book]" and see what more experienced fliers have to say.
Good luck!
(In the future, my tip for saving on airfare is to get a rewards credit card. I have a JetBlue Amex and use it for practically everything. I pay it off in full every month so I'm never paying a penny in interest charges. The annual fee is $40/year, but in that time, I amass enough points for a $300 roundtrip flight from Syracuse to MCO. We got to WDW about every 2 years, so what it amounts to is that when my family of 4 flies down, two of us are flying for free on points, and saving $520 in airfare costs. (The math: 2 roundtrip tickets cost $600, minus the $80 I paid for two years' worth of annual fees on the Amex).
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Thanks - the only credit card I have right now is my Disney Card, I'm probably going to the tickets on that and then use the reward points in Disney.
Southwest has the steepest prices for checked bags and carryons though, right? I'd hate to save $40 per ticket just to pay $50 per bag or whatever it may be.
Thoughts on Delta?
Southwest has the steepest prices for checked bags and carryons though, right? I'd hate to save $40 per ticket just to pay $50 per bag or whatever it may be.
Thoughts on Delta?
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wannabeBelle
Well-Known Member
Southwest allows you up to two checked bags per person free and there is no carry on fee, perhaps you are thinking of Spirit?? Delta is a good airline but like most of the legacy airlines, they do charge for luggage. I too am a fan of Jet Blue and think that is one of the better options in this area. You should take a look at all of the websites for the airlines you are considering for any and all fees, change costs, cancellation penalties, cost for snacks, etc. The difference in costs does vary but any ancillary fees have to be factored in as well. For example, I always check one bag. I factor in that I would have to pay for that on most airlines but not Jet Blue or Southwest. Also midweek tends to be the cheaper days to fly. Jet Blue's website has a great Fare finder option that will help you see those kinds of trends. Marie
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PrincessNelly_NJ
Well-Known Member
We fly Newark (sometimes Philly or Trenton) to MCO... Always found the flights cheaper the closer we are to our trip. But it depends... We fly Southwest, United, Frontier and US Air. We don't care about sitting together though so that may make a difference for you.
We bought discounted southwest gift cards from target or ebay and have used them to pay for flights as well.
We bought discounted southwest gift cards from target or ebay and have used them to pay for flights as well.
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We have a 2 & 4 year old - so yeah... i would LOVE to not have to sit with them for the flight, but it probably would be frowned upon
Just checked out JetBlue out of Westchester... turns out it is much cheaper than flying out of JFK or LGA - AND it's closer to our house. woohoo. Newburgh Stewart is the closest to us and the same price as Westchester, but they only have a 4pm flight out - I really am insistant on an early AM flight with the kids. It's odd, but there's always been so much chatter that the two smaller airports were more expensive than the big NYC ones, but I guess not. Glad I looked!!!! Booking this TONIGHT!!!!
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wannabeBelle
Well-Known Member
Always look at all of your options, don't believe chatter because what might have been true previously might no longer be so. Also once you find a good airfare, DON'T WAIT!!! by tonight prices could go up. Airfare literally can and does change in a matter of minutes. I have seen it happen before. Book your flights as soon as you can. Marie
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Christine in NJ
Member
I signed up to get southwest e-mails. Any time I got one about a sale I hopped on to see if it was the lowest. I was able to snag $89 from philly to MCO. Also, if you go to kayak, you can sign up for a price advisory where they'll tell you when a flight you're looking for gets cheaper or more expensive. Southwest isn't included, but it was my other way of watching. Occasionally I have found taking another airline + 1 checked bag was cheaper than Southwest, but it all depends on how lucky you get. Monday can be a bit more expensive as weekenders are headed back home.
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Abby's Daddy
Member
Airfare is always tricky for us. We fly out of Newark and in the past had mostly found Continental to be the cheapest and best service considering it was one of their hubs. Then Continental got bought out by United and for the past few years we have been flying United. Typically we would fly on weekends. This year we thought it best to try flying midweek as we might find cheaper airfare. Unfortunately, United's prices were crazy for the days and flights we wanted, wanting over $2,000 for the three of us to fly to and from Orlando. (Granted we do like the early flight out and the late flight home). However, this was high even for those flights. The price never really went down and eventually those flights filled. Nonetheless, we were able to get flights on JetBlue for the same times for $850 for the three of us. We have the early flight out and the late flight home. However, flying midweek has not proven to be cheaper or any less of a hassle in finding airfare at a decent price. I guess the moral of the story is you just have to keep checking all airlines and be a little flexible.
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PrincessNelly_NJ
Well-Known Member
Seesh I wish I could get this. Southwest PHL to MCO RT is so expensive for me.
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PrincessNelly_NJ
Well-Known Member
BTW JetBlue is offering 20% roundtrip flights with a purchase of 16oz bag of Dunkin Donuts coffee or pack of K-Cups. Or you can buy the promo code on ebay for $1 to $6 dollars.
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We have a 2 & 4 year old - so yeah... i would LOVE to not have to sit with them for the flight, but it probably would be frowned upon
Just checked out JetBlue out of Westchester... turns out it is much cheaper than flying out of JFK or LGA - AND it's closer to our house. woohoo. Newburgh Stewart is the closest to us and the same price as Westchester, but they only have a 4pm flight out - I really am insistant on an early AM flight with the kids. It's odd, but there's always been so much chatter that the two smaller airports were more expensive than the big NYC ones, but I guess not. Glad I looked!!!! Booking this TONIGHT!!!!
JetBlue started a two-day sale on fall airfares yesterday (I get their emails), glad that worked out for you!
Westchester is usually my preference, it's closest to my house, but we like the mid-day outbounds instead of crack of dawn--DVC rooms are never ready before 4pm, and they fill up and get expensive really quickly. There are so many things to weigh--long-term parking at HPN is way cheaper than at LGA, so we have to take that into consideration too. Funny enough, I'm flying into Stewart when I come home from WDW in November, because the only reasonably priced flight into HPN is at 6:30am, and I don't want to give up a whole day in the parks!
Like @Weather_Lady, I have a JetBlue Amex because I love flying for "free". I just added it to my Delta SkyMiles Amex card. It may seem silly to have 2 Amex cards, but the miles really do offset the airfare costs, and I'm not buying anything that I wouldn't spend money on otherwise. The key is to pay it off in full every month. I even spring for the Delta Platinum Amex. It was $150, but not only do baggage fees get waived for me and up to 8 people traveling with me, and I get a free companion ticket every year. This year the fee went up to $195, but I figure that the free companion ticket still makes it worthwhile.
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Abby's Daddy
Member
I saw this too. Do you know what the limitations are though. Because it carefully states "on select airfares."
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PrincessNelly_NJ
Well-Known Member
JetBlue flight between 9/8/14 - 10/30/14 (blackout dates:10/10-10/14/14). When booking roundtrip flights, you must select outbound and return flights within the eligible travel period.
I'm assuming they are referring to the ineligible blackout date flights when they say select flights.
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Dads 2 Boys
Well-Known Member
Most weekdays are cheaper but Fridays seem to be higher than the others. From what I've seen in the past 8 months from looking for the best fares is....there is no rhyme or reason....lol
Check everyday multiple times a day because they do change during the day sometimes....at least Southwest's do. There seem to be many myths about Mondays they change or Wednesday's at midnight or 54 days is the cheapest fares. None of it's accurate unless it's coincidental because my last five times flying haven't held to that.
Check everyday multiple times a day because they do change during the day sometimes....at least Southwest's do. There seem to be many myths about Mondays they change or Wednesday's at midnight or 54 days is the cheapest fares. None of it's accurate unless it's coincidental because my last five times flying haven't held to that.
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Dads 2 Boys
Well-Known Member
That certainly was not even close to the case for us......I hope you were being sarcastic.
We are flying $227 round trip per person out of Albany, NY with six of us flying. We (me, my wife, best friend and his gf) each checked multiple times a day and jumped on the low fares. ($109 each on the way down and $118 on the way back).
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Nope, it's been there for years. I've flown it several times.
I like your suggestion. But will that not take away all the info for the websites that remember my user name & password, and stuff like that?
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EnchantedRose
Active Member
Check out Jetblue! Not sure what time of year you are going in....but right now they do have flights that are $108 each way...adding up to $216 R/T from LGA and JFK.
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