Need to get airfare to FLL for March (Grand)....help?

[kymbakitty]

I can't believe what they are charging for a RT ticket to FLL from SMF. It is nearly $500 each. I can't even stomach that...we just got back from Australia in November and we only paid $588 each, TOTAL, RT.

 

I'm having a very hard time with this....do you think I should wait and see what sales might be offered....or is FLL one of those airports where they don't need sales?

 

I'm torn....just makes me sick to spend that kind of money to just go to Florida!

 

No SWA award seats either....surprise.

 

Any suggestions for airlines to watch for? We can fly out of OAK or SFO, but since the cruise is already 14 nights and we have to fly out a day early, it would be much better to fly out of SMF.

 

Thanks.....

 

Dawn

[bhopal21]

I would wait until after the frist of the year anyway and let the holiday travel die down. I would expect a winter sale to appear.

 

Mike:)

[paul929207]

Keep in mid that you are traveling at the heart of spring break.

[Liz54]

I have had luck booking between Christmas and New Years....Worth a try!

[davekathy]

I can't believe what they are charging for a RT ticket to FLL from SMF. It is nearly $500 each. I can't even stomach that...we just got back from Australia in November and we only paid $588 each, TOTAL, RT.

 

I'm having a very hard time with this....do you think I should wait and see what sales might be offered....or is FLL one of those airports where they don't need sales?

 

I'm torn....just makes me sick to spend that kind of money to just go to Florida!

 

No SWA award seats either....surprise.

 

Any suggestions for airlines to watch for? We can fly out of OAK or SFO, but since the cruise is already 14 nights and we have to fly out a day early, it would be much better to fly out of SMF.

 

Thanks.....

 

Dawn

 

Check the Air Line fares a couple of times a day until the price seems right for the times and date you need to travel. That’s what I do. The closer to your sail date the price may even go higher and seating availability my become an issue. We will be on the Grand 26 March 2010 and was faced with the same sticker shock. Delta Air Lines, $580.00 total Per Person R/T leaving on 25 March 2010. I also was checking all the Air Lines that had schedules out to 9 April 2010 (our return flight) and the prices were about the same. Then one day in late October I was checking and Deltas price dropped to $290.40 total Per Person R/T. Leaving from Salt Lake City, Utah 25 March 2010. Needless to say I booked the flights. We’ve got confirmed seating and flight times we wanted. Less than 6 hours later the price doubled. Sometime persistence pays off. Best of luck with your search. When in March are you sailing on the Grand Princess?

[Pam in CA]

Keep in mid that you are traveling at the heart of spring break.

I agree. Check to see how many seats are available on the flight(s) you want to take. If there are few seats left, you won't see a price break. If there are a lot, you might take a chance on waiting to see if there are any sales. FLL is VERY busy during February through April with few seats available so often, you will pay a lot more. There is often a premium on flights to/from FLL and MIA at this time of the year. That's the way it is. Supply and demand. Economics 101.

 

An alternative is to check with your TA to see how much cruiseline airfare would be. You might be surprised. Sometimes, it does make sense.

[LARGIN]

I can't believe what they are charging for a RT ticket to FLL from SMF. It is nearly $500 each. I can't even stomach that...we just got back from Australia in November and we only paid $588 each, TOTAL, RT.

 

Any suggestions for airlines to watch for? We can fly out of OAK or SFO, but since the cruise is already 14 nights and we have to fly out a day early, it would be much better to fly out of SMF.

 

Thanks.....

 

Dawn

Try JetBlue nonstop red eye from SFO.. Range is $99 to $150pp each way. We paid $99 pp for our January flight to FLL..

[Pam in CA]

Try JetBlue nonstop red eye from SFO.. Range is $99 to $150pp each way. We paid $99 pp for our January flight to FLL..

Don't know when in March the OP is flying to/from FLL but I checked Jet Blue from SFO to FLL for March 13 returning 20th as a guess. It's not pretty. From SFO to FLL, it's $154-$254/pp; returning on 3/20, it's $334 to $564/pp. That's potentially $488 - $818/pp. Yes, they have red eyes to FLL for $109 and returning (arriving 3/21) for $174 but there are only 5 seats left as of a few minutes ago.

 

FYI, I booked my flights to/from SNA to FLL for the end of March a couple of months ago and when I booked, coach was about $900/pp. I remember being shocked at the prices and booked First Class for just $200 more. Often, it doesn't pay to wait to book late or close to your flight as you'll end up paying a heck of a lot more.

[tothemall&beyond]

The fares should come down, so I would wait just a bit. We've never paid more than $150 each way between FLL and LAX. Perhaps you should look also at other Cal airports. Or even PBI here in South Florida. Or it might be cheaper to fly to Orlando, rent a car and take the easy 3 hour drive to FLL. Living here for 28 yrs,you learn to be creative with finding flights at school break times. We flew roundtrip FLL/LAX this past March and for the roundtrip ticket paid only $199/pp on Delta for nonstop service both ways.

[momphoto]

Thats all??? Air from Toronto is about $1000 and its only a 3 hour flight. No sales here....prices just go up and up as space gets limited. Not sure how the US works but for air it does not get cheaper the closer to the date, unless its a very slow time of year. March/April is high season to travel due to School breaks and Easter holidays. We ended up driving last March as with 4 people it was insane with the pricing....much cheaper to drive for us.

[bhopal21]

Check the Air Line fares a couple of times a day until the price seems right for the times and date you need to travel. That’s what I do. The closer to your sail date the price may even go higher and seating availability my become an issue. We will be on the Grand 26 March 2010 and was faced with the same sticker shock. Delta Air Lines, $580.00 total Per Person R/T leaving on 25 March 2010. I also was checking all the Air Lines that had schedules out to 9 April 2010 (our return flight) and the prices were about the same. Then one day in late October I was checking and Deltas price dropped to $290.40 total Per Person R/T. Leaving from Salt Lake City, Utah 25 March 2010. Needless to say I booked the flights. We’ve got confirmed seating and flight times we wanted. Less than 6 hours later the price doubled. Sometime persistence pays off. Best of luck with your search. When in March are you sailing on the Grand Princess?

 

Exactly what I do. The carriers I checked a few minutes ago had not sold more than 5 or 6 seats (for the dates I checked in March) so chances are very good that you will catch them at a much lower price.

 

Mike:)

[kymbakitty]

I agree. Check to see how many seats are available on the flight(s) you want to take. If there are few seats left, you won't see a price break. If there are a lot, you might take a chance on waiting to see if there are any sales. FLL is VERY busy during February through April with few seats available so often, you will pay a lot more. There is often a premium on flights to/from FLL and MIA at this time of the year. That's the way it is. Supply and demand. Economics 101.

 

An alternative is to check with your TA to see how much cruiseline airfare would be. You might be surprised. Sometimes, it does make sense.

 

I was quoted $899 if I booked air through Princess. I realize that part of it is the night they put you up in a hotel, but that isn't much for us to take into consideration.

 

Dawn

[kymbakitty]

Check the Air Line fares a couple of times a day until the price seems right for the times and date you need to travel. That’s what I do. The closer to your sail date the price may even go higher and seating availability my become an issue. We will be on the Grand 26 March 2010 and was faced with the same sticker shock. Delta Air Lines, $580.00 total Per Person R/T leaving on 25 March 2010. I also was checking all the Air Lines that had schedules out to 9 April 2010 (our return flight) and the prices were about the same. Then one day in late October I was checking and Deltas price dropped to $290.40 total Per Person R/T. Leaving from Salt Lake City, Utah 25 March 2010. Needless to say I booked the flights. We’ve got confirmed seating and flight times we wanted. Less than 6 hours later the price doubled. Sometime persistence pays off. Best of luck with your search. When in March are you sailing on the Grand Princess?

 

 

My mouth just about dropped when I read $290.40!!!!!! Good for you...excellent find!

 

We'll be on the same cruise....:)

 

Dawn

[davekathy]

kymbakitty... have you ever used a site like orbitz? I’m not promoting orbitz. I’ve never booked with them. I just use them to do a quick search. That way you can look at multiple carries at one time. The Grand has only two sailing dates for March 2010. 12 and 26 March. Not sure which is your sailing date. I checked Jet Blue leaving SFO on 11 March and 25 March and the fairs are under $800.00 Per Person total R/T. However the flight times may not be to your liking.

[davekathy]

My mouth just about dropped when I read $290.40!!!!!! Good for you...excellent find!

 

We'll be on the same cruise....:)

 

Dawn

 

Looks like I one post behind you. Welcome aboard.

[kymbakitty]

kymbakitty... have you ever used a site like orbitz? I’m not promoting orbitz. I’ve never booked with them. I just use them to do a quick search. That way you can look at multiple carries at one time. The Grand has only two sailing dates for March 2010. 12 and 26 March. Not sure which is your sailing date. I checked Jet Blue leaving SFO on 11 March and 25 March and the fairs are under $800.00 Per Person total R/T. However the flight times may not be to your liking.

 

March 26th, so leaving on March 25th.

 

I use orbitz and kayak. I have a couple of "watches" set up for me. $800 just to fly to FLL is crazy considering we just flew RT to Sydney (direct) for $588.

 

I'll just have to watch though....at least w/Southwest, you can have 2 bags each w/out any fees. We only have 1 check bag each, but coming home, one of us has 2 (all the dirty laundry in a big duffle bag).

 

Thanks....

 

Dawn

[notentirelynormal]

If you're going on the 3/12 cruise - Delta has round trip from SMF to FLL for $310 right now. Go to kayak.com and put in your info.

 

Its $407 for the 3/26th cruise

 

Also, try flying into MIA instead. That's what we ended up doing.

[Katie333]

Thats all??? Air from Toronto is about $1000 and its only a 3 hour flight. No sales here....prices just go up and up as space gets limited. Not sure how the US works but for air it does not get cheaper the closer to the date, unless its a very slow time of year. March/April is high season to travel due to School breaks and Easter holidays. We ended up driving last March as with 4 people it was insane with the pricing....much cheaper to drive for us.

 

FYI, we fly out of Buffalo or Detroit if going to the US and generally the price is half or less than going out of Toronto. Obviously, its a bit more inconvenient but I'd never pay 1k to fly out of Toronto.

[Katie333]

I can't believe what they are charging for a RT ticket to FLL from SMF. It is nearly $500 each. I can't even stomach that...we just got back from Australia in November and we only paid $588 each, TOTAL, RT.

 

I'm having a very hard time with this....do you think I should wait and see what sales might be offered....or is FLL one of those airports where they don't need sales?

 

I'm torn....just makes me sick to spend that kind of money to just go to Florida!

 

No SWA award seats either....surprise.

 

Any suggestions for airlines to watch for? We can fly out of OAK or SFO, but since the cruise is already 14 nights and we have to fly out a day early, it would be much better to fly out of SMF.

 

Thanks.....

 

Dawn

 

SMF to Miami coming in around $429 guessing your dates (United), that's better right?

[Arlened236]

We are going on the Grand in Feb (right after the supperbowl) and the flights to FLL from Chicago where extremely high...over$500 for a direct flight...but I found that flying into MIA and taking a shuttle to pre-cruise hotel was $200 per person cheaper...got $299 RT non stop on AA. Keep checking the airlines daily...they seem to have lower fares on Tues/Wed nights.

Miami is only a 45 min drive to FT Lauderdale.

We did this last year too when United stopped flights into FLL. Just walked out of the baggage area and took the suppershuttle to our hotel in FLL..was $62.00 for the 2 of us.

This works well if you come in a day early, which we have to do because of the uncertain weather in Chicago in Feb.

Have a great cruise..

[cmarshall9]

kymbakitty,

 

I'm in the foothills not that far from you and we typically will fly out of SFO for a lot of these flights. You can drive in the day before and do a stay/fly deal where you leave your car for free for two weeks if you stay a night at the hotel. La Quinta is one we use a lot but most hotels around the airport have a similar program. Virgin has added flights to FLL from SFO and the rates are great and the service is wonderful. They seem to have a lot of leg room compared to the legacy airlines. I've found the flight price difference pays for the hotel and we still save money over a flight from Sac. You might look into it.

[CruzVinnieCruz]

I agree. Check to see how many seats are available on the flight(s) you want to take. If there are few seats left, you won't see a price break. If there are a lot, you might take a chance on waiting to see if there are any sales. FLL is VERY busy during February through April with few seats available so often, you will pay a lot more. There is often a premium on flights to/from FLL and MIA at this time of the year. That's the way it is. Supply and demand. Economics 101.

 

An alternative is to check with your TA to see how much cruiseline airfare would be. You might be surprised. Sometimes, it does make sense.

 

I am not sure how you can check to see the number of seats available. The DW is a flight attendant for a major carrier and she can see the actual bookings through a company website. The actual bookings and the seats that show available on the public website are not always (rarely) the same. We have looked at flights that have three actual seats available but the website shows fifteen seats to choose from. It just means some passengers have paid for seats but did not pick a seat assignment.

[bhopal21]

I am not sure how you can check to see the number of seats available. The DW is a flight attendant for a major carrier and she can see the actual bookings through a company website. The actual bookings and the seats that show available on the public website are not always (rarely) the same.

 

Some carriers are much more proactive in this area than others.;)

 

Mike:)

[kymbakitty]

kymbakitty,

 

I'm in the foothills not that far from you and we typically will fly out of SFO for a lot of these flights. You can drive in the day before and do a stay/fly deal where you leave your car for free for two weeks if you stay a night at the hotel. La Quinta is one we use a lot but most hotels around the airport have a similar program. Virgin has added flights to FLL from SFO and the rates are great and the service is wonderful. They seem to have a lot of leg room compared to the legacy airlines. I've found the flight price difference pays for the hotel and we still save money over a flight from Sac. You might look into it.

 

We've done that more times than we can count...our land vacations are always two weeks and most of our international flights are simply better out of SFO.

 

I'm a Hilton/Marriott gal, and the DoubleTree (SFO) will allow you to leave your car for two weeks as well. So we typically spend the night there and park our car.

 

Because our cruise is 14 nights, plus an additional night in FLL due to the time difference and not wanting to miss the ship, that adds another day. I was hoping not to add another day onto the 15. It would just be one more day of vacation I would need to take, so I'm just looking at our options.

 

Thanks...

 

Dawn

[Minoushka]

I had the same problems Found JETBLUE on a Saturday morning

Try that