Opnions on December Flight

[Blndiebby25]

Hello everyone,

 

I am researching my flight for my December cruise. My fiance and I want to fly in the day before due to our wonderful winter weather here in Canada. Here is what I have found so far:

 

Air Canada

Departure

Edmonton to Toronto

Depart 07:00

Arrive 12:44

 

Toronto to Tampa

Depart 14:30

Arrive 17:23

 

Return

Tampa to Toronto

Depart 14:25

Arrive 17:10

 

Toronto to Edmonton

Depart 18:40

Arrive 20:57

 

PRICE: $1471.98CDN (including taxes and fees)

 

 

United Airlines

Departure

Edmonton to Denver

Depart 08:25

Arrive 09:10

 

Denver to Tampa

Depart 10:15

Arrive 15:36

 

Return

Tampa to Chicago

Depart 16:23

Arrive 18:14

 

Chicago to Edmonton

Depart 19:45

Arrive 22:42

 

PRICE: $1443.80CDN (includes taxes and fees)

 

 

America West via Expedia.ca

Departure

Edmonton to Phoenix

Depart 07:00

Arrive 10:28

 

Phoenix to Tampa

Depart 13:09

Arrive 19:10

 

Return

Tampa to Las Vegas

Depart 20:40

Arrive 10:34

 

Las Vegas to Edmonton

Depart 23:59

Arrive 03:59

 

PRICE: $1269.84CDN (including taxes and fees)

 

 

Northwest Airlines via Travelocity.ca

Departure

Edmonton to Minneapolis/St Paul

Depart 08:00

Arrive 11:46

 

Minneapolis/St Paul to Tampa

Depart 12:55

Arrive 16:55

 

Return

Tampa to Minneapolis/St Paul

Depart 17:45

Arrive 18:14

 

Minneapolis/St Paul to Edmonton

Depart 21:00

Arrive 22:57

 

PRICE: $1453.84CDN (including taxes and fees)

 

 

So if you were booking this flight which one would you go with and why?

[parody]

I don't think I would choose any of these flights. I would go with something like the following:

 

 

United Airlines (via ITASoftware.com)

Departure

Edmonton-Chicago

Depart 12:33

Arrive 16:00

 

Chicago-Tampa

Depart 18:05

Arrive 21:47

 

Return

Tampa-Chicago

Depart 15:24

Arrive 17:15

 

Chicago-Edmonton

Depart 19:45

Arrive 22:42

 

PRICE: $1190.80 (including taxes and fees for 2)

 

Generally, I would prefer these as the 1) the cost is less, 2) connect times are within reason, 3) departure time from Tampa is earlier than 5:45 pm, and 4) ORD is likely to be better equiped to handle snow.

[Blndiebby25]

I have never heard of ITASoftware.com before I will have to check it out.

 

Thanks!

[Blndiebby25]

Well I checked it out and the prices are in USD so it is actually more expensive than all the flights I listed except Air Canada. As per the Universal Currency Convertor online the price in CDN is approximately $1,466.66. Thanks for the alternative though.

 

My fiance and I are leaning towards America West via Expedia.com. Anyone know anything about America West?

 

Thanks!

[parody]

Thanks for pointing out that the US Dollar has declined more than I thought. However, I think something else is going on here more than the exchange rate between the US and Canada. The typical advice is to use a service like Expedia, etc. for searching for flights but to do the actual booking at an airline's website to avoid the middleman and accompanying service fee. However, at the America West website, the searches are conducted first without fees and taxes, and only by going through the booking process does one find out that the fares for 2 people are in the $1420-1490 (CDN) range with taxes and fees added. Quite oddly, an Expedia search yields fares in the range that you indicate (although I would go with a return flight that leaves Tampa at 16:45 with a connection in Pheonix). It is stated that these fares do include fees and taxes, although it is not clear why they would be so much lower (possibly they are specially negotiated fares?). At any rate, it may make sense to book these HP flights through Expedia given that the fares appear to be better than the same flights found elsewhere.

 

In terms of America West, while it does have its distractors (and maybe they will add their experience to this thread), it is the eighth largest airline in terms of domestic enplanements. In 2004, its on-time performance was 70.5% compared to an overall average of 71.6%. Other details can be found at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/reports/2005/0502atcr.pdf

[bluehorizonlover123]

I would stick with the bigger carriers like United or American.