Stopover vs non-stop??

[crock25]

We are taking out first cruise on Oasis Mar 10,2012. We are from Toronto and currently direct from YYZ to FLL is $2400 (for myself, DH and DS). While a stop over its about 1500-1700. We are heading into FLL on the 9th and are not opposed to driving to Buffalo, currently there are only stop over flights available for that time frame (which are about the same price range as stop overs from YYZ. No direct flights from Buffalo available yet. Would you wait for direct flights from BUF to be released?

[bqkali]

We are taking out first cruise on Oasis Mar 10,2012. We are from Toronto and currently direct from YYZ to FLL is $2400 (for myself, DH and DS). While a stop over its about 1500-1700. We are heading into FLL on the 9th and are not opposed to driving to Buffalo, currently there are only stop over flights available for that time frame (which are about the same price range as stop overs from YYZ. No direct flights from Buffalo available yet. Would you wait for direct flights from BUF to be released?

 

Congrats on booking your first cruise - I bet you'll come home addicted like the rest of us :D

 

I would wait to book flights. You still have a long time to book flights and these prices are not a bargain. I used to live in Rochester, NY and often priced/booked flights out of BUF...I've seen fares around $200pp before for this route, although admittedly I wouldn't expect to see them that low in March since it will be prime-time for spring break and airfare, in general, seems to be rising.

 

Airfare at $800pp YYZ-FLL is ridiculous and I wouldn't dream of booking that, even if it is incredibly convenient to fly from your home airport with no stops. Unless you have a never-ending supply of cash.. ;)

 

Both JetBlue and Southwest Airlines currently offer nonstop flights BUF-FLL, if that is important to you. Bookings for March 2012 are not open yet, and you will have to wait a few months for that to open up if these are of interest to you. Currently, these daily flights are

BUF-FLL 6:55am-10:00am on Southwest

BUF-FLL 10:20am-1:14pm on Jetblue

FLL-BUF 12:30pm-3:30pm on Southwest

FLL-BUF 2:09pm-4:57pm on Jetblue

 

These flight times are VERY MUCH subject to change by the time you actually fly, but they have stayed roughly the same for a few years, and therefore I would expect them to remain roughly the same for your travel in March. If so, it would be feasible for you to take the Jetblue flight from Buffalo the day before your cruise (without too much of an early start from Toronto that morning) and either of the flights back to Buffalo after the cruise. Given current flight prices, the cost of gas rising, and supply & demand fluctuating, I would GUESS that these flights should be $300-400pp round-trip, but of course that is pure speculation (wish I had a crystal ball :rolleyes:).

 

At $400pp x 3 flyers = $1200 total cost for non-stop flights, versus the current $1500 you are seeing for flights with 1-stop along the way.

 

Lower price and more convenient flights = I would wait for flights to open up on either Jetblue or Southwest.

 

Good luck...booking airfare is a guessing game.

[6rugrats]

You mean nonstop, not direct. A direct flight is merely a flight that keeps the same flight number throughout all its legs; it can have stops and even plane changes.

 

No, I would not wait; flights for your dates (I hope you are flying in the day before) have already been released. Airlines are cutting, not expanding routing/flights. Why would you assume they would add a nonstop?

 

Personally, I don't think a nonstop is worth so much extra $$, but that would be your choice.

[twoputt.plusone]

I am also Canadian and happen to be flying to Ft. Lauderdale on the same day as you. The difference is that my DH and I are flying out of Buffalo, our normal airport. We're flying Southwest on non-stop flights both ways. We get two free checked bags each. In our case, each one of us will use one of those checked bags for golf clubs. The total price for the two of us is $418.80 including all taxes. It will cost us approx. $60 US to park for 8 days. Compare that to Pearson and it's a no-brainer. :D

[6rugrats]

We are taking out first cruise on Oasis Mar 10,2012.

 

I am also Canadian and happen to be flying to Ft. Lauderdale on the same day as you.

How can you be flying the same day as OP (12 MAR 2012), and have already booked tickets on Southwest? Their schedule is only out through 04 NOV 2011, as of today.

[FlyerTalker]

Linguistic Police...checking in.

 

Please be careful with the word "stopover". That has a specific meaning in the airline industry, and it doesn't mean "connection".

 

A "stopover" is when there is a break in the flights that is greater than the standard legal connection time. An example....you are flying from London to New York to Miami. If you stay more than 24 hours in NYC, you have a "stopover". This will result in differences in fares versus a through fare on a normal connection.

 

Some airlines will offer "free stopovers" at their hub on certain fares, often as part of a tourist incentive scheme. See Aer Lingus, Icelandair, Singapore for examples.

[twoputt.plusone]

How can you be flying the same day as OP (12 MAR 2012), and have already booked tickets on Southwest? Their schedule is only out through 04 NOV 2011, as of today.

 

Man my eyes must be going because I could have sworn they said May 9. :o

[wrp96]

Man my eyes must be going because I could have sworn they said May 9. :o

 

 

Probably just means you need a vacation - hopefully you get one really soon.;)

[crock25]

Thanks for all of your responses.

@ flyertalker, sorry for my faux pas, it is true I am not update to on my travel speak, although stop over is what is indicated on any of the flights I have been searching currently (and you are right they are connections)

 

@twoputt.plusone and 6rugrats, thanks for clarifying the travel dates.

Twoputt, those prices are exactly when we've been using Buffalo for our last flights. My concern is I have no clue what kinda price point I should be even expecting with it being March break.

 

6rugrats, while I am not normally worried about a stop over, my concern is the weather and then dealing with two possible delay issues. I do know that as Bqkali said, normally Jetblue and Southwest normally have nonstop flights to FLL but again seeing as I'm not normally a March break traveller I don't know what kind of cost is considered a good price.

 

Bqkali, I was playing with Jetblue's prices and noticed they openned their seats to Jan 3rd. So I checked out Dec 23-31 (Friday to Saturday) as those will be the same days of the week we will be travelling. The price is about $600 pp, you have probably flown out of BUF more then I, do you think that time frame would be comparable to March? We've done BUF twice now and each time its been about $300pp. I agree 100% if you had a crystal ball, this part of planning would be so much easier! ;)

 

Thanks again everyone for all your opinions and tips!

[FlyerTalker]

Thanks for all of your responses.

@ flyertalker, sorry for my faux pas, it is true I am not update to on my travel speak, although stop over is what is indicated on any of the flights I have been searching currently (and you are right they are connections)

Not a faux pas....more just a case that you probably never were aware in the first place. Just a bit of education for you and others. Along with non-stop and direct, these are "terms of art" used in the fare rules, where they can come back to bite you.

[bqkali]

Bqkali, I was playing with Jetblue's prices and noticed they openned their seats to Jan 3rd. So I checked out Dec 23-31 (Friday to Saturday) as those will be the same days of the week we will be travelling. The price is about $600 pp, you have probably flown out of BUF more then I, do you think that time frame would be comparable to March? We've done BUF twice now and each time its been about $300pp. I agree 100% if you had a crystal ball, this part of planning would be so much easier! ;)

 

Flying December 23rd-31st is on VERY heavily traveled dates, for both Christmas and New Years holidays and probably why it's about $600pp. Flying nonstop on Jetblue BUF-FLL in early December (a slow time) shows $314. I would GUESS that airfare in March (spring break) would fall somewhere between those prices.

 

Like I said, I would expect fares to be lower, but I am not an airfare expert. Just know what I've paid in the past and made my own extrapolations. I do a lot of researching airfares for places I want to go, so I know what a good fare is when I see it and will jump on a good price. Just booked airfare to Boston in July for $200 rather than the $325 I've been seeing for weeks. Right now, I think $600 to FLL is an absurd fare, so I would continue watching until I saw a fare that was reasonable for me instead of giving in to sky-high prices. BUT I am also very flexible in my destinations, and if I can't find a good airfare price in a reasonable timeframe (usually 60-90 days before my intended travel date), I have NO problem cancelling original plans and making plans for an alternate destination. Not everyone is this flexible.

 

If you normally pay $300, you need to find your comfort price level. Maybe $350, maybe $400, maybe $1 million (okay, maybe not...). Or maybe $600 is okay, if you see a business class seat at that price so you are still getting more bang for your buck. When you see airfare at a price you're comfortable with, grab it!!! Until then, you have plenty of time to look for a sale.

[FawnRiver]

We're in the same boat. Another option (& the one we've used before) is to book through Air Transat, but their flights don't open for booking until six months before. It'll most likely land you on a Canjet flight, our last trip wasn't unpleasant, considering its a charter flight. On the return flight from our first cruise we lucked out and came back on an Air Transat flight and were able to upgrade.

 

Thanks for the suggestions about JetBlue and Southwest. I've been looking at flights out of Buffalo, but I guess they don't open their flights for booking along the same lines as Air Transat.

[Friend100]

To the OP, Mar 10, 2012 is the start of March break in southern Ontario area and all flights from YYZ going south will be $$$, regardless of airline. You can wait a bit and check Air Transat or Skyservice, but I doubt they will be different by much. One option is Detroit. I booked DTW to FLL direct flying during Christmas/NewYear and paying $210CAD pp all tax/fee included. Yes it is close to a 5 hours drive through Windsor but we have 6 people and it is worth it for us (as comparing to Air Canada $750+pp YYZ to FLL!). Other neighborhood airports option you may also want to consider are Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Niagara Falls, NY.