DC to Fort Lauderdale

[steve20832]

Another option is rent a car one-way and drive down. Then rent a car one-way when the cruise is over and drive back. Flying any time during Thanksgiving week is expensive

[arlsvera]

I ended up buying the tickets ... to Miami instead of Ft. Lauderdale. Miami had more options and it was slightly cheaper. I know we'll have to pay to get transportation to the port, but there are 8 of us, and it was worth the cheaper tickets. Thanks for all the advice .. and for making me just go ahead and buy the tickets!

[Zach1213]

I ended up buying the tickets ... to Miami instead of Ft. Lauderdale. Miami had more options and it was slightly cheaper. I know we'll have to pay to get transportation to the port, but there are 8 of us, and it was worth the cheaper tickets. Thanks for all the advice .. and for making me just go ahead and buy the tickets!

 

Heck, with 8 people you may be able to just rent out a whole van (with driver) and get a price below what is advertised.

[bouhunter]

Without adding a snarky issue, if you think it should be easy to get cheap fares during high demand season, I am thinking a refresher course in supply and demand might be in order. Isn't this how capitalism works? Charge more for something when there is a fixed capacity and high demand? Aren't airlines in the business to make a profit?

 

It is well known that Thanksgiving is a high demand travel time. It is well known that cheapest fares go first, most of the time.

 

Good grief, I know it costs more to fly during peak periods and why. I was originally just empathizing with the OP's frustration at flight costs. Now I've received two lectures about airfare pricing structures, supply and demand, and capitalism........

[trixiegal]

I've also been watching the flights from the DC area the past few days after I booked last-minute on the Disney Magic out of POM, which sails the Friday after Thanksgiving. It was actually way more expensive for us to fly into MIA, so I found out info on shuttle service from FLL to POM that was only $15/person. Then I reserved a suite at a nearby FLL hotel for under $100. The stars seemed to be aligning except I was searching for plane fares under $200. Yeah, I know that was crazy thinking for Thanksgiving week but I had faith I could find something. I decided to go ahead and buy on SWA for Thanksgiving Day morning out of BWI and a great afternoon return for the day we sail back into POM. I paid $206/person with NO baggage fees on two checked bags/person. I'm satisfied! :D

[arlsvera]

trixiegal - you got a great deal! I booked my flights a week ago, and checked prices yesterday ... just to see if I made the right call. And I did! My exact flight from DCA to MIA was $332 higher, PER PERSON! Since there are eight of us, that means it went up $2,656 for our group. At the time, I felt like I overpaid, but now I'm feeling better!!

[Bowie MeMe]

I've also been watching the flights from the DC area the past few days after I booked last-minute on the Disney Magic out of POM, which sails the Friday after Thanksgiving. It was actually way more expensive for us to fly into MIA, so I found out info on shuttle service from FLL to POM that was only $15/person. Then I reserved a suite at a nearby FLL hotel for under $100. The stars seemed to be aligning except I was searching for plane fares under $200. Yeah, I know that was crazy thinking for Thanksgiving week but I had faith I could find something. I decided to go ahead and buy on SWA for Thanksgiving Day morning out of BWI and a great afternoon return for the day we sail back into POM. I paid $206/person with NO baggage fees on two checked bags/person. I'm satisfied! :D

 

Good move. Visiting family that live within a mile of FLL I use the holiday itself as my time to go cheaper. I flew July 4th morning on my last trip and I have flown Jan 1, 2013 (DGD birthday is Jan 3 -- a big holiday for us!) and flew the Sat. before Easter to get back home for church services in my own home town. The big downer is that we have to stay about a full week as Thursday through Monday is much higher during cruise season and Weds. and Tuesday are only days with cheapest fares.

[4774Papa]

Southwest from BWI to FLL would be the way to go. Sure the beltway is what it is, but worst case, find a hotel room near the airport and go up after rush hour.

 

Other options would be flying into Miami then finding transport to FLL.

[vjmatty]

Good grief, I know it costs more to fly during peak periods and why. I was originally just empathizing with the OP's frustration at flight costs. Now I've received two lectures about airfare pricing structures, supply and demand, and capitalism........

 

Some people like to state the obvious or otherwise show the world how much they know, and it's not always done to be helpful.

[Architect]

I ended up buying the tickets ... to Miami instead of Ft. Lauderdale. Miami had more options and it was slightly cheaper. I know we'll have to pay to get transportation to the port, but there are 8 of us, and it was worth the cheaper tickets. Thanks for all the advice .. and for making me just go ahead and buy the tickets!

 

Good grief...eight people?? And you all got on the same flight?

 

Congrats :)

[arlsvera]

Architect -- yes, we are all on the same flight to Miami -- different flights home. I booked the first four tickets and then immediately went back to book the second four and the price had gone up $140 per ticket! (I'm assuming the computer sensed activity and then raised the prices??? I don't know!) So, I booked different flights home for the same airfare. At the time, I thought I was over paying, but now those flights are all $300 more, per person!

[parody]

(I'm assuming the computer sensed activity and then raised the prices??? I don't know!)

 

Probably not. For any given flight, the airlines have a number of "fare buckets" with their own associated price. When all seats in the lowest cost fare bucket are taken, it starts charging fares at the next highest level bucket. Buying 4 seats at a time slightly complicates the procedures used, however. In this instance, the airline tries to find the lowest fare bucket that can accommodate all 4 tickets. It may turn out that the lowest fare bucket only has 3 seats available (say). The algorithms used will thus skip over this fare bucket if 4 seats are required. (It would be nice if the airlines offered 3 seats at the lowest price and 1 seat at the higher price, but they use an all-or-nothing procedure.) This is likely the reason why when you went back to buy 4 more seats it moved you into a higher fare bucket. Although cumbersome, this is one reason why it is suggested that one purchase 1 seat at a time, or at least go through the motions to see just how many seats are available in the lowest cost fare bucket.

[FlyerTalker]

Although cumbersome, this is one reason why it is suggested that one purchase 1 seat at a time, or at least go through the motions to see just how many seats are available in the lowest cost fare bucket.

Spot on explanation!!

 

Buying eight tickets, you could "range find" by trying one, then trying eight. If you get the same price, buy eight. If not, split the difference and try again. If you get the low price for four, then you know there are at least four in the cheapest bucket but not eight. Now you can try six. And so forth.

 

Of course, if you are at the mad-rush time when WN is just releasing seats or during a flash sale, there may not be time for such procedure. Inventory may get consumed as you are testing.

[arlsvera]

Thanks for the explanation .. I knew SOMETHING happened after I bought the first batch of tickets! In any case, I can relax now because we are indeed going to Florida and we are going on a cruise...!