Airfare is so expensive....any suggestions?

[kry4disney]

Cruising Jan 7th on the Oasis from Port Canaveral returning to port on Jan 14th. Want to book airfare from Rochester NY to Orlando, flying in the say before, on the 6th and leaving the day we get back into port on the 14th. It is my understanding I should not book our return flight any earlier then 12:00 pm. Flights are coming in at over $400 per person which to me seems crazy but it has been a few years since I have booked to Orlando-seems like I used to get flights for $200 ish per person. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good website for airfare?

[Noxequifans]

There are a number of websites to consult but I am not sure you will see much difference in them.. I am sure you considered driving down but it is more than a bit of a haul and can be a problem in the wintertime. Good luck in your search.

[LHT28]

do any of the airlines like Southwest, Jetblue or Spirit fly from Rochester ?

I suppose you could drive to a larger airport like BUF or SYR

 

United have flights from BUF for under $250. pp connecting in EWR

[kry4disney]

We do have southwest and I can usually count on them however total for three is $1300. I have looked into Buffalo but that can be risky that time of the year, big snow belt between Rochester and buffalo plus that stupid lake effect snow and you never know.....I am going to have to pull the trigger soon because I will kick myself if they go up anymore but thanks for the replies.

[champagne123]

Every single time I book a cruise, it is at least 1 year out. I start checking airfare immediately. I am talking everyday. The FIRST release day of the airfare for my date, is sooooo ridiculously low. Over time, it just goes up and up. Example: My cruise is in October. American Airline from NJ to Fla. on the FIRST day of release was $212 round trip pp. I checked my date last week and I kid you not, it was $678pp. :o I have learned this many years ago and it has worked 100 percent of the time for me.

 

I have also seen people post to wait 90 days before your cruise and there will be a big price drop. I have never tested this, so cannot attest to it. Good luck to you! :cool:

[L1211]

Any chance you have an allegiant air nearby? I planned a last minute Christmas cruise last year that returned on Christmas Eve. I paid in full them looked at flights. Louisville go MIA was nearly as much as the cruise fare. I nearly fainted! But we drove an hour to Lexington KY and flew direct to Stanford, about 30 minutes outside of Orlando on Allegiant. Tickets we're about $300 each (vs $1200 each!) but that was with the price increase on x-mas eve. We can fly direct Louisville to Stanford about $200 each normally on allegiant. Now, I share this with fair warning. They canceled the return leg and rescheduled it for the next day-Christmas day. They only go where they go one time a day. No room for error! If they don't go, you don't go... good luck!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rbird]

Our recent airfare was high too. Remember you can change SWA flights to a lower fare and have your refunds put into travel funds. Also SW Visa has 60k rewards points for signing up. Flying in January is subject to snow as you know. It's a gamble. Good Luck and Do what's right for you.

[janetz]

Check everyday. :)

Our SW flight was out of reach and one day it had dropped and we nabbed it,

[space_bar]

Clear your cookie file every time you do a new search. You'll often find the lower fares show back up in your search results.

 

Apps/sites like Google Flights, Hopper and Kayak will search flight options and let you know when it's a good time to book or whether to wait. You can also set up notifications for when an airfare is in your price range.

 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

[easyboy]

Our recent airfare was high too. Remember you can change SWA flights to a lower fare and have your refunds put into travel funds.

 

We just changed flights on SWA last week and further increased our Travel Funds without paying change fees.

 

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Forums mobile app

[awhcruiser]

Keep checking!

[bessinfl]

Just an aside: the airport near Orlando where Allegiant flies is in the town of Sanford, FL, not Stanford. You can get some pretty good deals on Allegiant to Sanford (the airport is called Orlando Sanford), and it's only about 20 minutes farther to Port Canaveral than Orlando International is.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[mmacdcc]

Cruising Jan 7th on the Oasis from Port Canaveral returning to port on Jan 14th. Want to book airfare from Rochester NY to Orlando, flying in the say before, on the 6th and leaving the day we get back into port on the 14th. It is my understanding I should not book our return flight any earlier then 12:00 pm. Flights are coming in at over $400 per person which to me seems crazy but it has been a few years since I have booked to Orlando-seems like I used to get flights for $200 ish per person. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good website for airfare?

 

Airfare has gone up a bit, but the bigger problem is the time you need.

 

When I booked ours (BWI-MIA) I could get cheaper fares - but it was either on Spirit (which I refuse to fly) or too early or too late.

 

If I wanted to get to MIA after midnight, cheap. If I wanted to get there during the day, way more.

 

If I wanted to come back at 6am or 10pm or later, cheap. If I wanted to leave after noon and before 7pm (so I'm not sitting in the airport forever or forced to get some kind of excursion to fill time), expensive.

 

A few years ago we managed to snag cheap fares, even if we waited until a couple months before the cruise. Now? Not likely, even if you book relatively early.

[E@syPe@zy]

I have found that checking during the week, vs. checking on the week end sometimes you can find better deals. You can set up a notification on Kayak to let you know if the price goes down.

It looks like the prices going out of Buffalo are in the $200 range so you may want to consider flying into Orlando on the 5th and that will give you an extra buffer day in case of a major snow storm. I would also consider flying home on the 15th if your schedule allows. It looks like you can get a better price that day. It's also nice when you finish a cruise to have an extra day of vacation and not have any stress about getting to the airport on time that day.

If you have a credit card that earns reward points, check and see if they have rewards of hotels. The SW card is great for getting the sign up points. The points could probably cover your airfare for a good portion of the cost. And if you see something cheaper in a few months, you can cancel the SW flights and save the points for another time.

Just be vigilant on checking the prices on flights and if you happen to be up real early in the morning or late at night...check then.

[teknoge3k]

Sometimes driving to a neighboring airport can save money. Our local airport is pretty expensive but if I drive to Charlotte to fly on United or Raleigh to fly Southwest, it saves us a ton of money typically. Also book the flight as early as you can as they only go up. Also remember that Southwest doesn't charge luggage fees like other airlines so in the end they are cheaper usually. Wednesday flights are also usually the cheapest. You can use google.com/flights to get an idea as well.

 

On our flight to Ft. Lauderdale last month, we booked when they first opened up for our dates we wanted. It cost my family $620 round trip for 4 tickets. I checked the price later on just for S&G and it was over $1,000 round trip. Also my in-laws are looking to fly to Phoenix later this year. They have checked everywhere (except Southwest) and the cheapest they found for the 2 of them was something like $900. I checked Southwest for them and it was something like $400.

[mystifyny]

I also live in Rochester an almost always travel to Buffalo to fly to Orlando. I do it about 6 times a year. I also used to commute from Rochester to Buffalo daily to work. I would not worry about the weather. I think in the 8 Years I was commuting there was only 3 times that I should have stayed put and not went to work or went home.

 

The price difference between Rochester and Buffalo is usually significant and Southwest has at least 2 but most of the time 3 direct flights a day where Rochester only has one. If you average in parking it is still a lot cheaper to fly out of Buffalo.

 

There are a lot of park and fly hotels around the airport as well if you want to drive in the day before. I would definitely say look into Buffalo and Southwest. That way if there is a price change you can get the lower fair a lot easier than with other airlines.

[cfr70]

Cruising Jan 7th on the Oasis from Port Canaveral returning to port on Jan 14th. Want to book airfare from Rochester NY to Orlando, flying in the say before, on the 6th and leaving the day we get back into port on the 14th. It is my understanding I should not book our return flight any earlier then 12:00 pm. Flights are coming in at over $400 per person which to me seems crazy but it has been a few years since I have booked to Orlando-seems like I used to get flights for $200 ish per person. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good website for airfare?

 

Alegiant only flies from Niagara Falls to Orlando on certain days of the week, but if you could swing flying into Orlando 1 day earlier and fly back 1 day later than your planned dates, total cost r/t is $192 all in pp, but then there's 2 nights added hotel that would eat into the $600 saved. Still a win though if you're flexible time wise.

[E@syPe@zy]

Cruising Jan 7th on the Oasis from Port Canaveral returning to port on Jan 14th. Want to book airfare from Rochester NY to Orlando, flying in the say before, on the 6th and leaving the day we get back into port on the 14th. It is my understanding I should not book our return flight any earlier then 12:00 pm. Flights are coming in at over $400 per person which to me seems crazy but it has been a few years since I have booked to Orlando-seems like I used to get flights for $200 ish per person. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good website for airfare?

Plus 2 more days of warmth and sunshine!:D

Sorry this was supposed to be a reply to Cfr70....

Edited July 5, 2017 by E@syPe@zy
Nothing really

[Bkchero]

I see that Delta, United and American fly from SYR and I was able to put together an itinerary on Orbitz flying down on Delta and back on United for about $330 pp. Not great but better than where you are now. JetBlue flies direct from SYR to MCO but it was not any cheaper.

[loanshark]

If you can find a cheap way to and from EWR (one way rental / train / own car / etc...), EWR to MCO is $169 for your dates on United.

[loanshark]

Not as bad of a drive would be BUF to MCO nonstops on JetBlue for $369 per person

[LHT28]

see post #4

the OP already stated he did not want to drive to BUF & take a chance on the lake effect snow

If you have ever driven in winter along Lake Ontario or Lake Erie with the snow squalls you would not want to take the chance either

[Orlando Vic]

Start searching with either

Google Flights https://www.google.com/flights/

 

ITA Matrix software

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

 

Then set up a price alert to notify you of any price drops. https://www.kayak.com/alerts

[kry4disney]

Thanks for all the responses and info. I did manage to book at a little lower price, leaving Rochester on United and returning on SW. I am the type of person that just wants it done vs waiting out as the peace of mind is worth more in the end. Either way I am cruising on Jan 6th so super happy.:D

[14Terry]

I too check very often for flights after booking a cruise. Booked flights yesterday for May 2018 cruise. Lots to be said for having that peace of mind! Enjoy that cruise!