Airfare - am I on drugs or are they?

[nbsjcruiser]

So we dont have a cruise booked for the winter - haven't seen anything that turns our crank but just for giggles I thought I'd have a look at air prices return from Portland Maine to FLL. What the hell is going on?

 

Here's the prices I get: Per person return

American Air - $828 PP

Jet Blue - $750 PP

Delta - $850 PP

United - $710 PP

 

and those prices are similarly high all thorough March and February

 

In November we're flying Southwest for $250 per person return. What the heck is going on? Oil is way down, gas is down. For two of us we'd be looking at $1500-$1600 USD return and here's the kicker. I'm from Canada and drive to Portland Maine to fly - have for years because its so much cheaper. I can fly out of my home town in Saint John NB Canada CHEAPER!

 

Holy crap guys. WTH?

[Sassy19305]

So we dont have a cruise booked for the winter - haven't seen anything that turns our crank but just for giggles I thought I'd have a look at air prices return from Portland Maine to FLL. What the hell is going on?

 

Here's the prices I get: Per person return

American Air - $828 PP

Jet Blue - $750 PP

Delta - $850 PP

United - $710 PP

 

and those prices are similarly high all thorough March and February

 

In November we're flying Southwest for $250 per person return. What the heck is going on? Oil is way down, gas is down. For two of us we'd be looking at $1500-$1600 USD return and here's the kicker. I'm from Canada and drive to Portland Maine to fly - have for years because its so much cheaper. I can fly out of my home town in Saint John NB Canada CHEAPER!

 

Holy crap guys. WTH?

 

I have noticed the same thing recently - it's actually cheaper to fly from Edmonton to Singapore than it is from Edmonton to Salt Lake City.

[Cigar King]

All you can do is watch the prices and hope you see something less expensive. Having options when it comes to the airport you leave from is nice. I we book early, usually 11 months out...too stressful to wait.

[time4u2go]

I just did a random check on Southwest from Portland, ME to FLL from Jan 13 to Jan 21. You can go for $122 going, and $160 coming back (not to mention the no baggage fees).

 

You even mentioned that SW was cheaper...why not just fly with them?

[joepeka]

So we dont have a cruise booked for the winter - haven't seen anything that turns our crank but just for giggles I thought I'd have a look at air prices return from Portland Maine to FLL. What the hell is going on?

 

Here's the prices I get: Per person return

American Air - $828 PP

Jet Blue - $750 PP

Delta - $850 PP

United - $710 PP

 

and those prices are similarly high all thorough March and February

 

In November we're flying Southwest for $250 per person return. What the heck is going on? Oil is way down, gas is down. For two of us we'd be looking at $1500-$1600 USD return and here's the kicker. I'm from Canada and drive to Portland Maine to fly - have for years because its so much cheaper. I can fly out of my home town in Saint John NB Canada CHEAPER!

 

Holy crap guys. WTH?

I think you can chalk up a lot of the March high pricing to Spring Break. We have a cruise from FLL during that time frame and the air fare to and from FLL and MIA really stink. The airlines know south Florida is popular in March so they ratchet up the pricing. Just a couple of weeks earlier - mid-to-late February - and the fares are pretty reasonable (for us, flying from Phoenix).

[jsf]

We are going on a cruise out of MIA the week before Christmas and the airfare from DTW to MIA was out of sight. I figured out the cost of driving was half of the air even with motels and gas so we're driving down. The airlines are flying with full planes so they can get away with these fares, maybe if the planes aren't full the price will come down.

J.

[cb at sea]

You are looking WAY too far out...the prices tend to drop around the 45 day mark...then start rising again about 30 days out....you usually have a 2 week window of somewhat affordable prices.

[crbonfiber]

I would say you are for sure on drugs...Just say no! LOLOLOLOL

[tinkertwo]

I know your pain. We are Canadian and have flown out of the US over the last ten or so years simply due to the fact that the prices were a third of what we could get flying out of Canada. Yes, those days seem to be gone. I had never paid more that $250 round trip however I'm lucky to get $500 round trip and that would be if I booked opening day. With the US dollar as it is, we are not looking at flying out of anywhere but Canada now.

[sfaaa]

Look at the bright side. The higher the fare paid, the less chance you will get bummed or dragged off the plane because the flight is overbooked.

[C Cruise Dude]

So we dont have a cruise booked for the winter - haven't seen anything that turns our crank but just for giggles I thought I'd have a look at air prices return from Portland Maine to FLL. What the hell is going on?

 

Here's the prices I get: Per person return

American Air - $828 PP

Jet Blue - $750 PP

Delta - $850 PP

United - $710 PP

 

and those prices are similarly high all thorough March and February

 

In November we're flying Southwest for $250 per person return. What the heck is going on? Oil is way down, gas is down. For two of us we'd be looking at $1500-$1600 USD return and here's the kicker. I'm from Canada and drive to Portland Maine to fly - have for years because its so much cheaper. I can fly out of my home town in Saint John NB Canada CHEAPER!

 

Holy crap guys. WTH?

 

In 2010 I flew roundtrip from Detroit to Orlando (non-stop) and a hotel for one night pre-cruise $208. Not anymore! Airfare has doubled since those days. I was booking one way to Barcelona last year for a transatlantic ($900 was the cheapest online) but I found a great deal on Choice Air (advantage of cruising Royal or Celebrity) $378.

The prices will go down for Spring Break as you get closer to that time.

Edited July 29, 2017 by C Cruise Dude
correction

[rtazz17]

Never buy that far out.....It always drops,well usually...Someone will argue with me if I dont say usually.

[LMaxwell]

Never buy that far out.....It always drops,well usually...Someone will argue with me if I dont say usually.

:'):')True

[Merion_Mom]

Try the Fare Hopper app

[nicstress]

We've been watching MSP-LAX all year. It's been over $400. Closer to $500. This past week it went down to the $263-300 range and today at 78 days out it went down to $250. We jumped on that. You have to watch and be patient.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Forums mobile app

[luv2sailAgain]

You are looking WAY too far out...the prices tend to drop around the 45 day mark...then start rising again about 30 days out....you usually have a 2 week window of somewhat affordable prices.

 

Would this be true for flights around Christmas and March (spring break weeks)? Or are those prices just high and stay high?

[Clarea]

Would this be true for flights around Christmas and March (spring break weeks)? Or are those prices just high and stay high?

Price trends are not predictable. It all depends on supply and demand which varies.

[Redrobo]

Blame it on Brexit, just as the Remoaners appear to do over this side of the pond.

[christine40]

You are looking WAY too far out...the prices tend to drop around the 45 day mark...then start rising again about 30 days out....you usually have a 2 week window of somewhat affordable prices.

 

the only problem with that is there are not a lot of seats left or good flight times. our experience here in michigan is for spring break the best prices are the first month seats are open (a year in advance) after that they sky rocket.

 

we just bought seats to san juan for $1k each....I think we missed the cheaper window by at least a month. I was picking seats for the return flight home and they are already sparce! by October there will be few good return flights.

[xcell]

google flights has a flight tracker -- which actually informed me of a great price drop...

 

Flight Dec 23 to 31 from Toronto to Orlando

 

Cheapest I saw was 2 months ago for $450 return but that was with 1 stop over each way and on Wisconsin Airlines (never heard of it)

Decided not to book and a month later, that same flight was over $1000.

Other airlines were floating around $700-900 pp.

 

I guess I forgot I put in a tracker for Dec 23 to 31st and I got an email that said price dropped to $586 return, direct and on Westjet.

 

By the time I booked, the price went up to $644 pp and after I booked, the price is now $1100 pp.

 

Moral of this long winded post.... check every day (sometimes multiple times), check different combinations of days/times for the flight, and once you got an okay price -- take it, don't wait.

[Globehoppers]

So we dont have a cruise booked for the winter - haven't seen anything that turns our crank but just for giggles I thought I'd have a look at air prices return from Portland Maine to FLL. What the hell is going on?

 

Here's the prices I get: Per person return

American Air - $828 PP

Jet Blue - $750 PP

Delta - $850 PP

United - $710 PP

 

and those prices are similarly high all thorough March and February

 

In November we're flying Southwest for $250 per person return. What the heck is going on? Oil is way down, gas is down. For two of us we'd be looking at $1500-$1600 USD return and here's the kicker. I'm from Canada and drive to Portland Maine to fly - have for years because its so much cheaper. I can fly out of my home town in Saint John NB Canada CHEAPER!

 

Holy crap guys. WTH?

 

Try other Florida airports. Airlines know there is increased demand in winter into FLL for cruising and beaching. MIA the first option as it is a large international hub with more competition, MCO next. Check and recheck as prices can change nearly daily and airlines use sophisticated algorithms based on demand and searches to adjust prices.

 

Two examples. Flying to Italy in October for a cruise and picked up a $2400 R/T Business out of MIA where flying from MCO.FLL/TPA added $1000 to the cost. Similarly, and surprisingly, found a $1100 one-way Business ticket from ZRH back to FLL which was $600 less then returning to MIA after a trans-Atlantic. Google/flights is an excellent planning tool.

[Mellowjourney]

Family of 16 is flying to Fort Lauderdale for a cruise next March. Some of us live in North Dakota, some in California, and some in Manitoba. The 8 flying out of Winnipeg got a direct flight for way cheaper than anything I could find on the south side of the border. I'm still watching for price drops for the rest of us who have yet to book.

[Alter Ego]

Moral of this long winded post.... check every day (sometimes multiple times), check different combinations of days/times for the flight, and once you got an okay price -- take it, don't wait.

 

An add on comment- travel professionals recommend clearing your cookies or using tools that don't track your search history (Momondo, for example.) Airlines and hotels will say they don't do it, but there are far too many examples of prices going up immediately after you search for an itinerary.

[bluebeard39]

I got 2 tickets JFK to SJU April next year 1st class $614.00 each round trip and economy was $525.00 each round trip this is insane.

[geomancer]

It's a bad time to travel. It isn't just the Spring Break (aka college) crowd, but also public schools. Here in New England, most districts actually have two breaks. One in February, and a second in April. Colleges seem to do March. So you get 3 months where lots of people are traveling like it's summer, and prices are much higher.

 

The fall doesn't seem to have much for school breaks. Just holidays and single days here and there, so travel prices are far more reasonable.

 

As someone pointed out, look at Southwest Airlines. You have to go to them directly, they don't allow outside vendors to search their flights.