Megtheblackbelt Posted September 30, 2018 #1 Share Posted September 30, 2018 I know I read a lot of people asking questions about when to book flights for Alaska. Well, I thought I would share my process/what worked for me. Our cruise is August 23-30, 2019, porting out of Vancouver going North bound to Seward. I avidly kept my eyes on flights and studied flight prices, checking every day (sometimes multiple times a day!) to see if flights opened. What I noticed is that flights (at least departing from our area - Tampa, FL) were cheapest to Vancouver AS SOON as they opened up. I have not seen prices lower than $157/pp for this leg of the trip, so I am incredibly ecstatic. The total flight time is just under 9 hours, with one stop in Denver, CO. Flights home from Anchorage have yet to release, but fingers crossed when they do soon that I'll be able to find another great deal (right now they're sitting at around $300/pp for the weeks ahead of when we will be flying home). Just my 0.000000002 cents. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrmende63 Posted September 30, 2018 #2 Share Posted September 30, 2018 Nice! Our flight going( nonstop) from Charleston SC to Seattle , cheapest has been 230 pp. we jumped on it. ( ship leaves out of Vancouver, but we are doing Amtrak to Vancouver) Our return flight home is staying around 420 pp but if I check 2-3 mos back from our 6/26/19 return date from Fairbanks to Charleston instead of 420 pp I see 330 pp this flight is a one stop in Seattle. Keep checking. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megtheblackbelt Posted October 1, 2018 Author #3 Share Posted October 1, 2018 Nice! Our flight going( nonstop) from Charleston SC to Seattle , cheapest has been 230 pp. we jumped on it. ( ship leaves out of Vancouver, but we are doing Amtrak to Vancouver) Our return flight home is staying around 420 pp but if I check 2-3 mos back from our 6/26/19 return date from Fairbanks to Charleston instead of 420 pp I see 330 pp this flight is a one stop in Seattle. Keep checking. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro $230 is still a great price! Super find! I’m crossing my fingers we can both get home from Anchorage for $500 or less (for both of us). That would be amazing. [emoji24] Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEtue Posted October 3, 2018 #4 Share Posted October 3, 2018 Thanks for the heads up! That is a great find and I will be looking for flights from TPA - YVR for the following week..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEtue Posted October 3, 2018 #5 Share Posted October 3, 2018 Looks like I would have to fly the Tuesday before my Friday cruise from Vancouver to duplicate the fare :( I will keep watching though and see if Thursday becomes available..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgeo Posted October 4, 2018 #6 Share Posted October 4, 2018 That's an incredible price - what airline is it on? I'm looking for flights from Anc - Tpa for our June trip, not seeing anything great right now, around 400/pp for the 1 stops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megtheblackbelt Posted October 4, 2018 Author #7 Share Posted October 4, 2018 That's an incredible price - what airline is it on? I'm looking for flights from Anc - Tpa for our June trip, not seeing anything great right now, around 400/pp for the 1 stops. Jetblue! It’s $30 for the first checked bag, but that seems reasonable. *shrugs* Try looking back at last year and seeing if the prices rose or fell as it got closer, and maybe that will help you decide whether to book or not. :) Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megtheblackbelt Posted October 4, 2018 Author #8 Share Posted October 4, 2018 Looks like I would have to fly the Tuesday before my Friday cruise from Vancouver to duplicate the fare :( I will keep watching though and see if Thursday becomes available..... Ugh, I’m sorry. We are flying in on a Wednesday for a Friday cruise, which, frankly I prefer to Thursday anyways (thankfully we have unlimited PTO at work, or else we definitely wouldn’t be able to do this). Tampa to Vancouver is faaar and I don’t wanna risk a late running flight or something even worse. Eekkk. Thanks for the heads up! That is a great find and I will be looking for flights from TPA - YVR for the following week..... Fingers crossed for you! :) Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lr657 Posted October 26, 2018 #9 Share Posted October 26, 2018 On 10/3/2018 at 1:43 PM, LEtue said: Looks like I would have to fly the Tuesday before my Friday cruise from Vancouver to duplicate the fare 😞 I will keep watching though and see if Thursday becomes available..... Hi Linda! Take a look at flying out of Orlando instead of Tampa. We will be flying to Fairbanks in August 2019 to begin our cruise tour. When we started searching for flights from Tampa they were expensive. I then checked the flights departing from Orlando and some were $200 less pp and the flight itineraries were much better. We ended up booking our flights departing from Orlando, and are renting a car for the day to drive to the airport there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEtue Posted October 27, 2018 #10 Share Posted October 27, 2018 23 hours ago, lr657 said: Hi Linda! Take a look at flying out of Orlando instead of Tampa. We will be flying to Fairbanks in August 2019 to begin our cruise tour. When we started searching for flights from Tampa they were expensive. I then checked the flights departing from Orlando and some were $200 less pp and the flight itineraries were much better. We ended up booking our flights departing from Orlando, and are renting a car for the day to drive to the airport there. Hi Lorraine! Thanks for the tip on Orlando and that may be a good option for me too! Right now if looks like I will be returning to the Med in 2019 and possibly booking the HAL 14 night Alaska Explorer in 2020. Enjoy your cruise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lr657 Posted October 27, 2018 #11 Share Posted October 27, 2018 21 minutes ago, LEtue said: Hi Lorraine! Thanks for the tip on Orlando and that may be a good option for me too! Right now if looks like I will be returning to the Med in 2019 and possibly booking the HAL 14 night Alaska Explorer in 2020. Enjoy your cruise Linda, we booked our flights to Venice next month through A2S for $276 pp. They are on Delta, but again we are flying out of Orlando. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIBTEE Posted October 27, 2018 #12 Share Posted October 27, 2018 On 10/26/2018 at 9:38 AM, lr657 said: Hi Linda! Take a look at flying out of Orlando instead of Tampa. We will be flying to Fairbanks in August 2019 to begin our cruise tour. When we started searching for flights from Tampa they were expensive. I then checked the flights departing from Orlando and some were $200 less pp and the flight itineraries were much better. We ended up booking our flights departing from Orlando, and are renting a car for the day to drive to the airport there. HI Lorraine! Thanks for the Orlando tip. Eddie and I will be flying to Fairbanks Sept. 2019 for our cruise tour before our Southbound cruise. I have been checking flights for a deal with no luck. I am in London right now. Leaving in the am for Southampton for Independence TA. I'll call you when return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lr657 Posted October 27, 2018 #13 Share Posted October 27, 2018 29 minutes ago, TIBTEE said: HI Lorraine! Thanks for the Orlando tip. Eddie and I will be flying to Fairbanks Sept. 2019 for our cruise tour before our Southbound cruise. I have been checking flights for a deal with no luck. I am in London right now. Leaving in the am for Southampton for Independence TA. I'll call you when return. Hi Tee! Hope flying out of Orlando works for you too! The price difference makes it well worth renting a car to drive the extra distance there. Enjoy your time in London and have a great cruise. I'll look forward to your call when you get back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
princess_mom Posted October 29, 2018 #14 Share Posted October 29, 2018 Hi guys - with an Alaska Airlines credit card you get a free companion fare per year and free checked bags. So for my daughter and I to fly next Aug 2019, from NY/JFK to ANC and return Seattle, SEA to JFK, I booked my fare at $525 and for her I paid the fees, total for both came to $640. And gotta love the free checked bags for both of us, we will definitely pack heavy for any kind of weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renysmom Posted December 13, 2018 #15 Share Posted December 13, 2018 How far out on average do those who have flown from east coast booked? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
princess_mom Posted December 17, 2018 #16 Share Posted December 17, 2018 As soon as the fares open up. I started looking a year before our cruise and found what I considered a good deal 11 months before. Definitely the furthest out that I have ever booked a flight but so relieved once I did it. And I have not seen a better deal, tracking on Google Flights. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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