Airfare EWR to FLL in Nov 08

[jerzeecruzer]

:confused: So far we have booked 14 rooms on the Crown Princess for the November 2, 2008 sailing...alot of family and friends. This is a popular week in New Jersey for vacationing since it's "Teacher's Week" and most schools are off for the entire week due to Election Day and Teachers' Convention. This is why we chose this week since we have a mix of teachers and kids in our family who are traveling.

 

We got an excellent cruisefare but the airfare is crazy...from Newark Liberty airport in NJ to Fort Lauderdale, FL it is up to $638 per person.

 

The kicker is that the week before and after is about $250 per person?! When I checked the available seats, only four or five seats are taken on any/all flights going out on Saturday, November 1st (we always fly out the day before). So the high airfare cannot be due to high volume sales.

 

Does anyone have an explanation? Continental told me to just wait and when other carriers open up their reservations, the prices will probably drop to be more competitive???

 

Does anyone have any ideas? Should we just wait? I check the airfare daily and it has not changed...

 

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

PS: I even tried Philly, Atlantic City and all New York airports too

[FlyerTalker]

This is a popular week in New Jersey for vacationing since it's "Teacher's Week" and most schools are off for the entire week due to Election Day and Teachers' Convention. This is why we chose this week since we have a mix of teachers and kids in our family who are traveling.

 

There's your answer....high demand in that week. You noted that it was cheaper before and after, so why the surprise.

 

As for "other airlines", aside from JetBlue and Southwest, other carriers already have those dates in the systems.

 

I'd keep my eyes peeled, but wouldn't hold my breath....if the demand for travel is high (as you hinted), why should airlines drop their prices?

 

Next, as for the "only four or five seats are taken" comment....if you used airline seatmaps to get that info, you are using a VERY unreliable gauge of actual seat availability. Only systems like ExpertFlyer, SeatCounter and KVS will get you actual availability in the various fare buckets. How did you come to that conclusion?

 

Finally, just how have you been searching for fares? Have you been looking for large blocks at a time - if so, you may have been getting higher fares because your entire purchase can't be fit into one bucket. With 14 cabins, you might want to consider getting a group fare. Do a search in this forum for prior threads on that subject.

[steve20832]

First of all, DO NOT fly down the day of the cruise, that is way to risky as we have hit record highs for delayed flights in 2007. I'm sure you remember what happened Valentines day with JetBlue. And New York can get snow/ice in November. Fly down the day before to be safe. New York has three airports so looking at just one might not be the best idea. I found $222 if you can go in and out of JFK with Delta non-stop each way. Keep in mind that flight times will probably change a little since you are booking 9 months out but you can reschedule your flight at no charge if they change the times by more than an hour or so. The other option is wait for JetBlue from JFK so everyone has a TV to watch on the way down. Or wait for Southwest and fly from Philly. If you have 28 people or so going on the same flight, call the airline, they may have a group rate.

 

Leave – Sat 1 Nov 2008

Delta

Flight 4

Departs: 12:55p John F Kennedy Intl (JFK)

Arrives: 3:54p Fort Lauderdale (FLL)

 

Return – Sun 9 Nov 2008

Delta

Flight 88

Departs: 12:25p Fort Lauderdale (FLL)

Arrives: 3:23p John F Kennedy Intl (JFK)

[JJPNYC]

Echoing FlyerTalker, the airfares are simply just reflecting the demand for flights to Florida that particular week.

 

If the cruise is ultra important, I personally would just swallow hard and accept the higher air prices as the price I must pay if I want to fly that particular day/week.

 

As a tip since there are approximately 25-28 of you flying, what about chartering a private jet? Once you break down the costs it may be about the same, or cheaper, than going on a scheduled plane. Plus you can fly out of Teterboro or some other small airport on your schedule. It might be worth investigating this option.