Airfare-yikes

[gargoyle999]

Have been watching airfare for my trip next Feb from MSP to FLL for my Carnival cruise. Fares went up over $100 a ticket over the weekend! Can't book until tomorrow on the airline I was going to use (Midwest) since they only go 330 days out. Looks like it's back to NWA since it will be $100 cheaper. Do I dare wait and hope fares go down?

 

Better go get in line to sell some plasma...:mad:

[lcpagejr]

I would wait...fares fluctuate and it would be very unusual for the lowest fare to be offered almost 1 year before flight. Does Southwest or AirTran fly anywhere near you...Good option since they both fly into Fort Lauderdale...unfortunately Southwest only sells tickets 180 days or less.

[gargoyle999]

I would wait...fares fluctuate and it would be very unusual for the lowest fare to be offered almost 1 year before flight. Does Southwest or AirTran fly anywhere near you...Good option since they both fly into Fort Lauderdale...unfortunately Southwest only sells tickets 180 days or less.

 

Actually I just checked and we do have Air Tran! Mpls/St Paul is dominated by NWA so often we do not have a lot of good competition. Air Tran doesn't have pricing out past early Jan but looks to have some good fares. Will have to keep checking on that. Thanks for the tip!

[Silverscreen]

We also live in MSP area. There are usually half way decent prices on AA and they fly direct from MSP to MIA, you could transfer then to FLL. I look at Air Tran and Sun Country(don't fly to FLL, and MIA I think may only be seasonal for them) always before NWA... I hate that they "own" the airport. I noticed the same fare hike this weekend as we are looking for tix to Disney in Nov. I am holding out a while longer. Good Luck!!

[ShedQueen77]

I purchased my airfare for next January about a week ago and have done nothing but see the price go up. It's now $110 more pp than I paid. I was waiting for AirTran to release their January dates but ended up finding a decent (a little more than I wanted to pay, but definitely cheaper than anything else I was tracking. Every other airline kept going up) price with Delta. Once I added the $60 pp (round trip, $30 per flight) in taxes and fees in on the AirTran price (it isn't shown until you click through to confirm), the Delta flight was only $10 more pp.

 

I have kept watching all the other flights I was tracking and the fares have not come down in about a month. Yapta is a good tracking tool to use, if you aren't already.

 

HTH :)

[Fraucruiser]

I noticed the same thing this weekend. We actually booked our tickets last October for out June cruise, however Frontier changed all of the flight times and we cancelled our reservations with them and tried to rebook. The flights we had picked out this weekend went up almost $200! :eek: :eek: :eek: Needless to say we did not make any airline reservations today. I'm hoping they will drop a bit in the next few days. If not I need to start walking...my ship leaves in 89 days and it's a LONG way from Seattle to Port Canaveral

[grandmato4]

No doubt, its a gamble right now on what airflights are going to cost and even which airlines are going to still be flying and what cost cutting meassures they're going to take if the cost of fuel doesn't even out pretty soon. General rule has been that booking flights really far ahead of time (like now for Feb 09)doesn't usually give the best rate, but with fuel cost rising not sure that old rule still applies. I live between two relatively small airports so while I have some options not nearly as many as some with larger airports with more competition, and rarely any non-stop flights to Florida even if I was willing to pay the price. So for me, I need to know what is a good price and jump on it when I see it especially for a cruise when I need more specific flight times and my options are limited for those times. When I can be more flexible in my flight times I've always found it can be worth it to wait until about 3 months before flying to book flights catching some really good deals.

 

Also now, you've got to watch your flights closely after booking since all the airlines are making so many changes to flight times and flights. Just because the times look great today doesn't mean that they won't change them several times or even cancel the flight sometimes before your trip. Airtran canceled one of ours for our last trip and rebooked us on an evening flight that same day- to their credit, I was not willing to accept that change and since there wasn't any other flight out that same day that I was happy with, we changed our plans and Airtran happily agree to rebook us on the flight a day earlier. They would have refunded our money if we wanted but I couldn't find another flight I was happy with for close to the same amount of money as I had originally paid so thing worked out ok.

 

Also remember that flying in Feb has a higher chance of flight delay and cancelations for bad weather. Does Airtran have other flights out that same day that might have empty seats to catch a ride on if you needed to? I'm not a fan of Northwest, but how many other flights do they have out that could be an option if yours got canceled or delayed? I think they have partners whichcan come in handy if you need them to get you on another flight. Just something to consider, especially when flying in Feb.

 

Booked my Oct 08 flights last week. Got great price coming home and about $20 more than I would have liked going out but figured with the rising fuel cost it might be the best price I'd see for the flights I needed.

 

Hoping I do as well for my Feb 09 cruise but I've got a few more weeks before I start seriously watching the rates.

[stargazingjess]

If you plan on booking NWA, be sure to factor in the extra $25 for a second bag (each way) if you plan on checking two pieces of luggage - I think it goes into effect May 5th.

[skylock]

Sign the flight you are looking at up at yapta.com and they will watch it for you.

 

Got airfare for $55 lower for son's honeymoon beause it dipped one time since I started watching it. It has gone up $35 more than when I started watching it so I actually saved $90 by buying when I did vs todays price.

[wrf2e]

This is what I would do. Find the lowest fare you can. (I found a fare MSP-MIA for 277 on travelocity using Feb 16 and 25 as the travel dates based on your countdown clock and the Iten. for that cruise.) Then, go to priceline and do a name your own fare. Since they say up to 40% off I would start there by biding 166 and if you get nothing raise the price little by little till you reach 277. Good luck.

[OhioJeff]

This is what I would do. Find the lowest fare you can. (I found a fare MSP-MIA for 277 on travelocity using Feb 16 and 25 as the travel dates based on your countdown clock and the Iten. for that cruise.) Then, go to priceline and do a name your own fare. Since they say up to 40% off I would start there by biding 166 and if you get nothing raise the price little by little till you reach 277. Good luck.

 

Its very, very, very risky to use Priceline for cruise airfare. unless you plan to arrive 2 days early. They can easily put you on a flight with multiple connections, with multiple airlines...Some with 3-4 hour layovers.

Naming your price on airfare is good if you dont have to be at a place at a specific time.

 

Best bet is to use kayak and yapta and when you see a rate you can live with book it. Also after finding the lowest fare to avoid booking fees book with the airline directly. Then sign up for their frequent flyer program.

 

 

I was lucky to get cruise air to San Juan from Cincy for $233 for next Jan.

[gypsyrose]

I booked CLT to MIA for my next cruise sometime last summer for $244. That same flight is now over.......................$1400:eek: Thank goodness I booked early. Who's gonna be able to fly at prices like that?? Oh, that was American Airlines.

[pe4all]

Yes, the airfares have definitely gone crazy. I booked our flights for April 18 the day they opened on AA - 330 days out. Got a fare of $338, which I thought was pretty good for Spring Break here in NY direct to Miami. I have watched the fares go up since then. JUST got off the AA site, and the fare for the same flites I have are now $1668 per person - that is insane. The air pp is double the price we paid pp for the cruise! I sympathize with anyone waiting for fares to drop. I am too chicken to book close to sailing date. We have (luckily) never been burned booking so far out. We get the flights we want (yes, sometimes they do change the schedule, but usually not too badly) and if the prices drop - like Carnival - the airline (we use AA or Delta) gives a voucher for the difference. I truly wish I was savy enough to bid for air, but I'm not:p

[gypsyrose]

Yes, the airfares have definitely gone crazy. I booked our flights for April 18 the day they opened on AA - 330 days out. Got a fare of $338, which I thought was pretty good for Spring Break here in NY direct to Miami. I have watched the fares go up since then. JUST got off the AA site, and the fare for the same flites I have are now $1668 per person - that is insane. The air pp is double the price we paid pp for the cruise! I sympathize with anyone waiting for fares to drop. I am too chicken to book close to sailing date. We have (luckily) never been burned booking so far out. We get the flights we want (yes, sometimes they do change the schedule, but usually not too badly) and if the prices drop - like Carnival - the airline (we use AA or Delta) gives a voucher for the difference. I truly wish I was savy enough to bid for air, but I'm not:p

 

 

Explain the voucher for the difference if the flight price drops. I did not know the airlines did anything like that. Of course, for me the flight and cruise price NEVER drops:( I never get OBC. And like you, my flight went skyhigh!!!

[Natanni]

We also need to fly from MSP and for our March cruise a few weeks ago, I wound up spending 650.00 PP for the 4 of us on USAIR, booking in December. Cruising next year for us will depend on getting a decent price on air out of MSP and I really don't want to do connecting flights ever again. I was looking for Feb 09 I believe on NWA I think I found air to MIA for around 350 non stop but I can't book until at least June:o .

[gargoyle999]

Guess I'll check out some of those price monitoring options and hope to buy on a dip. Priceline would be an option if fares do nothing but go up. We are flying in two days early (it will be Feb in Minneapolis-heck we just had a blizzard yesterday-no joke) but would like to drive to Key West for a couple days before the cruise so don't want to get in way late on a random flight. Would also have to stay a day after in case get a 6am flight back!

 

Might have to start thinking about flying to Miami too if fares end up being cheaper. Less hassle to fly into FLL so that's still my hope.

 

Thanks everyone for the suggestions!

[mainer208]

If you are flying Presidents' week in February it will be sky high. I live in New England and that week is absolutely outrageous as is Patriots Day week in April. Both are school vacations for many K-12 schools in New England.

[neverpar]

We sail in December.......still a long way out...and I'm hoping airfare will drop, right now I'm looking at over 500.00 pp from SLC to MIA, and well over 400.00 from SLC to FLL......it's crazy.

I'm hoping Southwest (when they finally announce airfare) will be cheaper...

[pe4all]

GypsyRose -

Two times now I have booked air, and noticed the price had dropped dramatically (especially for our Destiny cruise a few years ago) I called the airline involved (once AA, once Delta) and twice they gave me a "credit" for the reduced price . One time, they did it for free, cause the price dropped within a few days.(Delta) Once, I had to "pay" a $50 per ticket "change fee". (AA) That cost me $200 - but I got back a $400 voucher (had to be used in 1 year) for the difference. So, for four tickets to San Juan, the price dropped $600 - I spent $200, and still got a $400 voucher. It is a pain to watch the fares, but if you pay a high price for the tickets, and they go down a lot more than the $50 they may charge you to change the ticket, you may be quite a bit ahead.

[travelingirl70]

Ditto what Mainer said. If you have to make a connection, you could be connecting with all of us from New England trying to escape the winter cold. I booked our flights for President's Week 2009 the day they came out last week. Since then, the flights have already gone up by $400. The same thing happened last year, they never went down. That week is a huge issue of supply and demand so I wouldn't count on any real bargains. If you see a decent fare, I would grab it.

[Excited about Cruising]

I'm also from the Mpls area. I heard on the radio that airfares should come down by August. Let's hope that they are right. I need airfare for next March to San Juan.

[shebring02lx]

I am very happy I just booked our flight from ATL to MIA in September - I contemplated waiting. Glad I didn't. I got a wonderful deal through Delta - I paid $219 per person. Last year I tried to book a flight from ATL to MIA in November - they wanted almost $500 per person!!! :eek: It was cheaper for us to drive to Miami. So thats what we did!

[onceagain]

We booked our NWA group flight several weeks ago to San Juan - from MN. My DD called last week to see if prices had come down and she was told that not only had they not come down but there are no longer any group rates available for San Juan, so we are really lucky we booked when we did.

[jff50]

We are also from MSP, and are sailing out of FLL in mid-October 2008. While NWA clearly has the best flights in terms of timing (I think they are the only direct flights). We booked with Air Tran (through Atlanta) as soon as their October flights came out (about $300/person). Generally, when I find a good fare that I am satisfied with, I grab it and don't look back. In this case I have been checking for someone else, and have seen Delta and Midwest come out with good fares (Delta at about $255 and Midwest at about $290).

 

I suspect that NWA's prices aren't "too good to pass up" at this point. If so, I'd wait until they become too good to pass up--or Midwest and Air Tran pricing becomes available.

 

While Feb is a great time to be getting out of MSP, make sure that you have plenty of leeway on getting to the ship on time. We always leave at least one day early. Important given the current status of air travel, and especially so during winter.

[SandyToes1978]

I signed up for kayak.com's flight watching system, they email you every day the price of the flight(s) you are watching. Reno to Miami has been over $500 pp RT since I started watching in January. About mid Feb, it took a HUGE dip to 348 ppRT, and I am STILL kicking my self over not booking right then and there. It only dropped for that one day. It's still way up over $500. I thought since we were going during the "off" season, we might get a decent deal.....:rolleyes: So if it does drop, Buy it! Don't wait for it to go lower like I did....

Also, Neverpar, the couple that's going with us is flying from SLC to MIA as well, and 3 weeks ago it was only $320. I told them to book then, did they? NOOOOOO. Now they are looking at $560 pp. Now we are just waiting for Southwest to announce, and hopefully can get a good deal then.....