"Last Minute" Flight to New Orleans, any advice?

[vickalamode]

My grandparents are taking a road trip to the south for ~a month and will be in New Orleans from February 16th-22nd because they enjoy going to Mardi Gras. They invited me to fly out and join them for that week just now and I am interested in taking them up on the offer. I never usually book travel with such short notice. The prices I am looking at are around $600-$700.

I am looking at flying out of Boston or Providence and my dates are flexible within that week. I'd like to be there for at least 3 days, non-stop is not a concern. I have a budget of around $300 or so for the flight.

Does anybody have any advice? Are there any other airports in the area that I should look into? I'm sure they would be willing to pick me up at a further away airport (Within a reasonable distance, of course!).

 

[prncess674]

Sorry there is no such thing as cheap flights for Mardi Gras. You gotta pay to play.

 

[Friendly Frog]

This is the perfect occasion for credit card air miles!

Otherwise...um, good luck.

 

[rigs32]

You want:
1) last minute travel
2) to a highly sought after destination
3) during it's most popular tourist time of the year

Yeah. There are no tricks. It's expensive.

 

[NotUrsula]

This one I know. We frequently go home for Mardi Gras on short notice due to my DH' work schedule.

You will not get any discounts into New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Gulfport/Biloxi, or Mobile, AL for the 5 days preceding Mardi Gras or out on Ash Wednesday; it isn't worth wasting time on any of them. It is a prime travel holiday when you are inside the zone where Carnival is traditionally celebrated.

The closest airport to New Orleans where you may be able to find a discounted fare for those dates is Alexandria, LA (AEX); it is 3.5 hours WNW of New Orleans by car. The two next-closest are going to be Jackson, MS or Houston, TX. The better question to ask is from what direction will your grandparents be heading into New Orleans?

If at all possible, join your grandparents on the road the week before and spend only the weekend in NOLA; if you leave on Lundi Gras you should be able to fly out of NOLA at a decent price one-way. (You really don't need to be there on Tuesday to get the experience, the previous weekend will do quite nicely. However, everything ENDS at midnight on Tuesday, Ash Wednesday is quiet as the grave.)

 

[vickalamode]

This one I know. We frequently go home for Mardi Gras on short notice due to my DH' work schedule.

You will not get any discounts into New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Gulfport/Biloxi, or Mobile, AL for the 5 days preceding Mardi Gras or out on Ash Wednesday; it isn't worth wasting time on any of them. It is a prime travel holiday when you are inside the zone where Carnival is traditionally celebrated.

The closest airport to New Orleans where you may be able to find a discounted fare for those dates is Alexandria, LA (AEX); it is 3.5 hours WNW of New Orleans by car. The two next-closest are going to be Jackson, MS or Houston, TX. The better question to ask is from what direction will your grandparents be heading into New Orleans?

If at all possible, join your grandparents on the road the week before and spend only the weekend in NOLA; if you leave on Lundi Gras you should be able to fly out of NOLA at a decent price one-way. (You really don't need to be there on Tuesday to get the experience, the previous weekend will do quite nicely. However, everything ENDS at midnight on Tuesday, Ash Wednesday is quiet as the grave.)

THANK YOU! This is exactly the type of answer I was looking for, actual advice, rather than just "Give up you idiot for trying to fly there that week at such short notice!". I will call them today and see where they will be in the days beforehand. Your answer makes a lot of sense to me. I am really hoping that I end up being able to go because I would love to see Mardi Gras, and I love traveling with my grandparents! Last time they took this trip I was doing the college program at WDW and got them a site at Fort Wilderness and took them to the parks for 2 days. I love traveling with them and I hope they can show me New Orleans because it is a place they love to visit and they always make sure they go there for Mardi Gras when they take their winter road trip!

 

[twinsmom]

Jackson Mississippi is a 3 hour drive from New Orleans and has all major airlines including Southwest. Easy drive from there to New Orleans then you would have a car to drive around also. I live in the Gulfport MS area and we are 1 hour from New Orleans but flights are high here to beause we have allot of Mardi Gras stuff going on also.

 

[Swan4Me]

Pensacola Florida is on the way-depends on their travel route=ask them

 

[LSUDis]

No advice, but welcome and have a great time! You are going to love it.

 

[Friendly Frog]

Sorry if I came across rude or smug. I didn't mean it that way at all. I hope you have a great time. ( and you did get some amazing advice on here.)

BTW-I think the relatonship you have with your grandparents is wonderfull. I had lost mine on both sides when I was still pretty young..and I still miss them.