May have to scrap our trip due to insane airfare prices!

[sam_gordon]

If you look at "view seats", you can see that the planes are mostly empty, so I think the prices will come down.

I don't think that means as much any more. Many airlines are offering a discount if you don't pick a seat. So just because seats aren't assigned doesn't mean the seats are "empty".

 

[kandb]

I don't think that means as much any more. Many airlines are offering a discount if you don't pick a seat. So just because seats aren't assigned doesn't mean the seats are "empty".

That's interesting but we always fly JetBlue and I thought you pick a seat when you book your flight?

 

[HopperFan]

Open google
In search bar just type "JFK to MCO"
It will bring up a chart where you put in dates etc
It will show the lowest rates
As you open there are options with stops etc
Shows a month so you can see the better rates

DS used it last year to fly to Paris (DLP) and it was around $400 round trip, he finds great rates using this tool.

I'm looking at a glance, end of August for $200-250 each round trip.

 

[kandb]

If the flights stay high, we might drive. We are going for 2 weeks, so it won't be too bad. Will have to give everyone a pep talk. Lol

 

[skyblue17]

That's interesting but we always fly JetBlue and I thought you pick a seat when you book your flight?

I'm pretty sure this is not a thing with JetBlue. Many other airlines now have a basic fare that is cheapest and doesn't always include choosing a seat but JetBlue's cheapest fare still does include your seat preference.

 

[Dayzy]

If you ever fly out of Westchester again, there is a college very close to airport where you park your car and they shuttle you over to the airport and then pick you up. I think we paid around $9/day. Good, quick service.

Yes! Purchase Park to Fly. Great prices and service. We parked for a week for about $70.

That being said, Westchester and Stewart flight prices were ridiculous for our last trip down. I was able to get a round trip $99 each way out of JFK. The times were not the best - landed at MCO at 7:30 pm, returned to JFK at 11:59 PM, but we dealt with it and had a great trip.

 

[n2mm]

What airline?

JetBlue out of bwi.

 

[TamaraQT]

Before I would completely SCRAP the family vacation, I would look at other options even if that included having to drive. I dont know what airfares are in your area, but I started flying on Frontier and have been able to make it work. Like many before me have suggested, I would look at VARIOUS options. And who says its a rule to have to book a Round-trip ticket. I haven't booked round trip tickets in YEARS!!! For the last 6 or 7 years, I have been booking ONE-WAY flights.

I fly out of Philadelphia. I always book my returning flight FIRST because we always leave Orlando on a Saturday. Saturdays can be more expensive so I book the Saturday flight back home first as soon as the price drops to something reasonable. Then I start looking for my flights down to Orlando out of Philadelphia. I use airwatchdog app, frontier airlines, and southwest apps to alert me of the lowest fare from PHL to MCO. One year I went to Orlando via United Airlines and returned on Southwest airlines. Who says you have to use the same airline?? There are no rules to that!!! I think you are having a difficult time because you are trying to book perfect matching round trip flights. Book one-way flights and open up more options!!! Cancelling a family vacation should be your last resort. If flights don't work, then drive and make that part of the vacation too !!! Good luck in whatever you decide !!!

Well I did it again....just booked my one way flight home (MCO to PHL 8/18) on Frontier for $69. Now I have to find a flight going down from PHL to MCO on 8/3 or 8/4. Right now they are also $69. I have to wait for DH to check his work schedule to see if he can change his vacation to begin on Friday 8/3. If so, we can fly down that early morning or afternoon for $69. Fingers crossed !!!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Fuel oil prices are causing flight prices to be higher this year.

 

[peteykirch]

I'm lucky I bought tickets when I did. We're flying JetBlue from EWR to PBI to visit my Dad for a couple days before driving up WDW and after using saved JetBlue miles, it's costing us $180 out of pocket for 2 people roundtrip, with a checked bag.

 

[SaintsManiac]

If we flew out of the local airport it would cost double. We drive an hour to the New Orleans airport to get the best flights. Gotta be flexible.

 

[Goodbye$$$]

I love kayak.com for airfare shopping!

Airfare is just more expensive this year. I travel for work and have noticed this.

 

[Woody412]

Tracking JetBlue prices has been like riding a roller coaster. I watched them for about a month and was waiting for my desired flights to come down into my price range when I noticed that flying into MCO the night before would save us $600 (5 people). I jumped on it and even with the extra night at POR we’re still saving a nice chunk of change, which of course will be spent at DS. The flights we booked have since gone up $100 pp r/t. The flights I originally wanted have gone up a little more. They may come down a little as the flights are still only half full, but due to the oil/fuel market probably not much.

 

[sweetpeama]

Be thankful if you have options. Some of us don't.
I can fly out of my airport in MT on Delta the end of August for 4 people in Main Cabin (Basic Economy is not an option due to having a special needs child who we have to sit at least 2 family members in the same rows this way there is always 1 there if someone needs to use the restroom, We try and put 4th on the aisle across in 3 3 setup and we sit 2 2 on the smaller plane though for MCO that is no longer the case and that is a 75 minute flight) for 2760.40 with 1 stop each way (no non stop options) Price is same or higher going with 3 closest airports 2.5-4 hours away (2 in MT and 1 in WY) plus we would have to pay parking. United is slightly lower except as a Pooh Sized person I would need to purchase an extra seat even though my family is fine sharing the space so it actually is more. The other option is Alaska which while about the same price is a lot more travel time. MT airport to Portland OR then to Seattle to get a red eye that lands before 8 am at MCO. The only way that one is ever going to be used is if I win a 5 day 4 night trip because landing at approximately 4 PM does not allow for a decent park day even if you weren't tired from traveling 10 hours. Not to mention time to get up, be presentable (some how the pjs and bedhead look is not acceptable), get to home airport, check in luggage, clear security, go to gate. If I had an annual pass that would be different.
The closest non stop airport is either Denver (about 10 hours provided no major construction and we time the FT Collins in area right and avoid rush hour traffic jams- we have had that messed up by slow service at restaurants (45 minutes to get a soup and salad in Casper at a major chain plus solid construction from Douglas/Evansville to just past Cheyenne situation). The other is Salt Lake which is 11-12 hours depending on traffic and if we take interstate the whole way or a cut off on state and US highways that also avoids 2 mountain passes.

 

[rdevine10]

We live in SW CT and like you when trying to find cheap airfare the key is flexbility. That includes looking at multiple airports (for us that is hartford, westchester, JFK, LGA, Newark, Newburgh, and we even did Islip once). Then to fly in to FL- we look at Orlando, Tampa and Daytona (Sanford also).

I usually pay around $200-$250 pp - typically closer to $250 in summer (We have family in that area so we fly often). We are going the end of July into August and it was like $215 per ticket out of Westchester for our dates direct on Jet Blue.

I love kayak as a search tool. Good luck!

Edited to add I only bought our flights about a month ago.

 

[esilanna]

I feel you on this one. We're taking a trip in August from New York and I haven't seen prices go below $350 rt per person for our dates and I've been checking daily. Which isn't horrible, but considering I've taken flights from JFK/LGA to MCO for like $180 rt per person, it just seems too much. And the time slots are awful too-- I don't want to fly out at 9pm! That's a whole day wasted.

I wound up booking a different airport which is actually an hour or so closer to me with Southwest for $760 for the two of us. Which is crazy to me but I wanted to lock in my prices before they go even higher. I'm counting on the fact that Southwest lets you change your flight for free and will credit you if you find a cheaper one...

I am also picky and will only fly JetBlue, Delta, or Southwest. Many of my friends have had awful, *awful* experiences with Spirit and Frontier.

 

[cmwade77]

If the flight out is at 9 PM, why not leave the night before and get a cheap room with free airport shuttle service? We have done that before under similar circumstances and it works well.

By the way, I absolutely will NEVER fly with United again, I would quite literally cancel my trip before doing that. Yes, they really are that bad.

Jetblue is my number one go to airline, we will be booking Sunday when our window opens for our dates, seems strange to book airfare before my hotel is booked, but I can't book my hotel until the 17th and with the way gas prices are going, I know airfare will rise dramatically if I wait. I mean seriously, gas is over $4/gallon at many stations here.

 

[laura428]

I am so with you guys on this!! We're heading down to accompany my son's marching band for their trip over Thanksgiving (so no flexibility on days for cheaper fares). Out of South Bend, the cheapest fare via Google is $1,349 per person. If I head over to Chicago, the cheapest is $973. If I used Kayak, I can find basic economy fares for around $500-600 per person, but I can't choose our own seats in that situation. I've never seen anything like this - unbelievable. And to drive it, we'd lose a day and a half off each end of the trip and risk dicey driving weather.

Guess I'm waiting this out and keeping my fingers crossed that this gets better. Maybe??

 

[Huff]

Just looked at Southwest out of Long Island, Islip. Non stops late Aug. for around $240RT or a bit less depending on exact dates.

 

[cmwade77]

Yikes! And I am complaining about $240 round trip from LAX to MCO.