Booking airfare for Spring Break

[FigmentSpark]

Air Canada will soon have their fares released for Spring Break. WestJet will follow soon.

How do you book your fares? Are you a book on opening day or do you wait until the return flight is available?

Or do you take your time and book later on in the year? If so, how late do you wait? When are the 'deals', if any?

Will you wait for JetBlue or Southwest before deciding or do they even figure in your plans?

 

[michelb]

We never plan that far ahead of time and typically book at most 2 months ahead of time although it's often less than that.

I'm always hoping for the best deal I can get so would definitely wait until I can have prices from all the airlines.

 

[hdrolfe]

This will be my first time needing to book for March Break (have a cruise booked for 2020 so I'll need flights). My intention is to book fairly soon after they come out, round trip preferably. I know they go up and up from there so I don't want to wait too long. I am hoping for direct flights, but not positive on that, and from Ottawa. I could go to Montreal for cheaper flights since their break is a different week, or drive to Syracuse, but with weather being iffy in March I prefer to leave from here if possible.

 

[bankr63]

When travelling March break (which is always, but not always flying) we book the day the fares release if we want to leave from Ontario. The fares are generally released at the same rate as the rest of the season and start to rise rapidly (a few hundred in the first week last year) as the system starts to gauge the popularity of the dates. All airlines employ programming for "yield management" that ensures this will happen. I have yet to see a Canadian airline offer a discount for an Ontario departure to a sun destination during the March break period; the prices only go one direction.

 

[FigmentSpark]

This will be my first time needing to book for March Break (have a cruise booked for 2020 so I'll need flights). My intention is to book fairly soon after they come out, round trip preferably. I know they go up and up from there so I don't want to wait too long. I am hoping for direct flights, but not positive on that, and from Ottawa. I could go to Montreal for cheaper flights since their break is a different week, or drive to Syracuse, but with weather being iffy in March I prefer to leave from here if possible.

Oh that explains how a flight from YYZ to MCO via Montreal is cheaper than a direct flight at spring break. I wondered about that.

 

[darwinsrule]

Will you wait for JetBlue or Southwest before deciding or do they even figure in your plans?

Actually opposite applies here. Given the pricing from YYZ, especially for MB we have always flown from BUF. Having to buy airfare for 4, pricing in the mid-3k for all of us have been pretty standard from YYZ. Jetblue's pricing is no longer a great value. We have done SW for the last couple of MB trips and have been all in (for 4) around $1,300 USD. That is a lot of extra money to put towards other parts of the trip (in our case cruises).

The wait is the worst part since SW won't release until July/Aug. At that point you also need to be prepared to walk away from going if the flights and pricing don't meet your needs. As pointed out prices go only one direction, and it isn't down.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I thought about SW, but I think I checked out their prices a few years ago. If you don't get them first thing in the morning, you miss out on the deals. Then, with the exchange, they suddenly aren't such a bargain.

 

[darwinsrule]

I thought about SW, but I think I checked out their prices a few years ago. If you don't get them first thing in the morning, you miss out on the deals. Then, with the exchange, they suddenly aren't such a bargain.

Exactly right. I am on the computer between 6 and 7 on day of release. Since 90% of what we do now is cruise related, we have specific dates and trips in mind. Back when SW released for late August of this year I was already at work, DW and I were on the phone working through the cruise options and matching up airfare trying to determine what we were doing. For MB it is a quick decision, flights up, look at times and prices, and make the decision if you are going or not. There can be no wishy-washy thinking about it.

For MB I have only seen a price drop once. For MB 2018 we did Navigator of the Seas out of Miami. Initially booked flight from BUF to FLL with a stop in Tampa. I have a habit (or problem) in that I will reprice things. A couple of months after booking air the price on a direct flight droped significantly, and for an extra $40 USD we 'upgraded' the flight to direct. For MB we have specific rules, direct flight is ideal, but if a layover is required then the stop needs to be in Florida. At least if you are in Florida and something goes wrong renting a car and driving a few hours is always and option. We ended up spending close to 9 hours at JFK on the way to Florida for MB in 2018 after our JFK to FLL flight was cancelled. Ended up on the last flight down of the day, exhausted (kids were 11 and 7 at the time), but still made our cruise on the Wonder the next day.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I'm thinking that if I look at the earlier flights in the months preceding, it should at least give me an idea of the times of the flights and maybe even the opening prices. At least then I can decide if it's worth fighting for those few 'bargain' seats. Our trip this year was close to $2000 to drive, so that's a starting point for comparison shopping for me.