High fares into Miami--should I just do FLL??

Last year we took a cruise from Miami during the first week of October. Our flights from Boise to Miami ran around $390 pp. We're taking another cruise from Miami, during the same week this year. I've been researching airfare and can't find anything to Miami cheaper than around $540. :eek: Has airfare really gone up that much in the last year? To get even close to the airfare I had last year I would have to fly into FLL and take a shuttle to Miami.

I'm wondering if I should even wait to see if the airfare for Miami might go down or if I should just go with the FLL flights and call it good. I know that no one can predict what the fares will do, but can anyone give me some good advice?:D

I am having the same issue trying to get into Miami from Kansas City. We are leaving on January 19th, so I wonder if I should just wait for a while or what

Last year we took a cruise from Miami during the first week of October. Our flights from Boise to Miami ran around $390 pp. We're taking another cruise from Miami, during the same week this year. I've been researching airfare and can't find anything to Miami cheaper than around $540. :eek: Has airfare really gone up that much in the last year? To get even close to the airfare I had last year I would have to fly into FLL and take a shuttle to Miami.

I'm wondering if I should even wait to see if the airfare for Miami might go down or if I should just go with the FLL flights and call it good. I know that no one can predict what the fares will do, but can anyone give me some good advice?:D

We just purchased our Airline tickets friday night, and got a pretty good deal of $178.00 R/T per person, with USAIR using travelocity from philly.

I was more concerned with the schedule, but we made out good both ways. Our flight arrives in miami at 1035am and the ship leaves at 5pm.

On our return we arrive back in miami at 9am, and our flight leaves at 145pm.

I hope all goes well.:rolleyes:

I am having the same issue trying to get into Miami from Kansas City. We are leaving on January 19th, so I wonder if I should just wait for a while or what

I would definitely wait, however, maybe you can sign up for the airfare alerts offered at expedia and travelocity. Thats what I did, and I was able to keep up with the price changes. Fortunately we were able to grab it at $178.00 R/T and we are cruising next month.

jamaica, I have Miami & FLL both in my Farewatcher on Travelocity. Really hoping it will go down. Makes me kind of nervous--in the past, it seems like whenever I buy my airfare, it goes up afterwards and/or never drops in price again before the cruise. :rolleyes:

You might explore one-way tickets ... we're returning FLL/ORD Christmas holiday weekend and bought AA down and UA on the return. Well, then, UA realized they can get WAY more for December 21 and their fares have since gone up. Hope you can snag a sale ... seems it's all about timing.

jamaica, I have Miami & FLL both in my Farewatcher on Travelocity. Really hoping it will go down. Makes me kind of nervous--in the past, it seems like whenever I buy my airfare, it goes up afterwards and/or never drops in price again before the cruise. :rolleyes:

Thats good and as soon as you see a good rate and schedule, go for it!

I use to haggle back and forth with the rates and schedule, and it was driving me nuts, but this time I was more concerned about the flight times due to this being a cruise vacation, but it worked out great for both fare and schedule.:)

when you check prices also realize, if you are flying in the day of the cruise(I would hhgly rec, flying in the day before) the drive time between FLL and the port with no traffic is app 40 minutes. Also the price of transfer, etc are higher( we did Sun they charged 18pp).

Jezzdog, I definitely always book my flights for the day before the cruise. Sometimes two days before, if I want to enjoy sightseeing in the area we're leaving from. Coming from Idaho, the trip to the east coast always takes most of the day. (No direct flights).:(

camp637, I looked at some one-way prices, but unfortunately they were more than the round trips.

I'm also waiting for the SWA schedules to go into Sept/Oct so I can see if that's an option into FLL.

I'm in the same boat (no pun intended!) as the rest of you. I'll be flying out of Pittsburgh in November for my Jewel OTS cruise leaving out of Port Everglades. I've checked RT rates to Miami and Fort Lauderdale, but have yet to find acceptable times or prices. I prefer non-stop but don't mind changing planes in Cincy or Atlanta but I sure as heck don't want to change in Philadelphia or NYC!

I check the rates every day or two and am primarliy waiting on Southwest to post rates for November flights. But I find it nerve-racking to wait so long, considering the way airline rates fluctuate.

Cindy

We are leaving to Freedom of the Seas on OCt 28 , we are from Waukesha WI (Milwaukee area), been watching the prices and I believe the are up now as the gas gone up so I am planning on purcheas as soon I can find 225 to 240 person.

We planned to stay in Miami on OCt 26, 27. How did you do on flieghts, did you get'em yet? I debating taking off from Chicago instead of Milwaukee as one- non stop 2, cheaper. either Ft. Lauderdale or Miami.

:) :cool:

I still haven't gotten my airfare yet. I just don't think I'll see anything better though. But I'm hoping that the airlines will prove me wrong.;) I just had to pay out a bit of money for a surgery, so I'm waiting to build some flight funds up again. I've still got my fingers crossed!

If you are cruising after October 2007 then wait to book flights. Most airlines schedules change anyway. Fares will ususally drop after summer. When we went to Hawaii the initial fares from MSP were around $900, way to much. So I checked almost every other day (or as often as you can, there are many sites as mentioned above and including Yahoo that will keep you informed of price drop to a certain destination) and eventually I snagged 2 seats at $550, and then magically the prices went right back up again. You can also use a site like farecompare.com.

Thanks for the info on the Farecompare.com site. I checked it out and it was very informative about finding cheaper airfare. I didn't completely understand the charts, but it looks like the fares haven't been great for me for awhile. I'm still nervous about waiting, but maybe if I do the fares might go down. I would have to fly out 9/28 so I don't know when the fares for that time might drop.

Also try farecast.com. It polls the different airlines' websites and offers predictions for the next 7 days with a percentage of confidence in the prediction. I've been watching my flights from DTW to LAX for about 6 weeks and it's been really accurate. I snagged them when they were at the lowest point and it gave me the "buy" signal. Just one more tool for finding a good deal.

I am plannig a possible cruise out of Miami in Feb, but I can get better air fare to Fort Lauderdale. How far apart are these airports, and is there a shuttle between them?

Carole

I am plannig a possible cruise out of Miami in Feb, but I can get better air fare to Fort Lauderdale. How far apart are these airports, and is there a shuttle between them?

Carole

45-60 minutes to Miami (port) depending on traffic. Lots of transportion, either do a search or a google.

I am plannig a possible cruise out of Miami in Feb, but I can get better air fare to Fort Lauderdale. How far apart are these airports, and is there a shuttle between them?

 

Carole

Go to the east coast departure thread - tons of info there. We're flying into FLL and leaving from Miami. Having spent 10 1/2 hours at the Philly airport a few weeks ago:mad: when our connecting flight was cancelled - I wanted a direct flight - only one was into FLL.

Kim.

My wife and I are flying into FLL for a cruise out of Miami. (mich cheaper to fly into FLL)

Other posters have suggested Tri County airport express for the transfer.

Tri county cost from FLL to Port of Miami is $18/person for a shared ride.

However, I called and they do NOT do shared rides from the Port of Miami to FLL

They only provide a private service which is $122. (1-4 people)

Any other suggestions?

David

remember I said we were watching the price and hope to fly directly to Miami, well we did end up going from Milwaukee Midwest Airlines to FLL, rate was much better and timing too. IT turn out better for us on the way home too.

We do go FOS on OCt 28 form Miami....so you may have to play around the time price alittle and place of choices too. GOOD LUCK.:p :p :D :cool:

I love Midwest and try to fly that airline (it is direct to FLL), but for our trip, the cost on Midwest ranged from $800 to $1100 for a Saturday to Saturday flight. These prices change daily. I wish I had booked the flight two months ago when we first considered a cruise. The cost was about $275 then.

Air Tran was much less, so we booked with them.

You may want to check fares again this week. Several airlines are offering reduced rates to Florida. I've been watching prices for several weeks, as we are cruising in December. I booked RT flights for my parents several weeks ago during a sale. I booked return flights for DH and me last night. I had been watching rates (for DH and me) and missed out on a $150 one-way return (I booked our one-way flight down (nonstop for less than $100PP) a while back ...but the only return flight offered by that airline was not doable, as it leaves early the morning of our return date)....last week, the one-way return flights were over $200PP for the dates/times we needed. I booked our return flights last night for $123.30PP.

Now, I just need to get my in-laws to agree to flying down (as opposed to driving or taking the train), so they can get booked this week while the rates are more reasonable. We are all in different states, so it has been quite an adventure keeping up with all of the rates/sales for the various areas. But, so far, 4 of us are booked...with 2 left to go...and, hopefully, they will be taken care of this week. :)

You may want to check fares again this week. Several airlines are offering reduced rates to Florida.

 

Actually, the fares have gone up this week. We are cruising the week before Easter, so I don't expect the fares to go down.