How early do you book your flight?? Chicago to Ft. Lauderdale

I know we're not sailing on Liberty until March 9, so maybe it's because I'm looking too early, but flights that I'm looking at today, non-stop from O'Hare to Ft. Lauderdale are all over $630pp. Even Spirit is high. Is it because March is a spring break month? I don't think I've ever paid that much for a flight. I even adjusted my search to include a stop, and even tried out of Midway (south side of Chicago), which is a much longer drive for us, and I'd only be saving $40 or so, so not worth it.

It's also a Friday evening, so probably not the most ideal time to be checking flights either.

How far out do you typically book your flights?

If you can fly out of Midway on Southwest, it is $171 one way on March 1. They will have the new schedules out on 8/25 that will cover the dates you want to fly.

We always fly Southwest because it is much cheaper but we fly out of Nashville.

We booked in June for our cruise in November. $326 pp. ORD to FLL. Round trip

My friend flew from Chicago to Fort Lauderdale on June 28 and it was a bit over $ 500. When the fares opened up in in January Long Island to FLL was also over $500. I checked southwest everyday for her and I and while my fare dropped to 340 it wound up being luck...and checking daily. She booked 6 weeks before. I booked separately each way months apart and months before.

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We had a "thanksgiving time cruise that we changed due to flights being 3 times the price, just 10 days earlier made a huge difference.

I just checked kayak, you can fly JetBlue for $342 round trip. Now that's not non-stop, but that's a pretty good fare. That was leaving ORD on the 8th and returning the 14th. If you wait for southwest it will probably be well over $400 because it's getting close to spring break. If it helps, I did self assist on vision last week and was at the gate by 8:00, so you can make a 10:30 flight. Sometimes the earlier flights are cheaper. I have found that the airfares to and from FFL are always very high compared to someplace like Orlando. My parents live about 2.5 hour north of Port Everglades. When we take a cruise out of there, we always fly into Orlando and spend a couple of nights with then. Then we drive to the port the morning of the cruise. We usually save close to a hundred bucks a person. I'm not so sure I would do that if we didn't have the opportunity to see my parents. Have you checked MIA, maybe they have something cheaper there. Airfares are quickly becoming the most expensive part of a cruise. I'm dreading what I'm going to have to pay for my Alaskan cruise next August.

Aft Cabins Rule

I travel this route frequently, almost always Southwest and it seems I get best price about 6 to 7 weeks out. If I know it is around a busy time (spring break, xmas, etc) I always book as soon as flights available.

sailing on Liberty until March 9... flights that I'm looking at today, non-stop from O'Hare to Ft. Lauderdale are all over $630pp.... Is it because March is a spring break month?

Early to mid March is an extremely popular spring break time for colleges, and Ft. Lauderdale is one of many popular spring break locations for college kids. Supply and demand.

We book ASAP...

I book airline tickets as soon as the 330 day window opens up. For our upcoming cruise in February out of Ft. Lauderdale I started checking in March. I got r/t fair from Chicago to Ft. Lauderdale on Delta for $240. Now it's up around $360. If I waited for swa It would cost $350. Keep checking.

If you live far enough north, don't forget Milwaukee General Mitchell. Southwest does have direct flights to FLL several days a week. They have sales in which the fare is about $120. You just have to keep on checking.

I love MKE airport, I have flown from there many times including my last winter cruise. I got a 240 rt fare from there. When we fly from O'Hare lately it seems much more expensive. Airfare is really making cruising hard these days!