PC airfare ideas for March trip?

I thought I paid ridiculous prices for airfare last year because we left on Easter Sunday. But I'm checking air for my cruise next March (middle of March and Easter isnt until April 16) and I am being asked to pay $800-1000 for two of us (flying out of Detroit) I plan to wait until August and see what Southwest offers, but I did that last year and SW came out with $500 each as well, and I went with American, which I hated.

Is there a better airport than MCO if we sail out of PC? I want to fly in Friday and then leave Saturday afternoon after the cruise gets back.

I don't see how we will ever be able to cruise more than once a year if our airfare costs 40% of our cruise fare!

Chevk flying into Melbourne, Fl. I did and it was the best I've ever paid for flights to FLA. The airport is about 25 miles from the port.

Frontier airlines from DTW might be good too, but their schedule for March won't be released for many months.

I thought I paid ridiculous prices for airfare last year because we left on Easter Sunday. But I'm checking air for my cruise next March (middle of March and Easter isnt until April 16) and I am being asked to pay $800-1000 for two of us (flying out of Detroit) I plan to wait until August and see what Southwest offers' date=' but I did that last year and SW came out with $500 each as well, and I went with American, which I hated.

Is there a better airport than MCO if we sail out of PC? I want to fly in Friday and then leave Saturday afternoon after the cruise gets back.

I don't see how we will ever be able to cruise more than once a year if our airfare costs 40% of our cruise fare![/quote']

 

I don't think you'll see anything less than $500pp. I paid $560 pp last March on Southwest. I'm waiting for them to post prices before I book for this March. Spring Break prices are always high as are the hotel prices.

 

Sue

Look into Sanford/Orlando, its about a 60 mile (easy drive) to P.C. from Sanford.

I don't think you'll see anything less than $500pp. I paid $560 pp last March on Southwest. I'm waiting for them to post prices before I book for this March. Spring Break prices are always high as are the hotel prices.

 

Sue

I am not sure what the OP's dates are, but Delta flight 1905 - DTW to MCO, Mar 17 - Mar 25, Non-stop for $385, afternoon flights , each way.

OP, what do you consider high rates? Over $400? Usually during any week in Mid March to Mid April (spring break weeks) is over $400. Also check out of Columbus, little farther drive I assume, but cheaper yet.

If you normally fly out of Detroit, you may want to look at Southwest out of Flint. They're usually less than Detroit and fly direct to MCO.

I thought I paid ridiculous prices for airfare last year because we left on Easter Sunday. But I'm checking air for my cruise next March (middle of March and Easter isnt until April 16) and I am being asked to pay $800-1000 for two of us (flying out of Detroit) I plan to wait until August and see what Southwest offers' date=' but I did that last year and SW came out with $500 each as well, and I went with American, which I hated.

Is there a better airport than MCO if we sail out of PC? I want to fly in Friday and then leave Saturday afternoon after the cruise gets back.

I don't see how we will ever be able to cruise more than once a year if our airfare costs 40% of our cruise fare![/quote']

What does this have to do with Carnival???

 

I predict a quick move to the correct forum.

We have two airports we can fly from. Each about 45 minutes away in opposite directions. We can fly JetBlue from one and Southwest from both. I usually jump on dates the day they're released by both airlines and keep my options open. This year we're doing Southwest going down from one airport and returning on JetBlue to the other. That was the cheapest way to do it.

Sorry if you feel this is the wrong forum. I am taking my first Carnival cruise, so...I guess I am used to the Disney cruise boards where this is OK.

Thanks for the tip about flight 1905 but the cheapest price on it for my week (a week prior) is currently $481.

I will check SW out of Flint when their prices come out. I was so happy that my school district finally moved their spring break away from Easter, and I was hoping fares would be lower since it is over a month prior.

Sorry if you feel this is the wrong forum. I am taking my first Carnival cruise' date=' so...I guess I am used to the Disney cruise boards where this is OK.

Thanks for the tip about flight 1905 but the cheapest price on it for my week (a week prior) is currently $481.

I will check SW out of Flint when their prices come out. I was so happy that my school district finally moved their spring break away from Easter, and I was hoping fares would be lower since it is over a month prior.[/quote']

 

I think in Michigan you will find a lot of the colleges have spring break throughout March. My DD's spring break is the week you are looking at going. Many colleges in Michigan are usually the same week.

Have you looked at allegiant air out of toledo/detroit? The fly into sanford/orlalndo. Might be worth checking into. They are like Southwest and others, you have to wait to see when they open up those dates. Good luck.

'Google Flight' is your best friend.

Look into one-way tickets, sometimes those are cheaper than buying RT from a single airline.

Thanks for the tips. I will check them out. I know allegiant does fly into Sanford, but only on Tuesdays/Fridays (I think) so while the outgoing would work, coming home would be late and I am back to school on Monday. My wn kids have spring break at college the week before I do.

Have you looked into Carnival's Fly2Fun? It isn't like the old air program where they choose the flights for you. You actually get to pick the flights you want out of what they have available. I haven't used it yet, but similar programs on Princess and Royal Caribbean work well. Sometimes they have better deals then booking direct.

They also include what they call air protection, which means that they will take care of you in case of delays or cancellations and make sure you get to the ship either in the embarkation port or the next port or call. You can do either a flexible booking where you don't have to pay the air portion until the final payment date of the cruise and can cancel it without penalty, or you can do a restricted fare where you have to pay at time of booking and it is non-refundable.

The only problem is you can't book it online like the air programs for the other cruise lines, so you have to call.

Have you looked at allegiant air out of toledo/detroit? The fly into sanford/orlalndo. Might be worth checking into. They are like Southwest and others, you have to wait to see when they open up those dates. Good luck.

Allegiant air arriving Sanford and going from Sanford are very limited flights and only a VERY few each day. My daughter missed a flight and could not get out for 3 days -- no seats available -- no other airline honors ticket--additional fees tacked on including check-in with person, baggage and carry-on bags etc. Just be very sure of what you are getting into and if something goes bad how do you recover and get to your ship.

Look into Sanford/Orlando, its about a 60 mile (easy drive) to P.C. from Sanford.

I've never checked into because I live about 5 miles from MCO but yeah, I've heard the Sanford airport is really picking it up and offering good deals in and out.

I've never checked into because I live about 5 miles from MCO but yeah, I've heard the Sanford airport is really picking it up and offering good deals in and out.

The airport doesn't offer good airfares. The airlines do.

The airport doesn't offer good airfares. The airlines do.

Kind of true. Smaller airports get federal subsidies to help keep them competitive. Our regional airport (community of 28,000 people) has the largest airport with in a 60 mile radius and gets federal money to give the airlines to provide flights at a reasonable cost. For example; I can fly to Chicago O'hare for $30 each way daily (2 hr flight). I can't drive to Des Moines or Minneapolis for that.

Kind of true. Smaller airports get federal subsidies to help keep them competitive. Our regional airport (community of 28,000 people) has the largest airport with in a 60 mile radius and gets federal money to give the airlines to provide flights at a reasonable cost. For example; I can fly to Chicago O'hare for $30 each way daily (2 hr flight). I can't drive to Des Moines or Minneapolis for that.

You can learn more from the USDOT website and from Wikipedia.

I thought I paid ridiculous prices for airfare last year because we left on Easter Sunday. But I'm checking air for my cruise next March (middle of March and Easter isnt until April 16)

 

 

I don't see how we will ever be able to cruise more than once a year if our airfare costs 40% of our cruise fare!

Mid-March may not be close to Easter, but it's the height of spring break season for many colleges, as well as a lot of school districts up north who don't plan it around Easter.

As for the airfare being equal to 40% of your cruise fare, just book a really expensive suite, and you can probably bring the airfare down to about 10% of your cruise fare. ;)

As for the airfare being equal to 40% of your cruise fare, just book a really expensive suite, and you can probably bring the airfare down to about 10% of your cruise fare. ;)

Awesome point! People just don't get the fact air fare and cruise fare are NOT related. You could do a long cruise in the cheapest cabin on the ship, and your "ratio" falls even further!