An "average" flight cost in January?

So I have a cruise booked at the near end of January out of Port Canaveral Florida.

I am either flying out of Boston or Manchester NH. I was starting to look at prices for flights and almost had a heart attack. I might as well just thumb it down to Florida with those prices. Average was $550-$600. REALLY???? YIKES!!!"

Has anyone from the northeast flown down to Florida in January? And do you find the prices to be cheaper?

Also when is really the best time to find the cheapest flights?

If they stay this high, I may just take the train down instead.

 

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That would buy a lot of Mimosas, mixed drinks and beer!! :)

 

No one can tell you when prices will be lowest or when the best time to buy is. If anyone knew, everyone would be buying tickets then.

 

Use this website to search for airfares; you'll have to then go to the airline's webpage to book. Try looking at flying into different cities in Florida to try and get the price down.

 

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

Edited April 16, 2014 by 6rugrats

This is for course Jan. 18 cruise, right? I'm seeing flights for $388 on AA.

This is for course Jan. 18 cruise, right? I'm seeing flights for $388 on AA.

 

Yes that's the date. Thinking of flying out two days prior. I checked a few weeks ago. Prices must have come down since. I also noticed a lot of airlines are not even open for booking yet.

 

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Yes that's the date. Thinking of flying out two days prior. I checked a few weeks ago. Prices must have come down since. I also noticed a lot of airlines are not even open for booking yet.

 

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I am looking at roughly the same dates. You never know for sure, but IMO it would be a mistake to book at the current price point.

I may just thumb it all the way down from Boston ;-)

 

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Yes that's the date. Thinking of flying out two days prior. I checked a few weeks ago. Prices must have come down since. I also noticed a lot of airlines are not even open for booking yet.

 

 

All airlines are open for booking for your dates but Southwest and JetBlue.

Awesome, thanks for letting me know. As of a few weeks ago there was minimal openings for any airline.

 

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For future reference, most airlines are open for bookings ~330 days before your flight.

I did read up on that prior. Maybe was it because I was using priceline? There was only two lines available when I had looked. I'll check again today. Thanks for the help.

 

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Search for flights using ITA Matrix. You can't book on this site, but you can search (with all sorts of options) and then book on the airline site directly.

Interestingly, flying out 1 day before departure was cheaper than 2 days before departure. And flying out 1 day after the end of the cruise was even cheaper - $300. Maybe that would work?

Search for flights using ITA Matrix. You can't book on this site, but you can search (with all sorts of options) and then book on the airline site directly.

Interestingly, flying out 1 day before departure was cheaper than 2 days before departure. And flying out 1 day after the end of the cruise was even cheaper - $300. Maybe that would work?

 

$300 RT from Chicago would be good enough for me to book. Still well over $400.

I'm going to plan on $300, would be awesome if I could get a steal around $225-$250.

 

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$300 RT from Chicago would be good enough for me to book. Still well over $400.

 

I used this site this afternoon and what a HUGE difference in prices. Exactly what you said. Flying in one day before and one day after the cruise. Prices went from $433pp to $281. Wow!! Thanks so much for your advice. Once southwest has their schedule up and JetBlue I imagine I should find even better deals.

 

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I used this site this afternoon and what a HUGE difference in prices. Exactly what you said. Flying in one day before and one day after the cruise. Prices went from $433pp to $281.

This shouldn't be surprising, as a matter of principle. Air fares respond to supply and demand. The days that lots of cruise passengers want to fly are days of high demand. Inevitably, fares tend to be higher on those days - sometimes much more so.

I used this site this afternoon and what a HUGE difference in prices. Exactly what you said. Flying in one day before and one day after the cruise. Prices went from $433pp to $281. Wow!!

 

..and after you factor in costs for accommodation for the extra night, a day's worth of eating out, lost income (if it's outside your holiday allowance etc.) and you're probably far worse off!

 

With airfare it seems people lose the woods from the trees trying to score savings of a few dollars.

Edited April 17, 2014 by fbgd

I have paid vacation, family who lives near by that I'm staying with. So it's no loss to me on my end. Free place to stay, food to eat and paid vacation time off.

Nothing off my back.

 

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Did you consider flying into Orlando?

That's where I'm flying to

 

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Since you still have a fair amount of time and you are looking to find a real fare deal, try setting up a fare alert at a site like airfarewatchdog.com.

Thanks for the website. Never heard of it before. I'll have to check it out

 

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Flying in one day before and one day after the cruise. Prices went from $433pp to $281. Wow!!.....Once southwest has their schedule up and JetBlue I imagine I should find even better deals.

 

 

Perhaps, but not necessarily. By then the $281 tickets may well be long gone and the cheapest fares on the legacy airlines could be, say, $350 or more. At that point Southwest and Jet Blue can sell a ticket for $325 and be cheaper than anyone else at that time, but more expensive than you could have gotten now. Keep in mind that you're flying to Florida during peak season and demand will be generally high.

January. isn't peak season. End of February through April is.

 

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January. isn't peak season. End of February through April is.

 

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I live in Florida . Peak season starts Jan, 1st,for travel to Florida and ends usually by May 1st..

January. isn't peak season. End of February through April is.

 

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I spend a good bit of time throughout the year in Florida, and I can assure you that demand to get there is indeed high in January. It may not be spring break yet, but Caribbean cruises are going full swing, and all the snowbirds who waited to spend holidays with family up north are finally flocking to their winter homes in Florida.