Best way to find decent airfare from ORD to MIA

Booked cruise out of Miami and airfare from Chicago O'hare (ORD) to Miami MIA is really high.

 

I've been using sites like Orbitz, Hotwire and Travelocity and they all appear to have the same rates.

 

Anyone know of any sites that can provide better fares or share ways I can search for better airfare deals?

When are you traveling? What do you consider "decent" airfare? What's "high"?

 

If you see the same price on all those sites, there is probably no lower fare available. I would always recommend you book directly with the airline.

Research, research, research. And it sounds like you have been doing that. There is no magic or secret way. I agree, if you are seeing the same across multiple sites, you are most likely seeing the best price.

I'm traveling Sat to Sat Dec 12th returing Dec 19th.

 

Cheapest direct flight to MIA (nonstop, wife hates flying so connections are out) is at $440 using US AIR out and United coming back (non-stop).

 

I used to be able to get airfare routinely for around $200, albeit when a sale is usually going on but $440 sounds outrageous. I mean there should be plenty of flights as both airports are fairly large.

 

Maybe I just have to check everyday for an air sale? I'm buying 3 seats so it will cost me $1320 for seats:(

I used to be able to get airfare routinely for around $200, albeit when a sale is usually going on but $440 sounds outrageous.

 

You also used to be able to buy a car for two shillings and sixpence.

 

What people paid in the past is of no relevance to what you'll pay this year or next time. The reason airlines offer many flights between the two cities is because they're huge population centres with demand to equal that.

The more parameters you require, the more expensive the flights will be. There are round trip fares ORD-MIA in December for $184, but not on your dates. There are round trip fares on your dates for $270, but not at convenient times for cruise passengers and the return has one stop.

 

When you search for:

 

nonstop flights at

convenient times for cruise passengers on

specific dates during

a holiday season

 

"bargains" will be scarce to non-existent. There is a premium for insisting on nonstop flights on this routing on these dates - once you have made that value decision, just accept that you will pay that premium.

For your return on Dec 19th (Saturday), there's an event the following Friday called Christmas :) The 19th will be a peak travel day for holiday travel and that has a huge effect on supply vs. demand. On top of that, there's a surge of thousands of other departing cruise passengers.

 

Flying home on Sunday might reduce the fare a little bit. As others commented, connecting flights and/or very early or late departure times will also help. $440 is reasonable for the constraints you listed.

 

On the supply side, airlines are removing planes from service and reallocating aircraft to the most lucrative routes. Leisure markets like MIA/FLL are not high-yield routes.

 

Check into alternate airports at both ends of your trip (MDW/MKE and FLL) There are some deeply discounted airlines like Allegiant and Spirit; a long list of caveats, but another option as long as you know what you're getting into.

Does your cruise depart on 12 December?

 

The nonstop is what is really killing your price. You pay for that convenience. I don't know why prices would go down, but I have no crystal ball. IME, prices in December start to increase around 16 December or so, due to holiday travel.

 

I wouldn't even consider Spirit or Allegiant, especially at that time of year.

Edited February 18, 2015 by 6rugrats

Find out (probably here), when SW opens for your dates Midway-FLL. I see 2 early nonstops currently.Book upon opening, when fares usually at their lowest.

Also, consider flying from alternative airport ORD or MDW (Midway) to either MIA, FLL (Fort Lauderdale) or PBI (Palm Beach).

Being flexible in your airports can drop prices significantly.

If prices are a big difference even renting a car and driving from FLL or PBI to MIA can still be cheaper.

 

Try playing around with Matrix ITA software a bit and you'll be surprised of the possibilities and how much prices can vary from airport to airport.

Have you considered Midway?

 

Southwest or USAir may give you some additional choices.

I

I used to be able to get airfare routinely for around $200, albeit when a sale is usually going on but $440 sounds outrageous. I mean there should be plenty of flights as both airports are fairly large.

 

 

Yep, there are plenty of flights departing ORD and arriving at MIA. But most of them are not nonstop flights between those two specific airports. As someone mentioned, the more parameters you put on your request, the more you can expect prices to go up, and you've got quite a few parameters in place, given that you MUST have 2 seats, not 1; you MUST have a nonstop flight; you MUST depart on very specific days (12/12 and return on 12/19,) etc.

Keep in mind that airline prices are largely guided by supply and demand, and you are choosing to fly in and out of a city with a huge cruise port on days when a huge number of ships arrive and depart at the beginning of the peak cruise season..... that means a LOT of demand for flights, and when demand is high it tends to push prices skyward.

Booked cruise out of Miami and airfare from Chicago O'hare (ORD) to Miami MIA is really high.

 

I've been using sites like Orbitz, Hotwire and Travelocity and they all appear to have the same rates.

 

Anyone know of any sites that can provide better fares or share ways I can search for better airfare deals?

 

Quite often, airfare to Ft Lauderdale (FLL) is much more attractive.

 

Flying into MIA for a South Florida sailing would be my last choice.

 

Also suggest setting up a daily alert on Kayak.com. It will report via email about current pricing so that you can jump on any favorable price adjustments.

Edited February 19, 2015 by thinfool

I'm seeing $226 roundtrip on those dates on mobissimo.com today.

I'm traveling Sat to Sat Dec 12th returing Dec 19th.

Am I right in thinking that you're on Norwegian Escape, sailing on 12 December for 7 nights? If so, this could constrain your choices. Must you fly on the morning of 12 December? I'm not going to debate the pros and cons of flying on the same day as the cruise, nor the risks of doing so. But if you fly on the morning of 12 December, then you're likely to be backing yourself into a price corner, and you're backed further into that corner if you have to fly non-stop even if there's a cheaper connecting option.

I'm seeing $226 roundtrip on those dates on mobissimo.com today.

On Spirit. With all the health warnings that necessitates.

On Spirit. With all the health warnings that necessitates.

 

LOL!! Stealing from the TV pharmaceutical ads: "Spirit Airlines is for treatment of CAOS (Cheap Airfare Obsessive Syndrome). Use of Spirit may cause profuse sweating, elevated blood pressure, disorientation, insomnia, nausea, and extreme fatigue in some users. Spirit should not be used by people with time-critical travel, or who suffer from claustrophobia. If feelings of depression, suicide, anger, paranoia or dread occur, consult a travel professional."

I'm seeing $226 roundtrip on those dates on mobissimo.com today.

 

Those flights are on Spirit and are ORD -FLL. Outbound leaves at 5:30 am, return is at 9:40 pm.

 

Edited to add, I see that this was Spirit was mentioned. It would be crazy to chose Spirit, but then I also think it unwise to fly out of ORD in winter the same day your cruise leaves.

Edited February 21, 2015 by 6rugrats

Don't get my dander up regarding Spirit Airlines. I could write a short story (900 pages) about my one and only flight to RSW from ORD on that "airline." Upon arrival in Ft. Myers I purchased a ticket on UAL for the return To the Second City one week later. I need a drink. :):)

Keep shopping around, consider connecting flights and alternate dates. As an earlier poster noted: the tighter your parameters are the fewer your choices must be. When you find a fare you can live with, book it. The odds are that as you near a heavy travel season fares will only go up, not down.

 

If you are thinking about flying out of Chicago in December on embarkation day, I wish you luck.

 

Finally, forget what you used to pay - I can recall round trip flights New York/London for $300; also three cent first class mail postage and fifteen cents a gallon gasoline.

Keep shopping around, consider connecting flights and alternate dates. As an earlier poster noted: the tighter your parameters are the fewer your choices must be. When you find a fare you can live with, book it. The odds are that as you near a heavy travel season fares will only go up, not down.

 

If you are thinking about flying out of Chicago in December on embarkation day, I wish you luck.

 

Finally, forget what you used to pay - I can recall round trip flights New York/London for $300; also three cent first class mail postage and fifteen cents a gallon gasoline.

 

Agree with all of this.

 

Why would anyone consider traveling out of Chicago in the winter the day of the cruise? Simply asking for trouble. Then we'll see the poster come back and start complaining about why the cruise line didn't do anything for them when they missed their sail time.

Agree with all of this.

 

Why would anyone consider traveling out of Chicago in the winter the day of the cruise? Simply asking for trouble. Then we'll see the poster come back and start complaining about why the cruise line didn't do anything for them when they missed their sail time.

 

I wouldn't come back and complain if that happened.

 

I do agree that it is taking on a calculated risk but I've flown in on sail date for 17 out of 21 cruises so far and never missed a sailaway. I remember de-icing twice and taking off in blizzard conditions at O'hare one January. We were the last flight out of the airport before they shut it down. Footnote: I think they got our flight out because they new it was chartered for the cruise and most of the passengers would have missed the boat. I think we would have gotten bit on that one if we didn't purchase the "cruiseline" airfare.

I remember de-icing twice and taking off in blizzard conditions at O'hare one January. We were the last flight out of the airport before they shut it down. Footnote: I think they got our flight out because they new it was chartered for the cruise and most of the passengers would have missed the boat.

I rather doubt that either the airline or the airport would have taken this into consideration. In conditions like that, the basic question is whether you can - from an operational safety point of view - get a particular aircraft into the air.

 

It's not as if mainstream cruise line charters are particularly valuable from the airline's point of view. If something like this was taken into account, I expect they'd be looking for a flight with much higher value customers than cruisers.

I rather doubt that either the airline or the airport would have taken this into consideration. In conditions like that, the basic question is whether you can - from an operational safety point of view - get a particular aircraft into the air.

 

It's not as if mainstream cruise line charters are particularly valuable from the airline's point of view. If something like this was taken into account, I expect they'd be looking for a flight with much higher value customers than cruisers.

 

I don't know who makes those types of decisions or if the fact that flight had been chartered (by Princess) with Chicago area cruisers, but the fact is that with over 20 flights scheduled to depart within that last hour, ours was the only flight that took off. It was white knuckle too! We took off into the wind and I don't know how the pilot could see the runway because it was complete white out from my midplane window. Funny thing is didn't take long after he throttled up to get in the air with the headwind. I bet we used half the runway or less.

 

Either way I was soooo glad to have made it out that day. Only other time I was impacted with same day fly-in was Hurricane Jean, and that didn't matter because the cruise was delayed/shortened

Either way I was soooo glad to have made it out that day.

It's always good when you get lucky and you're not the one stuck on the ground!

 

Although that does have to be counterbalanced with an old pilot's saying: It's better to be down here wishing you were up there, than to be up there wishing you were down here.

I wouldn't come back and complain if that happened.

 

I do agree that it is taking on a calculated risk but I've flown in on sail date for 17 out of 21 cruises so far and never missed a sailaway. I remember de-icing twice and taking off in blizzard conditions at O'hare one January. We were the last flight out of the airport before they shut it down. Footnote: I think they got our flight out because they new it was chartered for the cruise and most of the passengers would have missed the boat. I think we would have gotten bit on that one if we didn't purchase the "cruiseline" airfare.

 

17/21..doesn't mean it can't happen. You're running a risk flying out of Chicago in winter. But since it hasn't happened yet, that means...it's worth taking yet another risk?