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Airfare strategy


EuroDate20
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We're also flying from Sacramento (SMF) to FLL in November and we're paying the prices you're finding. However, while we're taking Southwest going, we're taking American back. Like you're finding, Southwest has terrible return times (too early or really late afternoon) and questionable connections. American flies through Dallas and has better return flight times (late morning and early afternoon). And the prices were actually a little cheaper than Southwest.

 

Southwest had the best going times (and connections) to FLL. Plus we prefer to fly Southwest when we can.

 

It doesn't really cost anymore to reserve two one-ways on separate airlines than a round-trip on one.

 

Good point on purchasing two, one way tickets, especially on SW with its generous exchange/cancel policy. That way if one leg drops price (and the other is higher) you can get the savings.

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The Wanna Getaway fare for the 10 am flight is sold out. Flying out of Oakland is cheaper, but still costing the two of us nearly $1300 round trip. Yikes!

 

Already sold out on the first day the flights opened up? Have you checked again, could they have not had everything up and runnung when you were first looking?

 

I booked 2 flights the day they posted and prices were good. But I still watch off and on and take advantage of better prices as they happen.

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Good point on purchasing two, one way tickets, especially on SW with its generous exchange/cancel policy. That way if one leg drops price (and the other is higher) you can get the savings.

 

When flying Southwest, I always book one way tickets so that the outbound or return is easier to change.

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I'm looking at the flights the week after Thanksgiving, and going there from Des Moines the only time offered is awful (gets in at 12:15am on embarkation day, no thank you) so we are looking at flying out of Kansas City (a three hour drive) and then fly back to Des Moines the day after debarkation.

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

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We are having the same problem. We were able to get our flight down to FLL last month for $92 from EWR. But when they opened the rest of November up last week the 'wanna get away' low fares sold out within minutes. Now the cheapest to get back to either Philly or Newark from FLL is $365 one way. We have at minimum 13 people trying to get home on Sunday the 12th. Some can do Monday but would prefer Sunday. But even the Monday fares are getting up there price wise.

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We are having the same problem. We were able to get our flight down to FLL last month for $92 from EWR. But when they opened the rest of November up last week the 'wanna get away' low fares sold out within minutes. Now the cheapest to get back to either Philly or Newark from FLL is $365 one way. We have at minimum 13 people trying to get home on Sunday the 12th. Some can do Monday but would prefer Sunday. But even the Monday fares are getting up there price wise.

 

Sunday flights are normally the highest for the week, closely followed by Monday, on SW especially.

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That weekend is a "holiday" weekend due to Veterans Day. Government workers, bank workers, etc. who get a day off use it as a getaway weekend. I hope you can find something more affordable, or prices come down, because those fares are steep.

 

Roz

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That weekend is a "holiday" weekend due to Veterans Day. Government workers, bank workers, etc. who get a day off use it as a getaway weekend. I hope you can find something more affordable, or prices come down, because those fares are steep.

 

Roz

 

I forgot it was Veterans Day weekend. So it's a double whammy for those of us in NJ because its also NJEA week and the kids have off school that Thursday and Friday due to the teachers "convention" in Atlantic City. That's the whole reason we picked the week of 11/5 to go on the cruise. :o

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As previously mentioned, the fares from the west coast are extraordinarily high (we are flying out of Oakland to Ft. Lauderdale) in December.

 

When Southwest published their fares last week, the "get away" fare for the return trip was showing as not available. We checked again yesterday and that fare suddenly became available so I called SW and was able to lower our fees by $500 total.

 

Definitely check daily, the system changes hourly.

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I have also found the flight prices to be crazy for November 2017. We looked at and monitored all our options for almost 2 months, and the costs just increased for all routes and airlines

- Buffalo to Miami, Buffalo to Fort Lauderdale

- Toronto to Miami, Toronto to Fort Lauderdale

 

We started to get worried about flights selling out for the better flight times (I did not want to be stuck flying home at 7 pm!!) , so we booked about two weeks ago (wish we had booked 2 months ago!!!) We paid $1200 CAN for Toronto to Miami for two ppl, which is about $200 more than I was hoping for. But in the end, it was worth it to have an early afternoon flight home.

 

And I soon as I booked my flights, I cancelled all my alerts on google flights - I do not want to know if the prices went down. Now I just have to wait for my cruise....

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We just booked Southwest yesterday for November, the best price was from DTW to FLL. The saving wiped out the exchange rate deficit of a SW flight from BUF, and was way better than any flight from YYZ.

 

I actually just booked Jet Blue from DTW to FLL non stop in November for 102.00 each way. I found SW rates to be high out of DTW and no nonstop. Columbus Ohio( which is an option for us, but I presume not for you being from Canada) SW had non stop but still high.

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Flights have finally dropped for us - DTW to MCO early February. I have been watching since they were released and a couple weeks ago all my fare trackers said to book now and we did - with Spirit as even with paying for a checked bag each and advanced seat selection for both flights it came to $280 per person round trip, with no stops (add another $3 for a pop and big bag of peanuts!). Every other airline out of DTW except Delta has stops which I refuse and Delta was hovering around $460/person. I too have heard horror stories about Spirit on message boards but I have flown them several times and a friend of mine and her family fly them every year DTW to MCO. The small seats are tolerable for us. We carry a personal item - Samsonite under seat luggage, not quite as big as a regular carry-on but big enough to hold what we need at no cost. Maybe it is just at certain airports/itineraries they are at their worst? I always book my flights soon after they are released and have never seen a drop in price afterwards, only increases.

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I have also found the flight prices to be crazy for November 2017. We looked at and monitored all our options for almost 2 months, and the costs just increased for all routes and airlines

- Buffalo to Miami, Buffalo to Fort Lauderdale

- Toronto to Miami, Toronto to Fort Lauderdale

 

We started to get worried about flights selling out for the better flight times (I did not want to be stuck flying home at 7 pm!!) , so we booked about two weeks ago (wish we had booked 2 months ago!!!) We paid $1200 CAN for Toronto to Miami for two ppl, which is about $200 more than I was hoping for. But in the end, it was worth it to have an early afternoon flight home.

 

And I soon as I booked my flights, I cancelled all my alerts on google flights - I do not want to know if the prices went down. Now I just have to wait for my cruise....

 

We can make Detroit in under 3 hours so we always include it in our price checks, the return time isn't great, we won't be home until after midnight, but it's worth for the price we got.

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So this is the first time we've booked SW, now there didn't seem to be a seat selection option for getaway fares. Is this a SW policy, if so will I get a chance to select our seats, or did I just miss something, and if so how do I select seats retroactively?

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There are no assigned seats on SW. You will do online check-in starting 24 hrs. in advance, and you will be assigned an A, B, or C, with a number i.e. B5. All As line up in numerical order and board, then Bs and Cs. The seats are first come, first served.

 

Roz

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So this is the first time we've booked SW, now there didn't seem to be a seat selection option for getaway fares. Is this a SW policy, if so will I get a chance to select our seats, or did I just miss something, and if so how do I select seats retroactively?

 

Seat selection?

 

I started to ask where have you been for the last 40 years, but then I saw you've been in Ontario while Southwest was revolutionizing air travel and discount air fares, not just in the US, but worldwide with no seat selection in advance.

 

Southwest doesn't fool around...They can drop a plane into an airport, deplane arriving passenger, board next leg passengers, turn the plane around and have it back in the air in 25 minutes.

 

On Southwest, you select your seat when you board the plane.

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There are no assigned seats on SW. You will do online check-in starting 24 hrs. in advance, and you will be assigned an A, B, or C, with a number i.e. B5. All As line up in numerical order and board, then Bs and Cs. The seats are first come, first served.

 

Roz

 

OR... you can pay a fee ($12-15 per flight) and you will be given a group assignment before that 24 hour preflight window. Worth it if you have a family, group or want particular seating arrangements. Or..if you don't want to be stuck in the middle seats at the rear of a full plane. :eek:

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We are booked on a cruise in early November and Southwest just released their flight schedule for the fall. The rates are crazy expensive! We are flying out of the Sacramento (California) area, so we don't have many airlines to chose from. Does anyone have any insight on Southwest fares, when are they likely to go down, best time to book, etc? The fares now are the most expensive I've seen. Thanks in advance!

 

I just booked our family to Phoenix from San Jose when the schedule opened on Southwest. The fare jumped $30 soon after booking and has not gone down since.

 

For our Tampa-Amsterdam Cruise I just used Delta Saver Miles for my Father and I , I had miles and booked First Class for 40,000 and got my Father in Coach for 17,500(he does not mind Coach and I will see about getting him Comfort-),

 

The airfares from San Jose-Tampa one way were S200 for Coach and $600-$700 for First Class.

 

On Southwest I would book right away as soon as the schedule opens and you know your dates. Remember if the price decreases you get it back as a credit.

 

A good r/t airfare should be $250-$300. Check Delta , Southwest, American and Jet Blue and go with what makes sense. Southwest gives you 2 free bags a person.

 

Hope this helps,

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Eandj is referring to the Early Bird option which I use quite often, especially for return flights after cruising. Easier than purchasing internet time onboard.

 

Roz

 

Sent from my SM-S820L using Forums mobile app

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Eandj is referring to the Early Bird option which I use quite often, especially for return flights after cruising. Easier than purchasing internet time onboard.

 

Roz

 

Sent from my SM-S820L using Forums mobile app

 

Same here - but if you have roundtrip tickets you might have to purchase EarlyBird for both. I normally just buy one way tickets on SW for this reason (I checkin from home for the outbound trip and buy EB for the return) plus if the fare on one leg goes down (while the other is higher) I can still get the credit refund.

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We ended up booking a flight on AA for the day after our cruise ends. We didn't want to fly home on a Monday, but it's cheaper to stay at a hotel & pay for comfy seats and bags on AA and fly out on 11/13 then it was to fly out on 11/12 to Philly or Newark from FLL or MIA. Southwest & JetBlue fares just keep increasing every day almost. Crazy!!

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