Airfare from the midwest makes me want to cry

[ilovethesun]

So, I am trying to plan a cruise for my family of 4 for next Christmas or NYE (I'm looking at either the 8 night Breeze or the 6 night Breeze). I really want to sail out of Miami because I'd like to be on the newer ship - my kids would LOVE waterworks, I want to try Guy's Burgers, etc. We have never sailed with our kids (except in the med, while we lived in Europe) and the airfare seriously is putting a damper on my plans.

 

We would fly out of O'Hare and right now it looks like flights to MIA are $500! I suppose we could make it happen but I just cringe at the idea of spending that much on a flight. We are considering driving but 20 hours in the car...

 

Anyone have any suggestions on finding cheaper flights or is this just the day and age? We used to fly to Miami for $250!

 

And maybe I'm being too picky about the ship but am afraid if we sail from anywhere further north, we won't get far enough south in the winter to be warm enough to enjoy the Caribbean. Am I being silly?

 

Thanks for any input/insight. I'm new to this planning for 4 thing!

 

Thanks!

angie

[Topo Gigio]

Try flying in to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) or West Palm Beach (PBI) or even Orlando (MCO)

[Harrier1961]

So, I am trying to plan a cruise for my family of 4 for next Christmas or NYE (I'm looking at either the 8 night Breeze or the 6 night Breeze). I really want to sail out of Miami because I'd like to be on the newer ship - my kids would LOVE waterworks, I want to try Guy's Burgers, etc. We have never sailed with our kids (except in the med, while we lived in Europe) and the airfare seriously is putting a damper on my plans.

 

We would fly out of O'Hare and right now it looks like flights to MIA are $500! I suppose we could make it happen but I just cringe at the idea of spending that much on a flight. We are considering driving but 20 hours in the car...

 

Anyone have any suggestions on finding cheaper flights or is this just the day and age? We used to fly to Miami for $250!

 

And maybe I'm being too picky about the ship but am afraid if we sail from anywhere further north, we won't get far enough south in the winter to be warm enough to enjoy the Caribbean. Am I being silly?

 

Thanks for any input/insight. I'm new to this planning for 4 thing!

 

Thanks!

angie

When we cruise (from MI), we usually do drive due to the airfare.

And, we usually go out of Miami.

Yea, the trip is long, but my wife likes to drive and I don't like the skinny-assed airline seats.

 

Andy

[TruckinMama]

We drive from South Dakota to New Orleans. We take a full 2 weeks vacation and plan things out for the whole trip. We break the travel into two days, stay in New Orleans for 3 nights, and break the travel home into two days. Last time we spent the night in Memphis, went to Graceland, and had dinner on Beale Street. I'm not sure where we're stopping this time yet.

[Rena921]

So, I am trying to plan a cruise for my family of 4 for next Christmas or NYE (I'm looking at either the 8 night Breeze or the 6 night Breeze). I really want to sail out of Miami because I'd like to be on the newer ship - my kids would LOVE waterworks, I want to try Guy's Burgers, etc. We have never sailed with our kids (except in the med, while we lived in Europe) and the airfare seriously is putting a damper on my plans.

 

We would fly out of O'Hare and right now it looks like flights to MIA are $500! I suppose we could make it happen but I just cringe at the idea of spending that much on a flight. We are considering driving but 20 hours in the car...

 

Anyone have any suggestions on finding cheaper flights or is this just the day and age? We used to fly to Miami for $250!

 

And maybe I'm being too picky about the ship but am afraid if we sail from anywhere further north, we won't get far enough south in the winter to be warm enough to enjoy the Caribbean. Am I being silly?

 

Thanks for any input/insight. I'm new to this planning for 4 thing!

 

Thanks!

angie

 

I know what you mean. This is why we opted to drive in March. There are 11 of us going at it would have been over $6000 in airfare alone. DD is flying in from Reno, she is stopping here in KC and driving there and back with us then flying from KC back to Reno. If she were to fly straight to FLL, it would have been over $400 more.

 

Other DD got lucky and got in on that Delta snafu, so she is flying round trip for $186 total for her and her soon to be DH.

 

My suggestion would be to keep checking on prices and maybe consider driving if possible.

[parrothead brian]

prices for our Feb 23 cruise out of Port Canaveral are between $650.00(SW) and over $800.00(AA &UAL).no way I'm paying that pp for 4 people. We rented a 15 person van(yes there is a total of 15 people going) and the breakdown with gas included is $120.00 pp, longer drive but saving over $2000.00 is worth it.

[ilovethesun]

Thanks all! I'm leaning more and more toward driving. Flying would be $1000. Driving would cost us about $500 in gas. DH wants to rent a car to save ours the mileage but that adds another $400 or so (unless there is a trick to that? The one way rentals are ridiculous...). Still half the price of flying, I guess.

 

As long as you can tell me I won't die after 20 hours in the car! :) With my two sweet daughters... (ages 8 and 10!)

[newcruiser09]

Have you thought about using any airline rewards? If you don't already have it, the platinum Delta gives you a free companion pass and 35,000 miles for signing up. If both you and your husband each get individual cards, you may have enough points to fly 2 people for free and then you'd just pay for one flight and use the companion pass for the fourth person. (and still have another companion pass to use for another weekend away). There is an annual fee but I believe it is waived the first year so you can cancel before you have to pay it. (You'll have to check if there are blackout dates or anything to be aware of if you go this route, I generally don't travel over the holidays so I'm not sure) I believe you need to charge 1000 on the cards in the first 3 months as well to get the deals.

 

If you already have Delta, you may want to check out other airlines. I've been doing a lot of research on this lately and it is amazing how many offers are out there.

[moesyk4]

Do you have to go over that time period? When we are looking to plan a cruise, I start by finding a few cruises that seem in our ideal range of price and amenities. then i start researching cities, flights, etc. sometimes a great cruise deal is ruined by an expensive city or flight price.

We are leaving on Saturday (woohoo!) to sail the Breeze 6 day. We paid for our flights with points, but if we hadn't, the cost to fly Southwest (with free bags) into Ft. Lauderdale would've been less than $300 total per ticket.

[ilovethesun]

The credit card option might not be a bad idea! I'll have to look into that. We have to sail over Christmas or Spring Break. I am a speech language pathologist in the schools so our only other option is summer and based on the view out my window right now, winter is a better time to get away!

[joeyancho]

Air travel used to be a pleasurable way to travel but the people who perpetrated 911 ruined that for everyone. The federal government got involved big-time and made it worse. Then the airlines got greedy and added fee after fee then the government keeps adding fees and the result is what we have now: expensive flights where everyone is ticked off. For the money the flights cost you might as well drive. I rather take a whipping than have to fly.

[kids-in-2-centuries]

Have you looked at Allegiant out of Chicago/Rockford or other small airport within a few hours from your home? We fly Allegiant out of Lexington, Ky which is a two hour drive for us but the fares are so much more affordable for our family of 4. Be prepared to pay for both carry on and checked bags, assigned seats, and any other amenities though. Even so , airfare is usually half of what we would pay on any other line. Also, I don't pay for assigned seats, just take what they give us at check in. So far it has never happened that we were separated in the seat assignment.

[Jenner9]

If you are not planning to sail until Dec 2014 you have a lot of time to plan for airfare. Some airlines do not even have itineraries out that far. The prices might come down. With that being said I live in WI and have noticed flights are a lot more expensive then before. We are actually considering driving ourselves if we decide to book. We are also looking at the Breeze for virtually the same reasons you are. I would also check into flights into Ft. Lauderdale. They are generally a lot cheaper. Then you just shuttle to Miami. We have done that twice now.

[newcruiser09]

The credit card option might not be a bad idea! I'll have to look into that. We have to sail over Christmas or Spring Break. I am a speech language pathologist in the schools so our only other option is summer and based on the view out my window right now, winter is a better time to get away!

 

I agree on the weather piece, I'm in Minnesota right now and yuk. At least it warmed up today. I'm sailing in less than two weeks so I get what you mean in having a warm weather vacation in winter to look forward to.

 

If you do a search airline rewards credit cards you'll find lots of good information about using rewards for travel. Good Luck!

[cruisinatdawn]

We can't take the extra time off to drive, so flying is a must for us. My daughter is on a cruise now, and she got her roundtrip ticket from MSP to MIA for about $250, she just kept checking daily and found a great deal. We are flying in 10 days and our flight is over $500 :( I got panicked because they kept going up, so I bought our tickets, but since then I've seen a few deals, that we could have done better. If we could take the time to drive, we probably would to save the money, but if you keep checking there are deals out there.

[Jeafl]

I feel your pain. I'm a teacher so the only times I am able to cruise are the most expensive, peak-season times.

 

For our cruise in March I started pricing airfare 10 months in advance, and never did find airfare under $500 a person.

 

We also have the American Airlines Aadvantage card with enough miles for 4 free flights, but unfortunately they've either had blackout dates that week, or if they did allow you to use miles it was 25,000 each way instead of 12,500. Therefore we are making the long trek by car. It is incredibly frustrating.

[grumplin]

So, I am trying to plan a cruise for my family of 4 for next Christmas or NYE (I'm looking at either the 8 night Breeze or the 6 night Breeze). I really want to sail out of Miami because I'd like to be on the newer ship - my kids would LOVE waterworks, I want to try Guy's Burgers, etc. We have never sailed with our kids (except in the med, while we lived in Europe) and the airfare seriously is putting a damper on my plans.

 

We would fly out of O'Hare and right now it looks like flights to MIA are $500! I suppose we could make it happen but I just cringe at the idea of spending that much on a flight. We are considering driving but 20 hours in the car...

 

Anyone have any suggestions on finding cheaper flights or is this just the day and age? We used to fly to Miami for $250!

 

And maybe I'm being too picky about the ship but am afraid if we sail from anywhere further north, we won't get far enough south in the winter to be warm enough to enjoy the Caribbean. Am I being silly?

 

Thanks for any input/insight. I'm new to this planning for 4 thing!

 

Thanks!

angie

 

We drove to Florida from Wisconsin last winter and will be driving to New Orleans next month. We like taking more time and driving. There is always stuff to do on the way. When we chose to fly for vacation Southwest almost always has the lowest for us.

[guxu]

I am planning a trip to Asia. The flights are over $1,300 pp. About half of the amount are tax and fees!

[lisajm]

We live near Evansville Indiana. Round trip prices were 459.00 pp, we opted to return the day after the cruise and got tix for 269.00 pp.

[Ilovesailaway]

I agree its way to early to get an accurate idea of what airfare will cost you. Most of the lower cost carriers wont book until 6 months out. Booking with a low cost carrier as far out as possible is usually the best way to go. Also, be creative in your search. You may find a much cheaper flight if you are willing to drive a bit on either end. Another thing is be aware that a lot of the booking sites will not include all of the low cost carriers. Make sure you check the site of each airline you are considering.

We are a family of 5. My wife is a teacher and as was mentioned you get gouged during school breaks. I have used every trick in the book to cut airfare costs. I saved 3K on airfare for our last cruise by driving to an airport that was 5 hours away. It sure beat spending over 4K at our local airport or having to drive for 25 hours to south Florida.

Keep looking, be creative, good luck!!!

[wrigley80]

So, I am trying to plan a cruise for my family of 4 for next Christmas or NYE (I'm looking at either the 8 night Breeze or the 6 night Breeze). I really want to sail out of Miami because I'd like to be on the newer ship - my kids would LOVE waterworks, I want to try Guy's Burgers, etc. We have never sailed with our kids (except in the med, while we lived in Europe) and the airfare seriously is putting a damper on my plans.

 

 

 

We would fly out of O'Hare and right now it looks like flights to MIA are $500! I suppose we could make it happen but I just cringe at the idea of spending that much on a flight. We are considering driving but 20 hours in the car...

 

 

 

Anyone have any suggestions on finding cheaper flights or is this just the day and age? We used to fly to Miami for $250!

 

 

 

And maybe I'm being too picky about the ship but am afraid if we sail from anywhere further north, we won't get far enough south in the winter to be warm enough to enjoy the Caribbean. Am I being silly?

 

 

 

Thanks for any input/insight. I'm new to this planning for 4 thing!

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

angie

 

 

We're also from Illinois ( up by Rockford). You may wanna look into booking your airfare out of Greater Rockford airport. In early December we took a cruise out of Miami and we flew into Punta Gorda. So much more convenient than using O'Hare or Midway

 

Then when we arrived in Punta Gorda we rented a car for $62.00 for one day to drive to Miami. The price of our 2 airline tickets on Allegiant Airlines and rental car was almost $300.00 cheaper than a flight on American Airlines to MIA

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[nobog]

Thanks all! I'm leaning more and more toward driving. Flying would be $1000. Driving would cost us about $500 in gas. DH wants to rent a car to save ours the mileage but that adds another $400 or so (unless there is a trick to that? The one way rentals are ridiculous...). Still half the price of flying, I guess.

 

As long as you can tell me I won't die after 20 hours in the car! :) With my two sweet daughters... (ages 8 and 10!)

 

Well no.. the going rate to operate a vehicle is well over $0.50 per mile - so if its 1000 miles one way (x2 for round trip) - you got your $1000 right there.

Jim

[DreaminFP]

We live in Illinois as well and we have opted to drive for our cruise in 2 weeks because of the prices of flying. For the 2 of us it would be almost $300 dollars more then driving. Bonus we get to see family after the cruise by driving. That $300 will buy a lot of drinks :p

[Jenner9]

Another tip is try booking one way tickets. That way you can mix and match airlines if you want. I have done that before and saved. If you book on Southwest and the price goes down you can rebook at no cost and get a credit to use on your next flight.

[FlyerTalker]

Have you thought about using any airline rewards? If you don't already have it, the platinum Delta gives you a free companion pass and 35,000 miles for signing up. If both you and your husband each get individual cards, you may have enough points to fly 2 people for free and then you'd just pay for one flight and use the companion pass for the fourth person.

BRRRPPP. Sorry, but not correct.

 

The companion feature is upon annual renewal, so you wouldn't get that until 2015. Also, you have a minimum spend before the bonus miles, not just signing up.