Travel Websites and Airfare

[winterpeg2004]

Starting to look into airfare for our November cruise. We are looking at flying Fargo to Miami.

 

Have gone through a few travel websites:

travelocity

cheapoair

expedia

 

All prices are roughly the same on these websites, anywhere between $800 and $950. They all say price is not guranteed until it is ticketed.

 

Does this mean after I give them my credit cards they could charge me more for the tickets then what there websites say. If so are you allowed to cancel the tickets once you see the actual price.

 

I checked US airways and for the exact same flight(flight numbers are the same) they are wanting $1700.

 

To me this $800 price is to good to be true and am afraid once I buy they will raise the price $400 or $500 and any savings I found are gone.

 

Anyone have experience with using these type of websites and what has your experience been with them.

[Ashland]

I would opt to purchase my flights directly from the carriers website...I narrow it down to which flights I'm interested (using Kayak) and then use Yapta (just my choice and maybe other's might have a site they like better) to monitor the pricing changes and get e-mailed updates often as well as checking them myself....Just remember to purchase when you see a fare you are comfortable with as pricing can change quickly. Best of luck.

[Novastar]

Have you checked Delta.com? They fly from Fargo to Miami via Minneapolis. I just looked at a couple of random dates in Nov. and fares were around $500 r/t.

 

Like the previous poster mentioned, I always prefer to buy my tickets through the air carrier directly.

[thinfool]

The north country is challenging when it comes to competitive airfares. Still, if you could drive to Minneapolis, you can fly to Ft Lauderdale for less than $300. round trip for most of November if you buy your tickets soon.

[em-sk]

The north country is challenging when it comes to competitive airfares. Still, if you could drive to Minneapolis, you can fly to Ft Lauderdale for less than $300. round trip for most of November if you buy your tickets soon.

 

You may also want to price flying out of Winnipeg.

 

As for the comment about the price not being guaranteed until ticketed, the price is not going to change after your credit card is charged.

Edited February 9, 2014 by em-sk

[winterpeg2004]

I'm in Winnipeg and right now I can save 700ish if I book out of Fargo.

[slidergirl]

Being out of Winnipeg, did you check prices with Westjet? I'll bet you did, but just suggesting…

[toberman]

I'm in Winnipeg and right now I can save 700ish if I book out of Fargo.

 

Without knowing your exact dates, it's impossible for us to check pricing.... BUT - mid Nov I find Westjet YWG-YYZ-MIA r/t for $730 ! So if you're saving $700 thru Fargo I don't know what kind of pricing you've gotten.

[winterpeg2004]

Prices for two of us is roughly $1600 on westjet and just under $1000 from Fargo.

 

I found a flight on price line from Fargo for 816ish, but they say fare is not guaranteed until ticketed. If they come back and tell me it is really $1200, I rather spend 1600 and not have 6 hrs of driving, motel, and parking cost.

[thinfool]

Prices for two of us is roughly $1600 on westjet and just under $1000 from Fargo.

 

I found a flight on price line from Fargo for 816ish, but they say fare is not guaranteed until ticketed. If they come back and tell me it is really $1200, I rather spend 1600 and not have 6 hrs of driving, motel, and parking cost.

 

I guess I am missing something....Delta has a whole month of flights to FLL and MIA from Fargo, ND, round trip for $323pp. Some fares on weekends are considerably more, but the OP didn't specify dates other than "November".

[winterpeg2004]

Due to work my dates are not felixable. We will be flying out on Nov 15 and returning Nov 23.

Edited February 10, 2014 by winterpeg2004

[thinfool]

Have you seen this? Times are good post-cruise for getting to the airport. $473. ea

 

I can't see prices improve much out of a small airport like Fargo.

 

 

Fargo (FAR) to Miami (MIA) - Sat, Nov 15

Delta Air Lines Inc. Fargo (FAR) to Minneapolis/St Paul (MSP) - Sat, Nov 15

Delta Air Lines Inc. 861 Dep: 7:00AM Arr: 8:03AM 1h 3m Airbus A320 Economy (V)

Layover in MSP 1h 17m

 

Delta Air Lines Inc. Minneapolis/St Paul (MSP) to Miami (MIA) - Sat, Nov 15

Delta Air Lines Inc. 2322 Dep: 9:20AM Arr: 1:52PM 3h 32m Airbus A320 Economy (V)

 

 

 

Miami (MIA) to Fargo (FAR) - Sun, Nov 23

Delta Air Lines Inc. Miami (MIA) to Minneapolis/St Paul (MSP) - Sun, Nov 23

Delta Air Lines Inc. 2322 Dep: 3:30PM Arr: 6:20PM 3h 50m Airbus A320 Economy (H)

Layover in MSP 0h 50m

 

Delta Air Lines Inc. Minneapolis/St Paul (MSP) to Fargo (FAR) - Sun, Nov 23

Delta Air Lines Inc. 1956 Dep: 7:10PM Arr: 8:16PM 1h 6m Airbus A320 Economy (H)

 

 

Cost per passenger (including taxes & fees) $473.00

Total cost for 2 passengers $946.00

[parody]

Anyone have experience with using these type of websites and what has your experience been with them.

 

Here are a couple of points that have not been mentioned. The airline websites are providing you real-time data on seat availability and fares. Third party websites are not and you can find that when you proceed to book that fare "is no longer available" and you will be given a fare that is exactly what you see on an airline's website. If it is less, most likely you are being sold a consolidator fare that comes with more onerous restrictions. As most folks here have mentioned, there is likely little reason to book with a third party and you should stick with booking with an airline directly.

[em-sk]

Due to work my dates are not felixable. We will be flying out on Nov 15 and returning Nov 23.

 

I did a search on the Air Canada website. Tango fare from Winnipeg to Miami is running $685 per person CDN including taxes per person connecting through Toronto going and Montreal coming back.

 

They are running a 20% off promo code for flight to Florida until tomorrow. However it only applies to travel between now and September.

[Gunner22aa]

Welcome to the joys of flying from the land locked prairies. Your problem is also compounded by having to fly on a weekend vice mid week when fares are often cheaper. Check out matrix ita, just google it. It will give you just about every option from where you want to fly out of to where you have to go. There will be huge price differences presented to you. As an example I am currently researching business class air from Vancouver to Sydney AU. The prices I get depending on airline and again depending on routing and number of stops goes between $3800 a ticket all the way up to just over $16,000. Same airline but on a different day for the same routing I have seen over $2000 difference in the tickets I am looking at.