Best way to find decent airfare from ORD to MIA

[fbgd]

update on my search. ADVICE needed PLEASE.......

 

I had been looking to fly out one day earlier to help avoid issues like weather etc. I am targeting non-stop flights since neither of us are particularly fond of flying and the fact that connections have increased risk of delays, lost baggage etc. and we don't want to deal with all that.

 

So for many weeks SPIRIT had an outgoing 7:40am non-stop flight out of O'hare for 108 (plus tax). Gets us in 1 day prior to cruise and we can grab a hotel down in MIA after taking a shuttle from FLL.

 

So Return flight was also priced at 108 (plus tax) and departed at 7:40pm day of cruise arrival. Also works and gives us plenty of time to take shuttle back to FLL. So the tickets were $249 PP (no bags purchased, bare fare).

 

The best price on the FULL SERVICE carriers was about $434 pp (American and United). I have taken Spirit once before and it wasn't a great experience by any means but I was eyeing the itinerary above because it saved us approx. $555. That's significant to me.

 

SOOOOOO, the only direct return flight that we can make on Dec 19th went up to $149 ticket. Not a huge increase but an increase nonetheless and it brings the cost savings down a bit to $432 saved over the BIG CARRIERS.

 

I called Spirit and asked to check availability and inquire why the fare jumped from 108 to 149. The rep told me that the flight availability is still very good but of course couldn't tell me if flight would go back down and it can start to creap up.

 

So any advice welcome. Should I book the SPIRIT flights as is now or pay the extra $500+ to go with the big carriers OR, I could wait it out for the next few months to see if the Spirit price comes back down? Suggestions advice Please....

 

Nobody can answer this with any degree of accuracy.

 

You know how Spirit works and what's required to fly with them. You know how the experience is flying with a major carrier.

 

Tickets on Spirit could go up too. Tickets on the majors could go up.

 

I've given up on playing the "buy the cheapest ticket" game. When I've decided to fly I'm buying. Life's too short to sweat things out over months for a few hundred bucks.

[Globaliser]

SOOOOOO, the only direct return flight that we can make on Dec 19th went up to $149 ticket. Not a huge increase but an increase nonetheless and it brings the cost savings down a bit to $432 saved over the BIG CARRIERS.

 

I called Spirit and asked to check availability and inquire why the fare jumped from 108 to 149. The rep told me that the flight availability is still very good but of course couldn't tell me if flight would go back down and it can start to creap up.

 

So any advice welcome.

The biggest question you have to ask yourself is why didn't you buy at the earlier price? Was it not an acceptable price? (If that wasn't an acceptable price, why is the current higher price suddenly acceptable?) Was there some other reason why you weren't able to commit to flying on those dates? If so, what's changed? Why does a modest price increase, that still keeps the total cost of travel below the next lowest alternative, suddenly turn the decision into a critical one?

 

You really need to do that mental exercise before you can work out what the best thing is for you to do.

 

For example, if what was holding you back, even when the fare was low, was that you thought that the risk of not being able to take the trip was too high to warrant committing this amount of money to the tickets, then that has probably not changed one bit and the increase in price is not a good enough reason to commit a bigger amount of money when the risk of you losing it is the same.

 

Alternatively, if the former price was still too high, then it must follow that you can afford the current price even less.

 

So these are the things you need to work out in your head, or else you are at risk of making an even bigger mistake than you may already have made.

 

The technical reason why the price has gone up on the inbound flight is that the original price was based on R booking class, which is the lowest booking class for which Spirit publishes fares. That's still the booking class being used to price the outbound, but R class on the the inbound flight has now been zeroed and the higher price is as a result of the ticket being priced using the next higher class, T class.

 

Will Spirit put any seats back into R class in the future? There are two possible answers: yes, and no. But none of us can tell you which will turn out to be correct.

[Warm-Water Diver]

I appreciate all the comments/advice and that's all I was asking for.

 

Globaliser, as to why I didn't purchase at the lower fare: I had a similar cruise with similar dates last time I purchased and flew Spirit. Fares were similar and out of nowhere Spirit ran an even better fare sale about 6 months from cruise and I snapped it up as soon as I saw it. Oh and THANK YOU for explaining the fare codes and difference in prices.

 

So short answer I was hoping to catch one of these fare sales again. Like stocks, past performance is not a guarantee of future performance and I acknowledge that. I just enjoy the thrill of the hunt and finding bargains when I can. It gives me great joy to save hundreds on either cruisefare/air or both as I'm a budget conscious traveler :D

Edited April 22, 2015 by Warm-Water Diver

[Zach1213]

I haven't looked at SW because they haven't released their schedules yet.

 

 

 

They also fly out of Midway (South Chicago Burbs) which is farther for us (we are in the NW burbs and close to O'hare) so it increases our LIMO cost to and from the airport.

 

 

 

I'd still consider them but as mentioned but they're not in the equation right now due to the schedules issue.

 

 

Midway may be south, but it's not the burbs - definitely in city limits ;)

[FlyerTalker]

I just enjoy the thrill of the hunt and finding bargains when I can. It gives me great joy to save hundreds on either cruisefare/air or both as I'm a budget conscious traveler :D

And, does it give you great pain when the prices go up because of your "thrill of the hunt"?? Because this is not a one-way street.

 

As is the nature for thrill-seekers, you are exposing yourself to risk - in this case, financial risk. So...just how much are you willing to risk to get your thrills? Or perhaps a better question from your posting: Are you willing to take a risk?

 

Until you put a value to your risk-aversion (or risk-seeking, as may be the case), any commentary or advice carries as much weight as darts tossed against the board.

 

Disclosure: I used to be someone who also enjoyed facing the "challenge" of getting the "best" price for air, hotels, car....the whole ball of wax. Then, one time I waited too long....played the brinksmanship too close and got really burned. Maybe it's the wisdom of age or experience but I now fully embrace the aphorism that "Hope is not a Strategy". (Though it was an effective campaign slogan).

[Warm-Water Diver]

I can afford some risk obviously.

 

I have refundable deposit on the ship sailing so if I screwed up and the air just goes from where it is now to the clouds, I just cancel and get my money back.

 

So yeah, it is still the thrill of trying to get a deal on air AND cruise. I've done this for over 20 years and I've gotten some great deals, others just OK deals. But it the air and or cruise gets too crazy, I just look elsewhere.

 

It's all good. I use all the resources available to the best of my bargaining ability, much like this Awesome Website and everyone's help on this thread :D