Airfare?

cruisinmama · July 31, 2005

How soon after you book your Cruise do you book your airfare? we are not sure if there will be a price drop.....anyone know ? if the prices to Florida go down in Aug or Sept??? from basically West - East Coast...

I'm just not sure when to book, as they are non- refundable...and we are paying close to $ 3000.00 just for airfare now and would HATE to pay anymore

Thanks for any info...

Dan · July 31, 2005

How many people are you buying for? Air Canada and Westjet are both showing about $730/person Vancouver to Ft Lauderdale the first couple weeks of December. Westjet has the advantage going down that it's an early morning flight arriving in FLL that evening (conecting in Toronto), while AC is an overnight flight connecting in Montreal. But the return Westjet flight appears to go through Calgary (which is good), but it leaves FLL at 1040am, which is awfully tight.

I'm not sure what cities you are flying from/to, and your dates, so I guessed. I haven't looked at Seattle flights, which might be cheaper.

We bought our tickets for next January in April, and they have almost doubled since then. But they were pretty cheap to start with.

cruisinmama · August 1, 2005

Dan

we are buying for 5.. all adult fare.... we don't have too much choice of which airport as we are so far away from so many...Winnipeg. is 3 1/2 hours and ...or maybe even Minot would be ok, around the same distance..

or even Regina, if we had too..

so fare its about $ 3000.00 through West jet....just wasn't sure if thats a good fare or not as we have never been East b/4...and kind of worried it will go up..I've been holding out getting seats....as I was hoping it would go down..but so far nothing...

Also I think American airlines is around the same fare...and I think they let you pick your seats right online..

Thanks for your help

Dan · August 2, 2005

Checking on travelocity.ca, it looks to be in that ballpark all around. What dates are you flying? I was guessing, based on your ticker, of Dec 9th down, with Dec 17th back. If you are returning on a Saturday, Westjet is a bad deal, since their FLL departure isn't until 830pm, which leaves you overnighting in Toronto at your expense. And again, their Sunday flight leaves at 1050am, which is pushing it, especially when it's an airline with one flight a day, and no partners to go to if you miss theirs.

Air Canada has several options connecting through Toronto, Montreal or Ottawa (the return flight through Ottawa is the preferable one leaving FLL at 1230pm, switching planes in Ottawa, and landing in Winnipeg at 700pm).

There's also Northwest Airlines, which connects you in Minneapolis each way. Actually a shorter flight since you aren't going all the way east to start going south. Good flight times each way. nwa.com is showing this to be $471 US, taxes included.

You should talk to a travel agent, since not all the best fares are available to the general public. You might be able to get a consolidator fare for much less.

JoeyandDavid · August 2, 2005

We book airfare, as soon as humanly possible normaly almost 330+ days out,

As a rule of thumb the first few days of published parice are normally the lowest. But not Always

schatje · August 2, 2005

We booked right away at 330 days out. Our price from Appleton Wisconsin to Fort Lauderdale is $260 pp. They are non-refundable, but we do not have to travel to a big city to get out. I thought this is a good deal.

cruisinmama · August 2, 2005

I'll keep checking....so far a few airlines have around the same price...have to get it b/4 Fall for sure.....as I know to the USA prices to hot places jump up....but just wasnt sure if any of the prices are ok, as we have never gone b/4..

Thanks

:smiley:

jtutak · August 2, 2005

Prices are Much less from SEA (Seattle/Tacoma ) Southwest has a $109 ow fare right now http://www.southwest.com their flights are only available on their web site,they wont appear on any online booking engine.

jtutak · August 2, 2005

Thinking about this you should book ASAP. You are coming to FL during the snowbird migration and flights will book up ans become only more expensive and you don't have a lot of to choose from at Winnipeg airport. this is a sample fron the Air Canada US site.

AC8492 Winnipeg (YWG) Toronto (YYZ) Sat 10-Dec 05:45 09:11 0 10hr48 CRJ Tango

AC406 Toronto (YYZ) Montreal (YUL) Sat 10-Dec 10:00 11:07 0 320 Tango S

AC926 Montreal (YUL) Fort Lauderdale (FLL) Sat 10-Dec 13:50 17:33 0 319 Tango F

AC909 Fort Lauderdale (FLL) Toronto (YYZ) Tue 20-Dec 15:45 18:55 0 9hr16 320 Tango F

AC269 Toronto (YYZ) Winnipeg (YWG) Tue 20-Dec 22:20 00:01

+1 day 0 319 Tango

Passenger Type Adult

Flight 1 - Departing airfare (Tango) 198.16

Flight 2 - Returning airfare (Tango) 222.30

Navcan and Surcharges 14.72

Taxes, Charges and Fees

Canada Airport Improvement Fee 31.18