Airfare--CLE to FLL

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

Hi Guys, thought I'd try to look for some help/tips here, as I'm sure everyone is in the same boat...

 

We are trying to find a roundtrip flight from Cleveland to Ft. Lauderdale on 2/24 (or 2/25), returning 3/3 for our Navigator cruise in '12. We usually get direct flights and have never paid more than around $350. Right now it is $440 before taxes. That is crazy to me...to pay nearly $500 bucks (before baggage fees) to fly to FLL...little out of hand, if you ask me.

 

My question....does anyone think that it's a little early? Possible for the price to come down? I'm thinking it'll only go up, and I'm not sure we can afford much more for airfare. 3 of us going. I've tried all the usual sites, searching on Tuesdays and Saturdays, to no avail. Everyone's around the same.

 

Any tips/suggestions...not sure if we should wait, or try to grab the tickets now. Thanks in advance, any help would be very much appreciated.

[Mark_K]

Fly from Akron, it's cheaper.

[primo1]

I also live in the Cleveland are. I bought r.t to San Juan last month for that price thru Continental/United. Also Vegas is about $440. I think everything is that way. I really don't see it coming down. If anything it will probably go up. Good Luck.

[PattyG12]

Staci ... it's too early. Jet Blue and Spirit haven't posted yet so give it a little more time. They aren't going to lower pricing until all of them have gotten their flights together.

[dmbmay98]

I am also from the Cleveland Area, I noticed your location said North Royalton, we are from Strongsville.

 

I looked at your dates and you would be better off flying out of Columbus or Pittsburgh. Columbus is 262 and Pittsburgh is 290 plus taxes.

 

I would probably wait for Southwest to release their fares for that time out of Columbus since no baggage fees and they have direct flights from Columbus to FLL.

[kimber88]

We are leaving next week for our cruise (Cleveland to Fort Lauderdale). Originally we were going to drive, but decided to check out flights when SouthWest ran a special. I actually ended up getting cheaper flights, non-stop, from Continental. We paid $250.00 a person plus baggage.

 

I would suggest you wait. I've heard Tuesdays and Wednesday are the best time to book a flight as the prices are better. Not sure how true that is, but I booked on a Tuesday.

 

Also, Southwest and AirTran just merged, so you may be able to find a flight cheaper out of Akron like stated above.

 

Hang in there and good luck . . . you have plenty of time. :)

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

Thanks guys, you've given me a lot of tips/ideas.

 

We have always flown Continental, but obviously are open to other airlines.

 

I actually did check Southwest, and that same flight was over $500...which confused me. They charge one-way, and it was nearly $300 each way (including a stop!)! I didn't get that...is that normal for them? I always thought that SW would be cheaper.

 

Also tried Akron-Canton and the prices were again charged one-way and around the same as the direct Continental flight.

 

I think I will take your advice and wait just a bit longer....

 

thanks again, really appreciate it.

[tpcwags]

I suggest that you keep an eye on Southwest.com and airtran.com (they are not open for your dates yet).

 

Normally when they extend the times they are open to book the later dates are reasonably priced. (Southwest is currently through the first week in January at this time so it may be soon).

 

I normally check a couple of times a week starting around 6 months prior to my sail date and get a good rate on SW. (I do live in Baltimore but it probably works the same everywhere they fly.

 

Southwest flys out of Cleveland (we use it to visit our daughter at Kent State U) and pricing is normally the best of all the airlines, plus 2 free bags.

 

Hang in there and keep watching those web sites.

 

Best of luck and enjoy your cruise.

[sn2792]

We also live in Cleveland and have a cruise booked on Oasis for October 1st. I ran a search for flights on Kayak.com and put in a fare watcher which sends me an email once a week with fares. Fares were around 450 when I first ran the search. Then about 6 weeks ago they dropped to 270 for direct on Continental. I went ahead and booked.

 

They dropped even further to 235 a couple of weeks later but I had all ready booked. Now they are back up over 400 again. I think it is to early to book for you. Why don't you try setting up a fare watcher.

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

We also live in Cleveland and have a cruise booked on Oasis for October 1st. I ran a search for flights on Kayak.com and put in a fare watcher which sends me an email once a week with fares. Fares were around 450 when I first ran the search. Then about 6 weeks ago they dropped to 270 for direct on Continental. I went ahead and booked.

 

They dropped even further to 235 a couple of weeks later but I had all ready booked. Now they are back up over 400 again. I think it is to early to book for you. Why don't you try setting up a fare watcher.

 

this helped me a lot, thanks. Just setup a fare watcher for my dates.

 

Appreciate it!!

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

I suggest that you keep an eye on Southwest.com and airtran.com (they are not open for your dates yet).

 

Normally when they extend the times they are open to book the later dates are reasonably priced. (Southwest is currently through the first week in January at this time so it may be soon).

 

I normally check a couple of times a week starting around 6 months prior to my sail date and get a good rate on SW. (I do live in Baltimore but it probably works the same everywhere they fly.

 

Southwest flys out of Cleveland (we use it to visit our daughter at Kent State U) and pricing is normally the best of all the airlines, plus 2 free bags.

 

Hang in there and keep watching those web sites.

 

Best of luck and enjoy your cruise.

 

Thanks :)

[waterbug123]

 

I actually did check Southwest, and that same flight was over $500...which confused me. They charge one-way, and it was nearly $300 each way (including a stop!)! I didn't get that...is that normal for them? I always thought that SW would be cheaper.

 

 

That's a huge misconception. Sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't. But they've done a great job with their marketing, getting many people to blindly believe that they are always cheaper.

[waterbug123]

 

We are trying to find a roundtrip flight from Cleveland to Ft. Lauderdale on 2/24 (or 2/25), returning 3/3 for our Navigator cruise in '12. We usually get direct flights and have never paid more than around $350. Right now it is $440 before taxes. That is crazy to me...to pay nearly $500 bucks (before baggage fees) to fly to FLL...little out of hand, if you ask me.

 

 

You, and a million other people, want to go to Ft. Lauderdale in the middle of winter and at the beginning of the spring break season. High demand generally equals $$$. Throw in higher fuel prices and you get $$$$$$.

[greatam]

Not only is it winter and Spring Break but Feb 20 is President's Day and HUGE amounts of US schools are out for the week, particularly in the NE. The Presidential Florida primaries are the end of your cruise as is Speedweek in Daytona. LOTS of extra need for airline seats.

 

College kids have already booked massive amounts of airline tickets from all over the USA to Spring Break destinations. Flights into PHX at REASONABLE prices are almost sold out (for Lake Havasu Spring Break-which was made HUGELY popular via MTV for Spring Break).

 

You will either have to change your cruise or just suck it up for the airfare. VERY high demand for airline tickets into Florida during your time frame.

[alidor]

You couldn't have checked Southwest as they don't have their flight schedules or fares out yet for February. Don't know where you got your Southwest info, but it wasn't from Southwest.

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

You couldn't have checked Southwest as they don't have their flight schedules or fares out yet for February. Don't know where you got your Southwest info, but it wasn't from Southwest.

 

I checked other available dates, on SW's sight.

[waterbug123]

I checked other available dates, on SW's sight.

 

Totally irrelevant. Airfare varies by date, as well as time of day, routing, and as already mentioned, demand, which is high for your dates of travel.

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

Totally irrelevant. Airfare varies by date, as well as time of day, routing, and as already mentioned, demand, which is high for your dates of travel.

 

I'm quite aware of that, thanks. I was just checking for my own knowledge since I've never flown them before and couldn't check the dates I need.

[alidor]

Sorry but if you are aware of it, then you know you can't possibly get a fare on Southwest for which they have no schedules or prices out yet! Doesn't make sense.

[waterbug123]

I'm quite aware of that, thanks. I was just checking for my own knowledge since I've never flown them before and couldn't check the dates I need.

 

If you are aware of that, why bother even checking dates that you aren't flying?

:confused:

 

If you are thinking, "because it will at least give me some idea of prices" then you really don't get it. Maybe prices for your flights will be similar, but they might just as easily be several hundred dollars more or less. So again, checking prices on dates you aren't flying is irrelevant.

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

Sorry but if you are aware of it, then you know you can't possibly get a fare on Southwest for which they have no schedules or prices out yet! Doesn't make sense.

 

I'm not sure what's so difficult to understand about this. It's simple. I am trying to find a less-expensive flight than Continetal's which has already been released for the dates I am interested in. I have never flown SW so I decided to check them out (EVEN THOUGH MY DATES HAVE NOT YET BEEN RELEASED) and was surprised at their charging "one-way" and also the price being very high even at the lower-peak times that I checked. I would assume that my dates would be even higher than the dates I checked due to several reasons. That's common sense, is it not? Not sure why I'm being treated like I have 3 heads. I never said I was expecting my dates to be the same as the dummy dates I checked. Again, I was just getting a ballpark and idea as to HOW THEY CHARGE as I have never flown another airline other than Continental.

 

I've gotten plenty of great advice and tips to think about from other posters, so I'm good, thanks! Sorry if I confused anyone, have a great day!

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

Not only is it winter and Spring Break but Feb 20 is President's Day and HUGE amounts of US schools are out for the week, particularly in the NE. The Presidential Florida primaries are the end of your cruise as is Speedweek in Daytona. LOTS of extra need for airline seats.

 

College kids have already booked massive amounts of airline tickets from all over the USA to Spring Break destinations. Flights into PHX at REASONABLE prices are almost sold out (for Lake Havasu Spring Break-which was made HUGELY popular via MTV for Spring Break).

 

You will either have to change your cruise or just suck it up for the airfare. VERY high demand for airline tickets into Florida during your time frame.

 

Thanks for the info, greatam: much appreciated!

[gingerboo]

I'm not sure what's so difficult to understand about this. It's simple. I am trying to find a less-expensive flight than Continetal's which has already been released for the dates I am interested in. I have never flown SW so I decided to check them out (EVEN THOUGH MY DATES HAVE NOT YET BEEN RELEASED) and was surprised at their charging "one-way" and also the price being very high even at the lower-peak times that I checked. I would assume that my dates would be even higher than the dates I checked due to several reasons. That's common sense, is it not? Not sure why I'm being treated like I have 3 heads. I never said I was expecting my dates to be the same as the dummy dates I checked. Again, I was just getting a ballpark and idea as to HOW THEY CHARGE as I have never flown another airline other than Continental.

 

I've gotten plenty of great advice and tips to think about from other posters, so I'm good, thanks! Sorry if I confused anyone, have a great day!

 

Staci, just want to let you know that kayak.com is a great resource for comparative flight pricing! However, you cannot see Southwest on any website but their own, as they do not interline. As of 7-26-11, they will have posted fares through 3-9-12. (Just got off the phone with them). So - you should be able to get some accurate fare prices. It's good that you've stated that you've only flown on CO. Southwest/AirTran is a great airline!! I've flown Southwest several times, and have gotten great deals. Yes, their site shows one-way pricing, but also allows you to see a round/trip price. If you're not familiar with competetive air pricing, find a friend who is. Good luck to you!

[6rugrats]

Not only is it winter and Spring Break but Feb 20 is President's Day and HUGE amounts of US schools are out for the week, particularly in the NE. The Presidential Florida primaries are the end of your cruise as is Speedweek in Daytona. LOTS of extra need for airline seats.

You will either have to change your cruise or just suck it up for the airfare. VERY high demand for airline tickets into Florida during your time frame.

 

I agree; our school districts (in the Pacific northwest) also have that week off, and many families head someplace warm. I think you're going to find expensive pricing for President's week. Please post what you find when you make your decision, as pricing for this week is discussed a lot.

 

Right now, the least expensive fare I see for CLE-FLL for 2/24-3/3 is $417 using a combination of Frontier Airlines and US. Nonstop is $461 on UA/CO. Use those prices to compare what you can find on Southwest when they open their schedule.

[twoputt.plusone]

One other thing to keep in mind is that Feb 20/12 is a statutory holiday in Ontario and Cleveland is a very driveable departure point. Lots of Canadians will be heading south as well.