Cruise booked, now airfare-Yikes!

[whitshel]

Have our cruise booked for January on the Independence, looking for air now and holy moly! Cheapest from San Diego to Fll is around 450. From LA is $400. I Can fly to Orlando for $300 but the a 3 hour drive to Fll. (kids would love it tho)

 

Im sure it will come down some, rite??

 

I did notice that now you can bid on priceline for one-way tix. That is an option too, we really cant bid for our return flight since they cold give you a ticket that leaves as early as 6am and we wouldn't be off the ship that early.

 

Well I guess I have 6 months to find something.....:(

[ARCruisinNana]

Check out Choice Air. They can have some good fares.

[Clarea]

Check out Choice Air. They can have some good fares.

Good idea to check it out, but my experience has been that Choice Air prices are about the same as the airlines for purely domestic routes.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Orlando to FLL isn't a bad drive (I would think ballpark 3-4 hours) but you would need to rent a car, so you will need to add that cost in...would call rental car companies to make sure the drop charge isn't too high...Disney would be a great add on, especially if you can spare a few more days...if you are staying at a Disney on site property (which we love) they have Magical Express which will pick you up from the airport and take you back...then you could rent the car on the way out of town...

[janetz]

Keep an eye on Jet Blue too. :)

[nelblu]

I agree, the airfares are out of this world. We're booked on AOS out of San Juan for the Feb. 10 cruise, but the airfare from Newark is almost $900 which is more than my balcony cost. If the fare does not come down we will probably either cancel or rebook.:mad:

[whitshel]

Orlando to FLL isn't a bad drive (I would think ballpark 3-4 hours) but you would need to rent a car, so you will need to add that cost in...would call rental car companies to make sure the drop charge isn't too high...Disney would be a great add on, especially if you can spare a few more days...if you are staying at a Disney on site property (which we love) they have Magical Express which will pick you up from the airport and take you back...then you could rent the car on the way out of town...

 

Thats what I was thinking, we would probably stay at Reunion resort and rent a 3 br condo, split it with the in-laws. We stayed there a few years ago and it was awesome, rented a house right on the golf course (none of us golf tho:confused:) but it was still fantastic!!

 

We could probably do that for the same price as flying into fll, something to think about....:)

[LBumb]

just keep checking. avoid drive from orlando.

[whitshel]

Keep an eye on Jet Blue too. :)

 

I have, right now its about $550 out of Long Beach. Southwest isnt out yet for the return flight, but going on the 4th one way would be about $250:(

[avazah]

Pretty sure you booked our cruise!

 

I'm finding the same thing. Before I booked the cruise, I checked air fare(we were pricing out the overall cost of several cruises out of different ports) and it seemed like I could score annoying multi-stop flights through southwest for about $200, or nonstop through several airlines for $250. Now that we booked a few weeks ago, I've been watching airfare, and it seems like I can't find anything for less than $350! (This is all out of the NY area, but we have 3 airports to choose from, so you'd think it'd be easier!)

 

Past experience dictates that airfare fluctuates a lot. I guess we just have to keep looking until we find good airfare...

[Desert Cruizers]

Whitshel I checked prices out of Palm Springs since we are 2.5 hrs from you and see a United flight with 1 stop in Denver, for $439.70 pp

[baggal]

Have our cruise booked for January on the Independence, looking for air now and holy moly! Cheapest from San Diego to Fll is around 450. From LA is $400. I Can fly to Orlando for $300 but the a 3 hour drive to Fll. (kids would love it tho)

 

Im sure it will come down some, rite??

 

I did notice that now you can bid on priceline for one-way tix. That is an option too, we really cant bid for our return flight since they cold give you a ticket that leaves as early as 6am and we wouldn't be off the ship that early.

 

Well I guess I have 6 months to find something.....:(

 

How much did you expect to pay?

[whitshel]

Pretty sure you booked our cruise!

 

I'm finding the same thing. Before I booked the cruise, I checked air fare(we were pricing out the overall cost of several cruises out of different ports) and it seemed like I could score annoying multi-stop flights through southwest for about $200, or nonstop through several airlines for $250. Now that we booked a few weeks ago, I've been watching airfare, and it seems like I can't find anything for less than $350! (This is all out of the NY area, but we have 3 airports to choose from, so you'd think it'd be easier!)

 

Past experience dictates that airfare fluctuates a lot. I guess we just have to keep looking until we find good airfare...

 

I saw your posts on the roll call, we'll be there with ya! Ive been checking all airports with in driving distance, all LA area even Las Vegas, as well as all FL airports. Like I said it will just be a waiting game I guess. I dont mind Pricelining either which I will try going whether the prices comes down or not. The flight coming home we will be pretty much stuck with unless we stay til monday, but the kids have school starting Monday (high school, so we really shouldnt miss )so we really didnt want to do that.

[yogimax]

Im sure it will come down some, rite??

 

 

Nope, at some point you will have to bite the bullet. Transcontinental flights are probably unlikely to drop below $350 on the major carriers.

[whitshel]

How much did you expect to pay?

 

Between $250 and $400, I know its a game and hopefully I can win.:D If I can fly to MCO for $300 (Tourist trap) I'm hoping south Florida will come down as well.

 

Last year when I found an awesome deal on the Eclipse with 4 days til sailing, we drove to Phoenix to catch our flight. Every where in So-Cal was $550 plus, PHX was $350 so we drove to PHX. And I know $200 doesn't seem like a lot to some but when you have to multiply that times 4 it adds up. Driving to PHX probably saved us $500 factoring in gas n hotel.

 

Like I said I will play this game til its too late.....:cool:

[whitshel]

Nope, at some point you will have to bite the bullet. Transcontinental flights are probably unlikely to drop below $350 on the major carriers.

 

Your rite, if i can $350 out of SAN I would be happy.....:)

[cruise 4 fun]

Keep checking one way flights. We recently did this trip and used Southwest to FLL and Delta home. Southwest fares kept dropping, so I was able to take advantage of that as well. Total cost for each person was $330 in June. Delta fares fluctuate greatly (as much as $150 pp). When you see the lower fare, just book it!

Good luck.

[dacsmom]

I am right there with you. I only have to go from South Carolina to Orlando in Feb. 2013. The airfare is $400 plus baggage. I drove before and hate it. The train is a good option for me, it is under $200 round trip baggage included but it takes 8 hours. I am also looking at a hotel that has transportation to the port included in the price and so far none will pick up from Amtrak. At least I have a while to find a decent fare.

[newbiecruiser09]

Between $250 and $400, I know its a game and hopefully I can win.:D If I can fly to MCO for $300 (Tourist trap) I'm hoping south Florida will come down as well.

 

 

 

MCO may be cheaper in Jan since most kids/families (ie a big Disney target audience) are back at school. South FLA may be higher cause there are more audiences for those locations.

 

When I see a price I can live with I take it. We are traveling Christmas time and saw RT for just under $350 last Feb so I took it. Now prices for the same flights are over $550.:eek:

[loubetti]

It's all about destination and time of year. I'm paying $378 to go from Newark, NJ to Fort Lauderdale this week (includes $58 up charge for roomier exit row seats). I also don't pay for the first bag, as I have a United / Continental credit card.

 

The reality is that airfares are still basically lower than ever. Yes, they nickel and dime you elsewhere, but if you look back, these are not high prices.

 

Example: In 1971 we paid around $600 PP to fly R/T from New York to Milan (with a connecting flight to Pisa), Italy. That same year my father bought a new Cadillac for $7400. Do the math. :rolleyes:

[sarahmkruse]

Check flights into Miami as well. It's a horrible airport, but it would be a closer drive than from MCO. I am on the West Coast as well and recently did JetBlue from San Francisco to FLL, non-stop and it was about $420 per person. Not the cheapest fare ever, but non-stop is worth it to me. Also, have you checked Virgin America?

[Desert Cruizers]

We avoid LAX as much as possible, since flights out of Palm Springs ( PSP) will take us directly East, with maybe a change in Denver of Dallas or NON stop. We get asked why we don't save $250 + and go out of LAX, we tell them, then it means an overnight stay at a hotel, food and gas for the car, and we prefer to have the convenience of leaving and coming home to our own airport and in the long run, aen't saving anything

[whitshel]

Ok I found airfare to Fll from LAX for $150 one way. Its on Southwest which in someways is good because if i find a rate as low as this from San Diego I can switch with no change fees, or a better time (leaves at 2pm and arrives @12:30 am) plus no bag fees. So this seems like a no brainer....

 

On the return trip I found a wired fare that i probably need your help on. United from West Palm beach which is ok, and goes to Vegas but it stops over in LA first (Change planes) then on to Vegas for $126. The question is can we just get off in LA and not do the last leg. That sounds pretty easy but Im wondering about checked luggage?? Anyone have any experiences with this?

 

And yes, to book united from west palm beach to LA by itself is $233 over $100 more for a shorter flight.:eek:

 

So total round trip would be $275 which isnt too bad....

[whyrlygig]

Fares are nuts recently! I booked our flights for Feb 11th in to MIA via Sun Country and we will cab it to Port Everglades and save nearly $400!

[Buckeye State Cruisers]

We normal cruise out of PC and fly into MCO and usually pay around $200 pp rt. This year we booked Oasis and had to fly into FLL. Airfare was over $500 pp rt :eek: I checked on non stop flights to MCO and we could have gotten them for $300 and had a 3 1/2 hr car ride. I chose the FLL and am really glad we did. It is a very easy airport to navigate (if you have ever been through Orlando you know what I mean) One tip no one told us is don't bother with the hotel shuttle they will circle the airport for an hour or so picking up other passengers. Take a taxi (they are extremely plentiful) and it only cost about $10-$15. After the fiasco with the hotel shuttle we checked out of the hotel and had the front desk call a cab. He was there within minutes and we were at the ship in great time.