Airfare Nightmare!

[Kimmy47]

My husband and I are looking to book the Liberty of the Seas on April 21st for a 5 day cruise, we are already booked on the Oasis in Feb but decided we could really use a nice getaway!

 

The rates are very doable right now BUT the airfare is a nightmare! Does anyone have any idea how to book airfare for the least expensive rates?

 

We would like to fly out the day before from Detroit and I think the cruise leaves from Fort Lauderdale. We could also fly out of Dayton or Columbus as well.

 

Any trips we have gone on before, we have booked airfare as soon as our trip is planned but since this is pretty last minute, we are not finding anything.

 

Driving would take us 18 hours. :confused:

Edited March 24, 2014 by Kimmy47

[erros]

Have you tried ChoiceAir from the cruise line. We got a great rate from Europe.

[Mary521]

I think flights have just been high anywhere lately unfortunately!!

 

 

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[mrpayroll]

Easter weekend + late in the game = high fares...:(

[hgmizzou]

Did you try Southwest?

[Mrdell]

Unfortunately Easter and Spring break makes Air Fares very high this time of year. You might want to try Southwest. Sometimes you can pick up a cheap flight but the odds are not too good at these dates! Also try to leave on a different day of the week. It might be cheaper to book a hotel room for a night.

[NMG318]

Allegiant Air has pretty good airfares. They problem is the days they fly and cities they go to don't always line up. They fly out of Columbus, OH, and Detroit.

[At Sea 4Ever]

Try booking one way tickets instead of round trip sometimes that works cheaper. Check on off hours of the day and in the middle of the night. Try using a combination of different airports. And last try flying in the day of the cruise maybe the day before is just a higher rate that day. Good luck!

 

 

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[Kimmy47]

Ok great advise, I will keep trying!!!

[Globaliser]

The rates are very doable right now BUT the airfare is a nightmare!

What do you mean by "nightmare"? What do you expect it to cost you?

 

Even allowing for the fact that you can't get an early flight back on 26 April when your ship returns, on a quick and dirty search I can see plenty of options for $350-400 from Dayton or Columbus.

[bucks724]

May not be the most attractive option, but I'll throw it out since you're willing to drive to Detroit OR Columbus. Try flying into Orlando or Tampa on Southwest. We have saved HALF flying from CMH to MCO and then spent $40 on a rental that we pick up at MCO and drop off at MIA (we left from POM) and then took advantage of the free shuttle to the POM from the airport. It saved us a TON, and we didn't have to pay for transfers to the ship. On the return, we rented from a company that had a shuttle back to the the rental company and drove back to Orlando and spent the day there before flying home the next morning!

 

Hope that helps!

[bucks724]

I just looked out of curiosity. If you fly out of Columbus on 4/20 and can wait to fly home on Monday 4/28, you can fly to and from Orlando for $119 per person each way.

[bucks724]

Sorry to rapid fire you, but a late flight out on Friday is $119 as well - it would give time to drive up. 8:40 pm on Friday - nonstop - $119.

[Kimmy47]

Thanks Bucks 724, I will check that way as well!

We love Southwest, so maybe flying into these ports are a little less expensive.

Since this would be (if possible) a spur of the moment rip, we were hoping to keep airfare around $500-$600.

You all have given me some great advise, hopefully I can get something worked out!

Thanks again!

[Eileen G]

Have you used Kayak? looks like the fares on American are $238. How much did you expect to pay? That's flying in on April 20 and out on April 26.

[Globaliser]

looks like the fares on American are $238.

I saw fares at that level, but they involve departing from Fort Lauderdale too early on the morning that the ship returns.

[6rugrats]

This is hardly a "nightmare". It's just going to be expensive.

[apamperedmom]

We had the same problem just a few weeks back. I think flights are just up across the board. Also try booking on different airlines for inbound and outbound. That has worked for us in the past. It also gave us more flexibility on flight times. We will be on the Liberty 04-21 as well. good luck :)

 

 

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[Kimmy47]

Thank you everyone who supplied such helpful hints!! We are booked with both air and the cruise!!

 

Super excited!!!