Airline fare from NYC to MIA in April - why so expensive?

[jamislandbaby]

I decided to take my sister on her first cruise to celebrate her birthday in April. She's disabled and due to mobility issues doesn't go out much so i wanted to treat her to a nice vacation. I booked a 5 day cruise on the Carnival Victory for the end of April (April 24-30) last year in March. The Victory changed ports and Carnival switched us to the Sensation with $100 OBC. I had casually looked around for flights in May but didn't book anything. I had a pretty rough 2015 and I got sidetracked and didn't look for flights. Now, that the trip is approaching I have been looking for flights since January but the fare prices are just ridiculous ($400+) and all of the "cheaper" fares have early return flights (btwn 6am-10am) that I know I can't make. I've even considered flying out of FLL or driving to Philadelphia and the fares are still costly. Does anyone know why fares are so high for that week? I figured spring break is over by then so that can't be the issue. I really don't want to cancel this trip as my sister is really looking forward to it but these airline fares are ridiculous :(

[Keith1010]

All comes down to supply and demand.

 

Sometimes the longer you wait the price goes up and sometimes down.

 

You are still in the season.

 

Keith

[Clarea]

I decided to take my sister on her first cruise to celebrate her birthday in April. She's disabled and due to mobility issues doesn't go out much so i wanted to treat her to a nice vacation. I booked a 5 day cruise on the Carnival Victory for the end of April (April 24-30) last year in March. The Victory changed ports and Carnival switched us to the Sensation with $100 OBC. I had casually looked around for flights in May but didn't book anything. I had a pretty rough 2015 and I got sidetracked and didn't look for flights. Now, that the trip is approaching I have been looking for flights since January but the fare prices are just ridiculous ($400+) and all of the "cheaper" fares have early return flights (btwn 6am-10am) that I know I can't make. I've even considered flying out of FLL or driving to Philadelphia and the fares are still costly. Does anyone know why fares are so high for that week? I figured spring break is over by then so that can't be the issue. I really don't want to cancel this trip as my sister is really looking forward to it but these airline fares are ridiculous :(

Must be a popular time to fly, demand is high, and supply is low.

[CruiserBruce]

The cheapest fares have already been booked.

[jamislandbaby]

Thanks for everyone responses. I guess I'll keep monitoring the fares online. A friend told me that it's still a possibility that the prices may go down

[BlueHerons]

I decided to take my sister on her first cruise to celebrate her birthday in April. Does anyone know why fares are so high for that week? I figured spring break is over by then so that can't be the issue. I really don't want to cancel this trip as my sister is really looking forward to it but these airline fares are ridiculous :(

 

It has nothing to do with Spring break. Our tourism is more European and South American based.

 

What about taking Amtrak?

[jamislandbaby]

It has nothing to do with Spring break. Our tourism is more European and South American based.

 

What about taking Amtrak?

 

Amtrak is the same price as flying and would require that we leave 2 days before. I would be better off flying

[skrufy]

Looked at the prices out of the N.Y. area and they are sky high. Heres another option, but its a bit of a hassle. Philidelphia to Tampa, there are round trip flights from between 2 and 3 hundred. From Tampa you could lease a car one way to Miami and one way back to Tampa. Its about a 4 to 41/2 hour drive to Miami. This would only work if you fly in the day prior to your cruise.

[CruiserBruce]

Thanks for everyone responses. I guess I'll keep monitoring the fares online. A friend told me that it's still a possibility that the prices may go down

 

I think this a risky proposition, given you are less than two months prior to sailing. I would think the odds are prices will go up, not down.

[BlueHerons]

Thanks for everyone responses. I guess I'll keep monitoring the fares online. A friend told me that it's still a possibility that the prices may go down

 

For your time period, they are probably going to go up.

[jamislandbaby]

Looked at the prices out of the N.Y. area and they are sky high. Heres another option, but its a bit of a hassle. Philidelphia to Tampa, there are round trip flights from between 2 and 3 hundred. From Tampa you could lease a car one way to Miami and one way back to Tampa. Its about a 4 to 41/2 hour drive to Miami. This would only work if you fly in the day prior to your cruise.

 

Thank you for the suggestion. I will look into that.

[Justprettynpink]

Have you checked the air through the cruise line? Call Carnival and see what their rates are. Princess' EZair is cheaper than booking direct with the airline (we are also sailing in April)

 

CLT to FLL $361

[Tcas1]

A lot of schools are off that week in NY. It's Passover week. That could be why prices seem higher.

[e050377]

Our kids Spring Break is the week of April 25th.

[NCEMT]

I decided to take my sister on her first cruise to celebrate her birthday in April. She's disabled and due to mobility issues doesn't go out much so i wanted to treat her to a nice vacation. I booked a 5 day cruise on the Carnival Victory for the end of April (April 24-30) last year in March. The Victory changed ports and Carnival switched us to the Sensation with $100 OBC. I had casually looked around for flights in May but didn't book anything. I had a pretty rough 2015 and I got sidetracked and didn't look for flights. Now, that the trip is approaching I have been looking for flights since January but the fare prices are just ridiculous ($400+) and all of the "cheaper" fares have early return flights (btwn 6am-10am) that I know I can't make. I've even considered flying out of FLL or driving to Philadelphia and the fares are still costly. Does anyone know why fares are so high for that week? I figured spring break is over by then so that can't be the issue. I really don't want to cancel this trip as my sister is really looking forward to it but these airline fares are ridiculous :(

 

 

we are taking a cruise from the 11th to the 16th I set an alert with trip advisor, and was able to get round trip with south west staying another day, instead of leaving on saturday the 16th we leave the 17th, even with the extra hotel room cost I am still saving 154.00 for the two tickets, have you look at Newark?

[jamislandbaby]

Have you checked the air through the cruise line? Call Carnival and see what their rates are. Princess' EZair is cheaper than booking direct with the airline (we are also sailing in April)

 

CLT to FLL $361

 

I'm going to Carnival tonight as final payment is due today. I'll see what prices they give me.

[jamislandbaby]

A lot of schools are off that week in NY. It's Passover week. That could be why prices seem higher.

 

Our kids Spring Break is the week of April 25th.

 

I totally forgot that public schools are closed for spring recess that week :eek:. Aww man

[jamislandbaby]

we are taking a cruise from the 11th to the 16th I set an alert with trip advisor, and was able to get round trip with south west staying another day, instead of leaving on saturday the 16th we leave the 17th, even with the extra hotel room cost I am still saving 154.00 for the two tickets, have you look at Newark?

 

Yeah, I looked at Newark too. It's still in the same price range as flying out of JFK or LGA.

[NJLVW]

I was in the same situation and have been watching flights since last year when they were released. It is school recess for schools in our area. I did not think of this when I booked my cruise either. The prices are over the top. In my case a week before or a week after they were less expensive and I did look at going out to different states, dates & airlines. In the end I decided I wanted the cruise that I booked so I just booked my flights as they are continuing to go up and not down. :(:eek::( Good luck finding something.

[trish1c]

Use a travel site that lets you search multiple APs at a time. You mentioned Philly but you also need to consider EWR. LGA, JFK, ISP, Westchester & Atlantic City. look at flights plus or minus 1 day. Don't forget Southwest which does not price through the major sites.

 

We're saving almost $300 by flying out of JFK rather than EWR. There's a Delta hub that usually has better fares.

 

Good luck.

[Justprettynpink]

Also try this site

 

https://matrix.itasoftware.com/

[Pia1913]

Besides spring break up North, you are also dealing with Passover being April 22nd; same weekend you want. I wouldn't expect the fares to go down much, if at all.

[FreestyleNovice]

$367.69

Economy class

1 adult

 

Check your itinerary (All times are local)

 

Warning

You are departing from LGA but returning to JFK.

 

OUTBOUND -

Saturday, Apr 23, 2016

British Airways

BA1389

8:00 PM LGA New York La Guardia

11:08 PM MIA Miami International

Arrives: Saturday, Apr 23, 2016Journey duration: 3h 08m

 

RETURN -

Saturday, Apr 30, 2016

Iberia

IB9210

9:20 AM

MIA

Miami International

12:13 PM JFK New York John F. Kennedy

Arrives: Saturday, Apr 30, 2016Journey duration: 2h 53m

 

Lowest I could find on Skyscanner.com Had my settings on a Dutch IP address/US language/USD price but with the nation flag option set on The Netherlands.. if I changed the nation flag to the US I got a JetBlue flight EWR-FLL-EWR with an evening return flight as lowest priced option, going at $419.

 

As other posters said, prices will probably go up now, yield management.

[FreestyleNovice]

Oh and this one:

 

€ 368,79

Economy class

1 volwassene

 

Roughly $404 per person.. so the 400 fare is still around for flying in on embarkation day.

 

HEENREIS - zondag 24 apr. 2016

British Airways

BA4350

Uitgevoerd door American Airlines

08:15 JFK New York John F Kennedy

11:26 MIA Miami Internationaal

Aankomst: zondag 24 apr. 2016Reisduur: 3u 11

 

TERUGREIS - zaterdag 30 apr. 2016

British Airways

BA6998

Uitgevoerd door American Airlines

09:30 MIA Miami

Internationaal

12:30 LGA New York La Guardia

Aankomst: zaterdag 30 apr. 2016Reisduur: 3u

 

Sorry for the Dutch, had already switched back..

 

Fares found through Skyscanner.com. Fares could/should be bookable through the Dutch site vlucht24.nl (use Google Translate/Chrome's auto translation) and perhaps even the British Airways site. As this found rate is a BA fare on a code share.

 

Not a real help but you need to get to the ship somehow.. ;) Both return flights are on the very early side but was the best flight dollar wise, an hour later would add another hundred.

[zoncom]

J, Wish you had stated you were before date of final payment here so you could have negotiated with CCL . Do they know you have a disabled person? If not, and you will need a disabled cabin, call them asking for a supervisor in Special Needs dept. Tell them you were changed, cannot find affordable air at this late date and need both a handicapped cabin and affordable NYC air to FLL. Its worth a try. Also pull up SouthWest monthly air chart for April. Every day is different. They only do FLL but the shared van stand to Miami Port is just outside FLL bag pickup. Allow an hour to Miami port. Good luck, you gotta ask!