Airfair

[lnaheart]

Going for the first time, flying out of miami/ft. lauderdale. Is $500 the best I will do? Anyone, Bueller, Bueller?

[nycfeat]

Where have you checked for airfare?

[Scarlett]

Not sure about fares from FL, but it beats my airfare from Phila. I checked with a travel agent who said that fares for that time of year were lowest back in the spring and early summer. Now people are already planning their winter vacations and fares probably won't come down again. You may want to just get your tickets before they go up even further and while you can still get the flights you want.

I have found the best fares by booking directly through the airline's website or by bargaining with them on the phone. The websites like lowestfare.com and sidestep.com are good for identifying the lowest airline, but then you can do even better by going to that airline directly.

Another thought...if you have frequent flyer miles, try using them. Mine were not good on the flights I wanted because they only sell a limited number of seats with those miles.

Good luck and see you in Jamaica!

[Kathy]

That's too much money. We flew out of Miami last year for way less. I haven't booked my flight yet. Have a "fair watch" with travelocity that sends me an email when the price goes up or down $25

They send me lots of emails, but the rates haven't lowered for the dates we need to travel yet. I thing we made it out last year (and I didn't get tickets until Dec. or Jan) and it was $385 pp.

The Holiday inn at Miami airport also has a great drive and fly deal so you can leave your car parked there for free while you're gone.

[Scott Hays]

Kathy ... if you have a flight from Miami for $500 (plus a deal with a local hotel and can leave your car there for free), I would jump on it. I live in California and live closest to a satellite airport ... but last year I somehow (luckily) fell into an extremely rare deal that with United Airlines that allowed me to fly out of Monterey through San Francisco to Philadelphia and then Jamaica for LESS than it would have cost to fly on the exact same route, but starting in San Francisco. I paid $600 last year. Naturally, as soon as I booked a room for this year's gig, I started looking for that same connection. Unfortunately, that particular package never materialized, and United remained (and remains) extremely stubborn about the price of a ticket from Monterey, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles or any other point of exit. This year, it costs $819.

Sometime in May, I began exploring OTHER connections. Different airlines, different routes, staying overnight in Charlotte or Miami or Orlando or Philadelphia (etc etc etc). I have pages of notes. The prices were all unacceptable, and actually always came back to the $819 United price as the best one possible (I was factoring in other factors, I must admit -- driving time, hotel costs, and the like). The BEST deals I could find on any airline out of the East Coast was always in the $500 + range. Perhaps because it was May, I accidentally (like last year) fell into a Jet Blue/Delta deal from San Jose that gave me $371 ticket from JFK to Jamaica -- it was the ONLY flight, on any day, that gave that price. I GRABBED IT on the second day. On the same day, I posted information about the flight to hoyhoy (not here), and a couple of folks responded privately with questions.

So ... that was a long way of saying (I am not so long-winded in person ... only when writing) that the airlines seem to be playing hardball this year, because I haven't seen much flex in prices since March. If you have a $500 ticket in hand, grab it (unless you want to take a chance that a ticket will be cheaper in the second or third week of January).

Hope this helps, and hope to see you there! I'll be the guy in the Little Feat shirt with a big smile on my face (hee hee)

[tenntwister]

Last year I watched the US Airways prices for flights out of Nashville (to Jamaica via Charlotte NC). They started around $600 per person, so I waited. Then in mid September they dropped to a tad over $400, so I grabbed em. This year, I've noticed a $10 drop in last couple weeks to about $590. Keep in mind - fuel costs are higher than last year, but I expect a little more of a drop, maybe in a few weeks - they gotta sell those seats. I can't find anything else worthwhile on connections out of Nashville. Deals might show up out of Atlanta, but that's about 4 hrs away - not worth the drive.

Mac

[Paco]

Hoys--$500. sounds high from Fla...Saul and his wife found airfare non-stop from NJ for under $400.

Paco

[Rollin' Mark]

Mac et al,
cheapseats.com seems (for some reason or another) to have the lowest pricing.
I just did a quick search for Nashville, and the fares are as low as 528.
For Miami it was 392.

Hoys and out.

[nycfeat]

Roomie from Tx found airfare for about $410 from Houston. That's down $119 from last year.

[nycfeat]

Oh yeah. Forgot to mention that she found it on cheapseats too.

[mg]

hoy yalls,
anyone flying thru charlotte on Wednesday, Jan 26th to Mobay? or thru memphis? i am thinking of taking USAir instead of Northwest this year for featcamp, due to lower airfares.
i like to know which characters i'll see on the concourse!
TQ