Airfare

[Kairi_7378]

It has been awful since 2012 or so. I think our flights for Sept 2012 were 50% higher than the ones for Sept 2011. In Feb 2011 we had to fly to Orlando unexpectedly (funeral) and it cost almost $700 per person. That is the one of the main reasons that we are taking a year off!

[mrs.jacksparrow]

I just got $270 on Delta from NJ in November and booked it quick. This is without a Saturday night stay! We got a 7:00 am depart that gives us a 11:30 morning arrival with a 5:00 pm return not bad for a quick 5 day/4 night trip. I did not see any discounts coming and was afraid to wait any longer. There is just not enough competition in the market anymore. Time wsa I could get down to Orlando for $150 round trip...not anymore....

[Aurora]

Must be a sale on Delta going on. I've been looking for my brother, and for his dates in January, it's down to $221 round trip from Denver. Mind you, there's a stopover, but that's still pretty low.

[mudpuppysmom]

Sadly I think the days of cheap flights are a thing of he past. I recall one trip DS#1 and I took during January when I paid $180 ROUNDTRIP for BOTH of us via Southwest!! Yes, $45 each way!! These days one might be lucky to find $145 each way!! Airfare is what made us not go last week, just he kids and I. DH did not want me driving 15 hours alone with the kids....I'll admit, I wasn't crazy about it either, but I thought about it! Looking forward SW has sales going on, but that $143 IS THE SALE FARE!! For four of us to fly we could drive TWICE!

[Fangorn]

It has been awful since 2012 or so. I think our flights for Sept 2012 were 50% higher than the ones for Sept 2011.

A big part of this is explained by the change in how the airlines are required to show fares. Prior to January 2012, airlines displayed just their fares. Taxes and fees (which are significant) were added to the total when you booked. The Feds now require all those taxes and fees to be included in the price the airlines show you up front.

The result: psychologically, it appears that airline prices have soared. At the same time, the government can raise taxes on airfare and most everyone will blame the airlines for those increases.

Airfare has indeed increased on it's own, but any comparison between 2011 and now is generally going to be a apples/oranges type of comparison.

Also, I find that prices are terribly reflective of markets and airline operation models. This particularly applies to Southwest. For instance, I live in Portland, OR. I can routinely get a flight to MCO for $139 one/way. If I want to go to Disneyland instead, a flight to Orange County (or any other airport in SoCal) will typically run $159 or more. Both trips will have one stop, but the PDX-MCO trip is 3 times the distance. On more than one occasion, I've had business in Dallas, and found it to be cheaper to come home by first going to Orlando (to visit my son) and then fly home from Orlando. The total cost of the flight from Dallas to MCO and then MCO to Portland was less than the cost of flying from Dallas to Portland.

Steve

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

I just checked SW out of Boston for the first week on November and it's back down to $245.00. That's still $35.00 higher than what I paid 2 weeks ago, buy much better than the $435.00 it had gone up to, out of Providence! So keep checking and check the individual websites for the airlines as well. Sometimes they are cheaper than Expedia or Travelocity etc. And it's usually cheapest on a Tuesday night, or so I've been told.

[DVC2004]

I kept checking, it still kept climbing. I ended up finding round trip nonstop air for 4 from Chicago O'Hare to LA for $655 total. So, we are going to Disneyland/Universal Studios Hollywood instead. I just couldn't justify spending $1300 plus for us to go to Orlando when it usually runs us less than $700. The extra money I saved will pay for our Disnyland park tickets. Crazy that a 2500 mile flight is half the price of an 1100 mile one.

[spoiledraf]

Booked all our rooms and ADRs starting Dec. 1 only to realize that's the Sunday after a late Thanksgiving so you know the flight down will be pricey with everyone heading home after Thanksgiving. Not to mention the airports and planes will be packed. Right now out of Pittsburgh it will cost us $340 each R/T. On the bright side (sort of) it's a 6am non-stop flight so we'll be at the world early morning, barring bad weather or flight delays of some kind. Our last flight down was a 9:30 am flight changed to 10:30 changed to 11:30 delayed by a mechanical problem til 3pm. Pretty much blew our first day.

[spoiledraf]

i just couldn't justify spending $1300 plus for us to go to Orlando when it usually runs us less than $700. The extra money I saved will pay for our Disnyland park tickets. Crazy that a 2500 mile flight is half the price of an 1100 mile one.

I think the airlines have figured out the economy is doing well enough for a lot of people to start going to or going back to Disney. And they are going to get their share of the $$$ pie!

[Disney Doll]

We're not close so airfare has always been a huge chunk of our vacation expense. When we first started regular trips about 10 years ago we could get round trip for $250 per person. Now we consider $300 per person a good deal. Just booked yesterday and spent about $308 per person for round trip tickets in February. We had been watching prices and they fluctuate a lot. Keep checking and be flexible with your travel dates if you can. We elected to shuffle our days because a Tues-Tues was cheaper than a Mon-Mon.