I'm finally close enough - relatively speaking, of course - to start looking at our flight to Ft Lauderdale next November. All of a sudden, air fares have skyrocketed... I'm talking doubling or tripling what they were just last month. Right now, all I'm finding is $800 being the low end of the price spectrum. I hate to say this, but these prices could be a deal breaker. I was looking at a mid-winter getaway sail on Carnival out of Galveston. 5 days for $299.... airfare would cost us $375. Make sense? I don't think so. Anyone else looking at outrageous air fare possibilities?
I'm finally close enough - relatively speaking, of course - to start looking at our flight to Ft Lauderdale next November. All of a sudden, air fares have skyrocketed... I'm talking doubling or tripling what they were just last month. Right now, all I'm finding is $800 being the low end of the price spectrum. I hate to say this, but these prices could be a deal breaker. I was looking at a mid-winter getaway sail on Carnival out of Galveston. 5 days for $299.... airfare would cost us $375. Make sense? I don't think so. Anyone else looking at outrageous air fare possibilities?
They've been warning for months that fares would be significantly increased after October. We have several older threads that discuss it. In fact that caused me to book air for our June 2009 cruise back in September.
The days of cheap air are probably gone, along with the free sodas, peanuts, and pillows. It will affect my future cruises too.
How about looking at a cruise from Los Angeles or San Diego? It would be quite a bit closer to drive, not that it wouldn't be a hike. We drive to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami from North Alabama. We tack on an extra day for travel. It could be done in 14-16 hours straight, but I can't do that anymore.
I was hoping to take my family on a Bahamas cruise next February and was looking at a NCL 4 day itinerary. Unfortunately it would cost more to get the 7 of us to Florida than the total for the cruise. I am leaning heavily to departing from NY or Charleston on a 7 day so we can drive to the cruise port.
The only problem with San Diego or LA is that one is limited to Mexico - or the 2 weeks to Hawaii thing. Done Mexico twice by ship - - not sure I can convince the other half to do it again (and again and again etc...) I tried it for a holiday cruise this year. His response is not printable on a family forum.....LOL. Maybe if everybody stops their non-essential flying, the airlines will bring down fares to attract fliers. The interesting thing is, when I checked the flights on Travelocity, the price is $304; going straight to the airlines website, the same flight is $798. Go figure.
That doesn't sound right to me either. I never ever have seen such a difference in one of the mega online booking engines and booking direct on the airline websites. In fact, whenever I compare they are always very similar and I wonder why anyone even uses those sights. Travelocity may have been showing the starting prices, but unless you go through the procedure of actually booking it may not have been available.
I just booked airfare for March to go from Nashville to London, and back from Munich. It was $663. It seems like the better air prices are International, and domestic prices have just gotten ridiculous. I'm sure after the Holidays there will be some sales. Of course, traveling during peak times such as Spring Break, don't expect good prices. Prices will flucuate and you just have to be there when they do. It's a gamble. The airfare is like the stock market and gas prices though. You don't know from one day to the next what they will be. Airlines can release space that had been held and unsold by groups, and they could release more seats that were held back due to yield management. It is known that booking flights midweek after the 7th of the month is better. Stay away from paydays of the 1st and 15th. Book very early or very late on a Wednesday or Thursday.
The airlines are in worse trouble than the auto industries. They are extra charging people to the brink. Now in selected airports you can pay $25/pp for express security screening, gee how convenient for a terrorist. Does Southwest fly out of your area? They normally have decent fares, and can get you close to where you need to go. Have you done the Panama Canal Transit cruise? I'd love to do that one.
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