Airfare for August trip?

kandb

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 22, 2006
I know this is the million dollar question about when is the best time to buy airfare. We are coming from NYC airports to either Tampa or MCO (we are doing a week at Clearwater and a week at WDW). Travel dates are 8/11 thru 8/25 but can change them by a few days for cheaper flights. We fly JetBlue. JetBlue had flights for $48 each way this past week for dates in May. Right now the flights for August are super high (around $300-roundtrip). I know I have to wait it out but does anyone know when the price starts dropping? Is it best to wait a few months before to purchase our tickets?
 
I know this is the million dollar question about when is the best time to buy airfare. We are coming from NYC airports to either Tampa or MCO (we are doing a week at Clearwater and a week at WDW). Travel dates are 8/11 thru 8/25 but can change them by a few days for cheaper flights. We fly JetBlue. JetBlue had flights for $48 each way this past week for dates in May. Right now the flights for August are super high (around $300-roundtrip). I know I have to wait it out but does anyone know when the price starts dropping? Is it best to wait a few months before to purchase our tickets?
August prices won't necessarily drop as summer pricing is higher than May pricing. Maybe you can play around with the dates, check out Wednesday to Wednesday flights instead.

I'm from central Texas (similar distance in a different direction) and $300 round trip to MCO is common pricing for us in the summer.
 
I know this is the million dollar question about when is the best time to buy airfare. We are coming from NYC airports to either Tampa or MCO (we are doing a week at Clearwater and a week at WDW). Travel dates are 8/11 thru 8/25 but can change them by a few days for cheaper flights. We fly JetBlue. JetBlue had flights for $48 each way this past week for dates in May. Right now the flights for August are super high (around $300-roundtrip). I know I have to wait it out but does anyone know when the price starts dropping? Is it best to wait a few months before to purchase our tickets?
I'll tell you EXACTLY when to be online to purchase the cheapest tickets. All I need from you is what the winning Powerball numbers will be for the next drawing. Deal?

No one knows. Even the studies that say "7 weeks out" or "3 months" or anything all say that's an average, and there's enough exceptions, you can't use it as a rule.
 


I wish I knew the answer to this too. We booked our airfare going down with Southwest and got great prices but when it was time to book our flights going home, prices shot up 200 bucks each ticket and we are now currently searching for something else. I think we're going to lock in our return flight soon because it's making me nuts. I can't keep watching-it's making me too nervous!
 
August is a prime travel time. Unless there is an unusual sale, you probably already missed the best prices.

You are SO RIGHT !!!! I am flying from Philly to Orlando 8/3 thru 8/18. I have been flying Frontier for the past 3 years. Well I missed a good airfare deal. Frontier hasn't released it's full August schedule/fares yet....BUT.......on 2/22 I found flights leaving Friday nite 8/3 or early Sat morning 8/4 for only $66 !!!! I didn't have my timeshare resort confirmed so I let it go. I bet that was a HUGE mistake. I should have booked one of those because either one would work!!! Now its $106 on Friday night and $136 Saturday morning......that one-way fare could have been a RoundTrip if I had booked it as soon as I saw it. Ok Granted.....8/18 flights havent been released but even if I paid $106 coming back and $66 going down, that was still less than $200 round trip...i could KICK myself !!!!! :sad2: :sick:
 


Summer pricing is CRAZY! We are flying CA-FL for WDW in July. Bought one way for $182 each on Southwest (apparently bargain pricing). Still need to buy the other leg which is sitting at $280. I am kicking myself because it had been $214 and I stupidly thought it would go lower. Not so much. Other airlines are approaching $600/person round trip once you factor in choosing a seat and the baggage fees. It's nuts!
 
Summer pricing is CRAZY! We are flying CA-FL for WDW in July. Bought one way for $182 each on Southwest (apparently bargain pricing). Still need to buy the other leg which is sitting at $280. I am kicking myself because it had been $214 and I stupidly thought it would go lower. Not so much. Other airlines are approaching $600/person round trip once you factor in choosing a seat and the baggage fees. It's nuts!
Have you looked at flying direct in/out of LAX to Orlando? I’m going to WDW for a long weekend in July (haven’t bought my ticket yet) and American has been sitting at $357 round trip for my dates. I won’t book until it gets to around 60 days since this price has held steady and the flights have barely any seats sold at this point.
 
Have you looked at flying direct in/out of LAX to Orlando? I’m going to WDW for a long weekend in July (haven’t bought my ticket yet) and American has been sitting at $357 round trip for my dates. I won’t book until it gets to around 60 days since this price has held steady and the flights have barely any seats sold at this point.

The flights I’m looking for out of NJ have barely any seats sold, as well. I’m hoping that works in our favor!
 
The flights I’m looking for out of NJ have barely any seats sold, as well. I’m hoping that works in our favor!
The other thing to check is if the prices have held steady for months. I only fly on American so I never book airfare more than 60/65 days out because at that point pricing starts to becoming more competitive as they have seats to sell.
 
Have you looked at flying direct in/out of LAX to Orlando? I’m going to WDW for a long weekend in July (haven’t bought my ticket yet) and American has been sitting at $357 round trip for my dates. I won’t book until it gets to around 60 days since this price has held steady and the flights have barely any seats sold at this point.

Nope. We won't do LAX. It doesn't end up being worth it. We live very close to SNA (like 10 min drive) so we can Uber to the airport and back, for a total of about $25. Saves on airport parking, which we would have to pay if we go to LAX. Nevermind that we HATE that airport with the passion of a million fiery suns. Plus, we are looking to fly out Tuesday and come back on a Saturday (late night arrival). I don't want to have to get in the car and drive home from LAX at 10pm after flying for 6 hours. In addition, a $357 round trip is for Basic Economy and doesn't include baggage fees AND requires the crack of dawn return time, which is also out of the question. If we actually choose flight times that work for us, the base fare jumps to $393, plus $25 for a checked bag, plus however much they decide to charge us to choose our seats (which we have to be able to do). It's just not worth it.

In addition, I also already paid for the one way Southwest flight. So, I don't want to be out that money, and it was actually a reasonable price. All the other major carriers are sitting around $179 out of LAX (basic economy), but we got $182 out of SNA on Southwest.

We also don't prefer nonstop flights. We like to have a stop halfway through so our kids can get a change of scenery, and grab something to eat. They are both autistic and being cooped up in the same seat for 6 hours is hard on them.
 
Nope. We won't do LAX. It doesn't end up being worth it. We live very close to SNA (like 10 min drive) so we can Uber to the airport and back, for a total of about $25. Saves on airport parking, which we would have to pay if we go to LAX. Nevermind that we HATE that airport with the passion of a million fiery suns. Plus, we are looking to fly out Tuesday and come back on a Saturday (late night arrival). I don't want to have to get in the car and drive home from LAX at 10pm after flying for 6 hours. In addition, a $357 round trip is for Basic Economy and doesn't include baggage fees AND requires the crack of dawn return time, which is also out of the question. If we actually choose flight times that work for us, the base fare jumps to $393, plus $25 for a checked bag, plus however much they decide to charge us to choose our seats (which we have to be able to do). It's just not worth it.

In addition, I also already paid for the one way Southwest flight. So, I don't want to be out that money, and it was actually a reasonable price. All the other major carriers are sitting around $179 out of LAX (basic economy), but we got $182 out of SNA on Southwest.

We also don't prefer nonstop flights. We like to have a stop halfway through so our kids can get a change of scenery, and grab something to eat. They are both autistic and being cooped up in the same seat for 6 hours is hard on them.
Just a FYI for others looking at LAX/MCO on American. There is no basic economy on that route as of now, there are blocks of seats that are an upcharge (preferred and main cabin extra) but regular main cabin doesn’t have a charge for picking a seat.
 
Today I decided to book our flight from Newark to MCO for 8/9 for $135 and it's a decent 11am flight time. I really wanted cheaper than $135 but it was a good price and we really don't want to fly out of JFK or LGA, so I booked. Waiting on the return flight. Might go to Tampa or even West Palm Beach if MCO prices don't go down.
 
I booked the day they came out for $288 RT but I did add the even more space seats for our return. Our days were fairly flexible since my sister wasn’t coming so that helped in picking cheaper days to travel.

A friend is arriving the Saturday we return home and said flights were expensive that week but the week before they were cheaper.

Edited to add: we are flying out of bradley
 

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