Do flights go up closer? (From Toronto in late March/Early April)

[JKCDA]

I am killing myself looking for flights. So far Air Canada has gone from 211-288-249 on departure and 142-161-199 on return. There’s only two of us (myself and my nine year old daughter), and our days are flexible within a week or two (her birthday is April 1, so our original aim was to do it directly over that.).

I don’t know what to do - buy the flights now and deal with it, or hope it goes down but take the chance it won’t. It’s been 5 years since we went to Disney, and it was a lot cheaper then, but I also don’t remember many details.

We can fly out of Toronto, Hamilton or Buffalo. My current idea is Swoop out of Hamilton - the timing lines up, and it’s currently the cheapest...I have a discount code for AC, AND a $100 gift card, and Swoop is still cheaper...but it’s still $750.

TL;DR - buy airfare now or wait till closer to the date???

 

[FigmentSpark]

I recently had a seat sale email that excluded Xmas and ended I think just before spring break. But those flights are generally Tue, Wed, sometimes Thru and sometimes Sat. So you'd be flying midweek if you wait for the seat sales. The thing I find with Air Canada (maybe others) is they advertise a really cheap airfare, but it's the one that gets in after midnight or leave at 5 or 6 in the morning. The flights that most people take aren't discounted nearly as much.

 

[mjhtvchick]

When planning for our trip this past May, I found that the flight prices stayed high until right around Dec-Jan. We ended up booking one flight the first week of Jan and the other the end of Jan with great prices.

 

[AngelDisney]

If your dates are flexible, you can wait for seat sales. Travelling on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays also has higher chances of getting seat sales. My travel dates are always fixed. I am taking a cruise in January and returning on the Sunday before school starts. I regretted that I did not book the flight earlier in March (at $700 for one way). It was pretty pricey compared to airfare in the summer. I thought it would drop a bit, but it has not gone down a bit at all. I finally booked it in July (at $832). A return ticket should be cheaper but I used my credit card points for the outbound flight already. The scary part is: Now it is at $1100. The date is also blocked for any Air Canada or Westjet seat sales. I would think twice about travelling in holiday peak seasons from now on.

 

[Colgal77]

Its a weird seat category formula that airlines use (and maybe a TA can chime in here), once a certain seat category is booked then the prices go to the next seat category fare. I feel like I lucked out with $352 flights in early Feb return from TO on Air Transat... I would jump on any at of below $500 for march without hesitation. There is an app called hopper that I have used before and it makes predictions but generally I would say yes flight $ increase as the time gets closer.

 

[Colgal77]

You could also look one way on one airline and one way on another. We once went AC to Orlando and WJ back and it was cheaper.

 

[JKCDA]

Thanks guys, I just gave up and booked right through disney as it was like 10-15$ cheaper than on the WJ site itself...plus it’s all in one place and it’s done so I can stop thinking about it and start planning in earnest. The total for the two of us was $525USD, which is about the same as we paid all those years ago from Buffalo, so I guess it’s in line, it’s just the Canadian dollar is wreaking havoc.

 

[Colgal77]

Thanks guys, I just gave up and booked right through disney as it was like 10-15$ cheaper than on the WJ site itself...plus it’s all in one place and it’s done so I can stop thinking about it and start planning in earnest. The total for the two of us was $525USD, which is about the same as we paid all those years ago from Buffalo, so I guess it’s in line, it’s just the Canadian dollar is wreaking havoc.

I think that is a great price for 2 tickets! What airline and where you flying out of?

 

[JKCDA]

I think that is a great price for 2 tickets! What airline and where you flying out of?

It's WestJet and we're flying out of Toronto...9:00pm flight out and 9:00pm flight in - I would rather have had the 7:30am flight out, but it was an extra $150, and I'm already spending way more than I meant to for a "quick 2-3 day vacation" which is currently a 5-day, on-site, parking-hopping proper vacation that my poor husband is letting myself and my daughter take, bless his soul.