pgh1974

I plan on going to Orlando Christmas Day. If you book your flight with Airtran at the end of November is that enough time. I see they still have flights. And they are still offering discount flights. Do they overbook?

gail

Book now - rates are continuing to go up, either as posted fares or fuel charges. Flights are going to be full no matter where you go and over-booking does not really effect cost or when you book. Everyone overbooks some of the time, and rarely do people get involuntarily bumped.

I personally dislike AirTran, had the best experience regarding over-booking when trying to get on an AirTran flight. We boarded and found people sitting in our (4) seats - also with apparently valid boarding passes. Although theirs were more valid than ours (very long story), we all got to fly since Air Tran offered other passengers lots of vouchers to get off plane.

travelgourmet

Actually, Christmas Day itself is a light travel day, so I think you will be fine. The bigger issue will be your return flight.

dfr4848

pgh - while I agree that Christmas Day itself is usually pretty light, I also agree that I'd book now. That's one of the busiest weeks of the year, and IMO fares aren't going to come down. Many flights can fill up fast between now and the end of the month.

And, yes, all airlines overbook at some time or another, but I haven't seen anyone (yet) get booted off because of it. That's also a reason to book now. Some airlines will honor first the earlier booked reservations if flight is overbooked.

rkkwan

Question is, any particular reason why you don't want to book now?

mrwunrfl

The price probably will go up between now and the end of the month. There is only that one AirTran nonstop from PIT to MCO that day that still has a decent price ($179) and it will fill up. The other AirTran nonstop is $446.

The nonstop is $179 and connections are $151 at travelocity. December 24 is cheaper with nonstops at $107 and $124.

Those prices include the travelocity fee which I believe is still $5.

If you can buy now, do it. If you have to buy later, you might be ok, but consider alternate dates.

wally34949

I just got an E-mail from Qantas. If you fly to Australia or New Zealand on Dec. 24, they have discount prices.

Because you cross the International dateline, there will be no December 25th.

Most people don't want to sit on a plane on Christmas Day.

Bloom

I checked flights for Dec/Jan travel from Buffalo to Ft. Lauderdale- around the 18th of Dec., returning Jan. 3rd, and they're still very high. I would've thought that booking that much earlier from the week of Dec. 25 would mean cheaper flights.

Not sure if circumstances will allow us to travel at that time anyway, but if the flights were cheap enough, I would have booked them, with cancellation insurance.

What is the avg. cost of cancellation insurance. Do some airlines charge a lot less for it than others? I've never paid the extra for it, but have learned that it's probably worth it.

Bloom

rkkwan

All winter is high season for Florida. And coming back on Jan 3 will kick you out from many discount fare classes. It's still peak travel season.

But that doesn't mean you can't find deals.

One-way BUF-FLL on USAirways on 12/18 is $89.8, via DCA, PHL or CLT.

One-way FLL-BUF on Jetblue 1/3 is $184.8, if you fly out at 6am. A little more on other flights.

So, you can do this trip for under $280. Not too bad.

Bloom

ty rkkwan- I thought 1/3 would be past the main peak travel season, but you're right, the returns for that time are still pricey...

I checked for a return on the following week and the flights were much cheaper. Might be doable.

Bloom

dfr4848

bloom - as to your last question, I'm not aware of any airlines that directly sell trip cancellation insurance. You can purchase through a travel agent or directly from a company that issues such insurance. Yes, the price can vary, but in my experience not by much.

rkkwan

Don't know about other airlines, but Continental sells trip cancellation and interruption insurance directly from Access America, which adds to the total cost of the ticket.

Pricing is as follows:

Less than $300: $15.00
Between $300 - $3,000: 5% of Total Price of your trip greater than $3,000: $150.00

Not sure if this is per person, or per total itinerary for multiple persons.

mrwunrfl

Better check what the cancellation insurance covers. Almost certainly won't cover things under your control, like your deciding not to go.

Check the cancellation policy for the ticket. If you probably will fly the airline again in the next year then insurance might not be worthwhile. If you cancel a ticket then you will probably have to pay a fee of $100, or maybe $25, to get a voucher for the value of the ticket (actually a voucher for the ticket price minus the fee). Use the voucher to buy a ticket on that airline. The voucher being good for a year.

If you know that you would use the voucher then you are only insuring against paying the cancel/change fee.

Bloom

Thank you all for the helpful information.

Bloom