I am watching airfares for a trip to New Orleans from Portland, Maine. I plan to go June 25, return June 29. Dates are not flexible. Right now the lowest fare I find is $315. Any thoughts on whether to wait or just accept this fare? I frequently watch fares to Europe, but seldom in the US, so I feel clueless! Of course it would probably be less expensive to fly out of Boston, but much longer and about $40 for the bus to Logan.
Thanks.

I'm afraid the fares will probably not go a lot lower and may go higher, thanks to fuel price insanity. Take it and run. -- Just one thought re: going from BOS is that you avoid possible missed connections because of weather or other delays in PWM. I'm not saying Portland has more delays than other airlines, it's just that there are so many fewer flights out of Portland that if one flight doesn't go, it could be quite a wait until the next one, which could more than equal the bus time to Logan.

Thanks, cfc, you make a good point about fewer flights leaving PWM. I am discovering that the cost does not greatly differ whether from BOS or PWM. Somehow, flying from a small airport seems appealing--until I get on one of those puddle jumpers that seems to seek out turbulence!
Fortunately, June weather is usually pretty good.

You won't find fares lower than that now. Even if you fly Southwest to Manchester, the cheapest fares on those days are ~$160 each way, plus tax and fees. You should go ahead and book it.

elisabet, this may be your lucky day. E-mail me IMMEDIATELY ([email protected]) and I may be able to show you how to get PWM to MSY done on those dates for around $227. DO NOT DELAY!

Whoa, elisabet -- why can't flyboy share the info right here? Proceed with caution.

Cassandra, it is a one-time use coupon that would be invalid if someone picked up the certificate number here.

Let me expand on that. I tested the coupon with the specific itinerary cited in the original post. At the time, it worked. Two tickets can be purchased. But since it is a zone coupon, ANYONE could use it for ANYTHING within the terms and conditions. It would then have been used up and elisabet would be out of luck.

This is not a generic offer to the world for the first person who responds. It is a specific offer to provide specific information that will help a specific person who asked -- and for no reason other than that I can -- no trades, no cost, no nothing.

I do not respond to generic requests for these coupons because they are frequently coming from one-time posters and I would imagine it often simply provides inventory for someone to sell on e-bay. I ran the original poster's name and I see that it is a regular poster in the community, so I am willing to help. (I am a regular poster, too, btw. Any real need to cast blind aspersions?) I even ran MY e-mail address so the poster wouldn't have to post that information.

Flyboy, thank you! I am not sure that my e-mails have reached you. I was able to find a lower airfare than your coupon, but I sure appreciate your effort to help a fellow Fodorite.
Cassandra, I think the coupon was OK. In fact, I found an expired one with a similar code, same airline, when I was cleaning up my house. I must have saved it when I was feeling restless for a trip. I realize that caution is good, and I think Flyboy's offer really was legit.
The fares I had been watching actually went down by a few dollars. Go figure! Including a Travelocity rebate,I paid about $308 from Portland Maine. And cfc, your point about more flights from Boston is also good, but I guess I feel like living dangerously!
Appreciate all the responses!

Thanks for posting a follow-up on this and for filling us in how things ended up. I believe the last of the seats available at the lowest coupon zone fare for those dates ended up being sold out before we could hook up, but it was worth a shot and the important thing is that you ended up getting a decent fare. Have a great trip!

This trip was planned very spontaneously--as in no research about NOLA climate in June. And everyone I mention it to talks about how hot and humid it will be--weather that I hate! But Maine has been so cold and rainy for so long that the idea of sweating has become appealing!