Y..

I'm doing some pre-planning for July of 2013. We are going on a cruise out of Fort Lauderdale for my youngest son's graduation along with his best friend so there will be 4 travelers.

I've priced out Airtran and SW for "2012" since the schedule isn't far enough out yet. I was just wanting a ballpark figure. We live just south of Dayton, but SW is only out of Columbus near us. As of now, I have no clue when SW will take over Airtran. I'm out of the loop on that one.

This is what I got between the 2 airlines.

Airtran - DAY to FLL 7/6-7/15; 4 passengers, chosen seats, and luggage (planned for 2 each/we are gone for 10 days)
Flight RT for 4 = $1524.80
Luggage rt 360.00
chosen seats 60.00
Total = $1,944.80 HOLY SMOKES BATMAN!

SW - CMH to FLL same dates and all
$1708.00 A bit better but still not great.

Keep in mind; we may not each have 2 bags but I'm planning for the worst, also this is late in the ballgame but WOW...Airtran is expensive. Also, I realize this is around a holiday but REALLY? If this is how their rates are going to be, we will just rent a car and drive the 17 hours. I can see now why many people chose not to fly for their vacations. (Imagine the Duggar family attempting to fly, there are 21 of them!)

If I do end up booking SW and they change Dayton's Airtran to SW, could I switch to the Dayton airport after the fact? If anyone knows the answer to that, I would appreciate it.

GB

You are panicking needlessly.
You are looking way too far out and this July (with a fairly close in search) has no bearing on prices next year.
I would let it rest and start looking again approx. 6 months out from your actual travel date. Also consider Miami as this is a shuttle ride away from FLL.

starflyer

Given Southwest's current policies, you could certainly cancel flights from Columbus and fully reuse the funds to rebook from Dayton at the then current air fare (cost could be higher or lower).

formeraa

Airfares have gone up quite a bit. However, you're now looking at holiday peak fares just 4 to 6 weeks ahead of time. Start looking in Feb 2013 for seats to your destination in July 2013. Pray that oil continues to fall. If we could get oil stabilized at $80 per barrel, airlines fares would probably come down quite a bit.

wcj

I agree that your searches are not comparable. We fly from DTW to TPA and FLL a couple of times a year. Most of the time, economy tickets can be found for $200-$250pp. Typically, this can be done even on holidays with a bit of planning or flying slightly off peak,I.e. leaving on Sat or returning on Tuesday, etc.

Y..

Wheew...that's good to know. Thanks everyone. I appreciate you putting my mind at ease. Yes, I will definitely be booking early due to it being a holiday time period. I just can't see paying nearly $2K to fly to Florida.

Thanks again everyone. I will continue to monitor the flights.

Often1

2 checked bags per (+2 carryons per) is ridiculous for a 10-day trip.

Also, don't confine yourself to WN/FL, they are often far from the cheapest. Make sure you look at other carriers and connections and, as others note, MIA.

Whatever you do, plan to arrive the night before. Don't put your cruise at risk over an errant thunderstorm.

Y..

Often1, this is our 10th cruise. We always go at least 2-3 days ahead to enjoy the beach somewhere in Florida. I will never understand why anyone would fly in the day "OF" their cruise. It makes no sense.

For the record, I have ever only had 1 carry on and my checked bags aren't huge. I don't know if everyone will need that many but with taking some formal attire, I'm guessing that my hubby and I might share a 3rd. As I said, I was guesstimating to the high side.