Originally Posted by
LizzyDragon84
The major airlines all have group booking departments as well, so it would be worth contacting them as well to see what they can offer you.
I would plan on the possibility of having to split the group onto two or more flights- 225 people is more then the average 737 can hold.
OP said they're a band (or a few of them) which means luggage + oversize baggage, i.e. Tuba, cello, etc..
Even if they split the group into two 737's there wouldn't be sufficient cargo space.
If he books with delta I suspect they'd charter a 767-300 out to LAX for the flight. It seats 262, so the group will fill 225 seats, delta can sell the other 37 seats for extra profit.
CO's 764's seat 235, that would be a perfect fit if they have a/c availability and a good price.
AA's 763's seat exactly 225, might be good.
Or you can split the group into 113 + 111 and get a couple of A319/20's from US/UA/DL or something like that.
Another thing to consider is, 225 students + teachers/chaperones. In reality you're looking at booking 235-250 people.
Originally Posted by
CaptainMiles
Pretty straight forward if OP even knows what NOA and WOA are, and their implications. It appeared that this is a first time for OP, so going through an experienced broker might help. Yes, it could be most costly (broker commission), but then again a good broker may have access to or knowledge of options that a newbie would not.
All good points.
I'm just speaking from my experience, I was put in charge of a similar situation a couple years ago. We used WOA. Nice ride on the MD-11.