Getting to Knoxville, TN
 

We(2 adults, 1 child) will be flying IAH-TYS(Knoxville) in early August. Currently fares on CO are $420. Looking at the seat maps show mostly empty flights. IIRC TYS is also a maintenance center for the RJ's so the planes will be going there regardless. Should I expect fares to drop? I've bid for the flight on Priceline and have been offered $275.

Thanks,
Keith

I would be surprised if the fares dropped substantially. If you look even a few weeks out, the fare is $420. I have noticed that fares sometimes drop, but this one doesn't look like it's going to.

The $275 fare that you have been offered on Priceline looks good.

Over the past 2 years I have regularly watched fares to Memphis and Nashville, they are usually in the $400 range which is very high on a miles travelled basis. Very rarely do they drop. About two months ago fares to Memphis, served by both CO and NW, dropped to about $250.

My last two trips to Memphis I used miles, the only time I have used miles in the last 5 years for domestic trips. The IAH to TYS market is served non-stop only by CO as far I know and therefore unlikely to drop in my opinion. AirTran may run decent fares for a connecting flight.

Not a cheap location
 

I flew to Knoxville last year on an award ticket, and had no trouble getting a seat just a couple of weeks out on NW (via Memphis). It's not a cheap location to fly into, I seem to recall pricing it out at around $400 last year, before the hike the oil prices. I watched it for a while and didn't drop, so that's why I got the award ticket.

If you can get $275 on Priceline, I'd say go for it. The other alternative (since you won't get miles with a Priceline fare on Continental) would be consider flying Southwest to Nashville and driving 2-3 hours. Southwest return flights from HOU-BNA price out to $280 all-in for early August.

Good luck.

Last summer, CO ran a few weekend specials IAH-BNA for $99. You had to leave friday and return monday or tuesday, though.

Pcln
 

The price from Priceline is good and unbeatable, but I will venture to guess that it might be a connecting flight with Delta, which, in the worst case scenario, might involve 4 legs of RJ flights (if you do not mind).

Indy Air Out - Fares Up!
 

TYS is has never been cheap and things have worsened since the departure of Independence Air. 5-10 years ago I only dreamed of a MCO-TYS nonstop w/o ATL or CLT stops. Last year the market had up to 5 nonstops per day and Indy Air was selling them for $44 OW and DL for $59 OW. Now DL has the remaining 2 flts. per day and they run between $400-$1300 RT.

Before the nonstops, I used to find it easier to fly N/S to BNA on WN and rent a car for the 2.5 hour ride over to Knoxville. From Houston you may want to consider the same as cars are quite cheap at BNA at most times.

This is more or less our fall back position. There are 1 or 2 other fly/drive options we are looking at. Since no miles accrue on Priceline flights I don't plan on accepting there $275 offer. The boss(wife) may disagree. Thanks to everyone for their responses.

Agreed, sadly. I lived fifteen minutes from the Knoxville Airport (TYS), and my family regularly drove 2.5 hours to Nashville or 3 hours to Atlanta for our longer vacations. It was just that much cheaper to fly from those cities, especially as we had friends who were willing to watch our cars.

It's a real irritation, but as nice as the Knoxville Airport looks these days, it's just uneconomical to fly out of there unless you have to.

Come on! $500 to fly from Memphis to Knoxville? I don't think so.

I was looking for a fare to BNA or TYS from MSP in mid July. It appears no deals in the last couple of months. I finally booked MSP-BNA RT for $126. all-in from Midwest Airlines. NW, CO, and DL all $300 - $500. Midwest "Best Care in the Air" haven't flown them in awhile, but the last trip OMA-PSP was one of the best flights I ever had on any airline (food & service.) Paid for by NW, they decided to cancel the original flight due to weather. XY had no problems getting their A/C in the air! I had never heard of them before that day.

[QUOTE=CheyennePress]Agreed, sadly. I lived fifteen minutes from the Knoxville Airport (TYS), and my family regularly drove 2.5 hours to Nashville or 3 hours to Atlanta for our longer vacations. It was just that much cheaper to fly from those cities, especially as we had friends who were willing to watch our cars.

QUOTE]
Which drive to Knoxville would you recommend, Atlanta or Nashville?

Drive BNA - TYS
 

There is always traffic crossing the city to the south side of Atlanta where ATL is. Much less so to BNA, on the E (Knoxville) side of Nashville. Both are a pretty interstate drive, high speed (for not being airborne).

When I lived near Oak Ridge, I drove to both.