Flights - Play it safe, or take a gamble

[The Cardinal]

Hey guys - been quiet for a while but the 2008 Spring Florida Wedding planning is well underway.
Because nobody has prices for 2008 yet, we're doing price estimates based on similar times in 2007.
We're going out in the term period after Easter but before the next half term.

Looking at flights only, we estimate prices of around £500 per adult and £400 per child. This is based ONLY on Virgin's website - no real searching has been done.

However, Airtours currently have flights for 2 weeks from now for £149 p.p - this is a saving, for example, of £1850 for my brother, his wife and 4 kids.

I'm working on the estimate that late September can correlate with, say, late April (away from the big holidays) and that this is the sort of price that will be available just before the flights are due out.

Does anybody have any experience of booking large numbers (potentially 20+) seats in this late style? I think that for a saving of over £1000 each family, people will be slightly flexible with flying out a day or so later than anybody else, and with the availability of cheap motel rooms, doubt overstaying beyond our villa's departure dates would upset people too much either.

What do you guys think of this plan?

(For clarity, myself and my fiancee will be booking way in advance with confirmed dates etc, as we need to organise everything and plan to travel in a little bit of extra style too, so villas etc will all be booked in concrete...)

Thanks everyone!

[JoRo]

From experience of travelling at this time of year and late April/early May, I think you will find you do not get such large discounts when you are going.
Firstly a lot of the charter companies do not start their schedules until the 1st weekend in May so they may not fly out early enough for you.
Secondly, they seem to discount more at the end of the season than at the beginning.
The other aspect is that they usually only discount a small number of seats - I have found deals for 2 but they have not been there for 4.
I would certainly risk it if I was not going for a special reason - not your case!
Also you mention moving to cheap motel rooms - by the time you add up what you need for all these people it will be a considerable cost more than using a villa.
This could eat in to any flight savings you may make.
I would personally look for the best deal as the flights are first made available for your dates.
Joyce

[The Cardinal]

Thanks Joyce,

I just tried to book 11 seats on the £159 flight and got to the point where I had to put my credit card in - I guess that means they were available? I do see what you mean though about sheer numbers. I got the impression from my family that they would be happy to turn up in dribs and drabs in the week leading upto our wedding.

Something else to think/worry about!!!

When we visited friends in Florida a year or so ago, we got walk in motel rooms for around $40 a night, with two double beds. If each family is saving £1000, then even 3 or 4 nights in a motel is still good economy. Bit of a hassle maybe, but I think they'd still consider it worth it. The logistics of not being with a car are removed on International Drive, so no implications in that regard, except maybe travel back to the airport?

I appreciate your input though - thanks a lot!

[msnsmile2]

[mizzy]

if it helps we used virgins march 06 prices to give us a guide for 07 and they where very similar

the prices we were looking at where also for the two weeks prior to easter

Mizzy

[ellie]

Cardinal, did those flight prices include all the taxes and supplements? They can often add up to more than the original price.

And, no, from bitter experience, getting as far as putting your credit card details in does not mean that the flights are available. We got right to the end of the procedure a few months ago only to be told these flights were not available. And of course, these prices may only be around for a matter of hours, what you see this morning may well not be there in the afternoon - again, from experience. If you saw such bargains you would need to be pretty quick off the mark to get all the seats you needed, and as has already been said, there may well not be enough for all the party.

We travel to our villa 4 times a year and keep a constant look out for flights. The best deals are often really last minute, a couple of weeks or less before, but of course you cannot gamble on that or it could spoil your wedding.

Think you may well end up paying a bit more than the £149 quoted in order to make sure all your plans are sorted ahead of time.

But your peace of mind at this exciting time is very important.

[JoRo]

Couldn't agree more Ellie - like you I watch flights all the time and there is no pattern to it at all. Cardinal I think that is what you have to bear in mind - what you see one day may not be there the next day, week, or a year on.
Joyce

[ShirleyD]

As an airline staff passenger, I always look for times when planes are quiet. September, mid November to mid December and January are some of these times. The period after Easter is often quite busy even without school holidays. Being flexible with your dates will give you the best prices, mid week is often cheaper. When you do a price search try altering the outbound or return flight by a day or so as sometimes it can make a huge difference. I am sure most villa owners will be flexible by a day or so if they don't have a consecutive booking. I would book your group as soon as possible, you have enough on your plate without the extra worry that the flights start to fill up and prices go up instead of down. If you book the cars through US car hire, they will also be flexible without any further charges