For our last several visits to WDW we have flown jetblue using points by booking a good 10 months ahead. This year I thought Id try something different as I heard prices drop at about four months out. Well, here we are at four months out and the fares have doubled on jetblue. Does anyone have any experience with this? Should I continue to wait it out and see if the prices drop so I can use my points? OR… I found a Wanna get Away fare on Southwest that I could pay out of pocket for. We live in a fairly rural area so our choices are limited! Any help from frequent travelers would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!!
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I love SW. They don’t charge for baggage or to change your flights of something comes up.
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How about using a mix of points and dollars? You may have to call Jetblue rather than book online to do that. That would take some of the sting out of the bottom line.
Just make sure that you get the level ticket that you need. Last time I had to call to book, the rep put us in the “no checked bags” category for some unknown reason. Spent a bit of time straightening that snafu out…
Like @SallyEppcot I like flying SW. Besides bags flying free, you can get the Early Bird check in. I think it was $12.50 each way. That worked great for us.
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As someone that works for United HQ in Chicago, please never listen to advice on plane tickets. 99% of the “info” or “advice” they have is 100% wrong.
People use their 1 or 2 instances of getting a deal and make it Gospel.
If you see a flight that looks reasonable…book it! Don’t wait for an arbitrary day 9.5 weeks out that tickets go down…it doesn’t work like that.
The only “semi” rule is that Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday are the lowest demand days to fly…and there are some deals to be had…
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I just recently booked a RT flight with JetBlue to MCO.
For the last couple of months I had been tracking the cost of their flights (because I’m really weird and a huge planner). I had been looking at similar dates for each month at 240, 210, 180, 150, 120, 90, 60, 49, 30, and 7 days out. (I chose 49 because I had read that this is when their prices are the lowest.) Based on what I’ve seen so far, it looks like their prices average their lowest at 60 days out; they averaged about $125 cheaper than they were at 120 days out, which is where you are. (For the dates I was searching they went from about $360 at 120 days to about $235 at 60 days out.) Then they started to climb again, of course.
If this is pretty standard for flights from JetBlue, you may want to wait for another month or two before booking.(I know – I hate waiting too. The only reason I booked so early is because the price actually dropped to the same as what it was at 60 days out. I’m still going to keep track of this until our trip out of sheer curiosity and because I hate leaving projects incomplete.
I hope this helps. Here’s my chart:
@RobertSch6 nice chart for sure. Pretty much a standard airfare pricing curve.
Airlines ideally would LOVE to not sell a single ticket until 1-2 weeks before the flight. This is when business travelers and people that need to get to a destination NO matter the price. Mucho revenue!
The dip 60 days out is when they take a look (1 point of many) at the loads for a particular flight and say…are we where we should be historically? This dip shows they probably were a little empty for the specified time and opened some lower fare classes.
I stalked JetBlue prices for our last trip. They spiked around 4 months, dropped around 3 months, and then jumped back up again. Keep checking their site (Tues/Wed seems to be the best time to check as their prices change daily) and buy as soon as you see them drop.
Thank you all for your sound and prompt advice!! I went to bed last night feeling completely stressed out…but I feel better now…albeit lighter in the wallet! After a brief chat with a AAA TA and your recommendations, we decided to try a new airport and airline…Southwest it is. Jetblue would have been too much even combining points and dollars. In the long run Southwest was the lesser of the evils… and one leg is even non-stop! I didnt have the stomach to wait it out and watch for another month…I dont know how those Wall Street traders and you liners do it…must have stomachs of steel:) I think next year a TA is in my future!!
Thank you again for all of your support! Last night when I realized my dilemma at 11pm and was freaking out, hubby was fast asleep…but luckily I had this form to turn to! You are all so helpful and knowledgeable! Im pretty sure this is my third meltdown you’ve all helped avert while planning this trip 
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I just started flying southwest last year and love it. And the best thing is you can reschedule if you need to at no additional cost making planning in advance so much better if you need to change for any reason. For example, I had a flight booked to Seattle this August, booked it a couple months ago or so. Last week we change our mind and say hey, let’s go to Anaheim instead. Just changed it, no harm, easy as can be. (Must use funds within a year of original booking FWIW)
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Glad to hear so many positive things about Southwest! But oh no, I forgot to check if they are part of magical express! Yikes! Not another crisis!!
Phew, just answered by own question by searching through the forum! Thank goodness!!