You probably won’t do much better than $204 anyway. That’s pretty rock bottom. Some airlines like Spirit may have a cheaper advertised price, but then they nickel and dime you for everything to the point that you may actually spend more than on another airline, kind of like Ryan Air.
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You said that the best time to book is as soon as the flight becomes available. I disagree as I have found cheaper flights about 4 mounths out or so. With that said, you might want to start following some flights to see if that is the case.
I book the Boston area airports and with SW I have not found a decrease in a couple of years.
I just look and have been able to get lower prices even after I booked. The thing about that part, is that it goes as a credit and muct be used within 1 year of when the orginal purchase was made.
We also are in the middle of Kansas and have to drive to an airport, 2 to about 4 1/2 hours, as we fly out of Wichita, or Kansas City, or in this case for our up coming trip, Denver.
Logan is awful, isn’t it? I live 40 mi South of Logan (although I work in Boston) and 25 mi north of PVD, so it’s a no-brainer for me…
Lots of New England liners it seems.
Years ago I was always able to get a lower price. I think I have found it once in the last three years? I love long weekends and I try to book with points as much as possible. This year I traveled Friday night-Tuesday in September, and it never went down. Last year it was Thursday-Monday. I have a trip planned for August that I was only able to book one way. I will look and hope but I am not counting on it.
I love the parking at PVD! I also think it has the most convenient nonstops.
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I use Logan as a last resort. Getting in and out now is easier, but still never as easy as ORH, PVD or BDL. I remember flying in at 11:30 at night once after a work trip and thinking ‘it’s late, but at least I won’t hit traffic’. I was so wrong. They were doing construction at night…with one lane open on the Pike. I was stuck for 30 minutes.
JetBlue is AMAZING! Far better than Southwest in all aspects IMHO. AND non-stops from the NYC area to MCO.
Southwest will likely opt to do elective maintenance (as in they can fly perfectly fine with whatever they decide they need to fix) in LGA, and those guys don’t have the best track record for keeping screws intact. Twice they had me stranded for 5 and 6.5 hours respectively because they broke a screw doing something that did not NEED to be done. The second time was on the voucher I got for the first time. I ripped up the voucher they offered the second time the moment they handed it to me. Fool me once and all that.
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I don’t have personal experience with SW, but they also fly from Islip (Long Island) to Orlando. Could be a NY option depending on where they’re starting from. 
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I know folks are usually either JetBlue fans or Southwest fans and there’s not a lot of crossover. I will usually go with whichever has the cheaper flight or whichever I have the most frequent flyer miles for - right now I’ve got 2 flights booked with JetBlue and 3 booked with Southwest. We are pretty frequent flyers at this point and I’ve had bad experiences with delays on both - my last JetBlue experience they changed the airport location the day of the flight about 5 hours before and I needed to drop off my car at the original airport, since that’s where I was flying back into and drive the hour and a half to the new airport - who was very confused about the changes. They then rushed us onto a different flight because the original was going to be delayed further and we arrived at WDW with no luggage. This won’t stop me from flying JetBlue - this was the extreme, but I’ve had delays on SW before as well.
I will say the good thing about SW is the no change fees. If that JetBlue flight was SW, I would have switched it to fly in the day before because I knew the wind would be a problem at the original airport (and so did JetBlue, which is what annoys me the most - they knew the weather forecast and didn’t allow for changes). And I got absolutely no voucher from JetBlue for the debacle.
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I am not usually so brand loyal with airlines, but that gosh darn companion pass was too good to pass up! Plus, I will be very honest at this point in my motherhood journey, the multiple free bags is extremely appealing. I know some people can do it, but with young kids I CANNOT pack light. I find myself physically incapable.
Besides, how else are you going to get all those Mickey Cookies (my new favorite) and rice crispie treats home?! (AND DON’T SAY SHIP THEM! You can’t eat them at the airport/on the plane if you ship them!)
You gotta book like the first hours they drop. When setting up for my trip last September, the flights were $100 one way out of PHL only on the day of that they released. After that, they never dropped below $130 one way.
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My 2019 trip is almost the same time as yours, so I’ve been researching this as well. The analysis here suggests buying airfare 1-3 months before the trip: The Best Time to Book Cheap Flights, Tips For the Best Time to Buy Flights - CheapAir
Anyone have any thoughts on this?
@melcort10 where did you read about booking airfare the minute it is available?
@TheProphetPaul, where are you flying from? In the Boston area you need to book the moment they are released.
Either Austin (AUS) or DFW, not sure which yet. Why that strategy in Boston? Do they sell out that fast?!?!
I don’t think it’s a “sell out” issue so much as it just jumps in price.
Yes! Three airports and you need to book nonstop right away! School vacations are a nightmare since everyone has the same dates! My flights next month started round trip under $300. Last time I looked one way is sold out and the other is $561. Crazy!
Random end of September weekend went from $119 to $249!
oh please… that’s only the cost of a kidney!! You have TWO!! Stop being stingy! 
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