<p>Is it just my imagination, or has JetBlue suddenly become a lot more expensive? Last year I flew my daughter home for Thanksgiving for $148 round trip. This year, also booking far in advance, the same trip will be about double that. I know gas prices have gone up a lot, but still, this fare increase seems too much. Has anyone else noticed this? Any tips on how to save money? We like JetBlue and the service has been good. But I will switch airlines to save money if I have to. (We don’t fly enough to have frequent flier mileage.)</p>
<p>Try Southwest - if they serve your airports. But you can’t book for Thanksgiving this far out.</p>
<p>The bargains? Nowhere. Just like colleges that keep tuition low but tack on fees, so do airlines:</p>
<p>
[Airlines</a> shift more costs to travelers - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/05/04/airlines_shift_more_costs_to_travelers/]Airlines”>http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/05/04/airlines_shift_more_costs_to_travelers/)</p>
<p>So check the “fares” carefully and then determine all the “fees.”</p>
<p>I love how consumers often use antecedal evidence to make determinations about airline prices. A lot of things factor into the prices including the overall air travel market, the cities, the day of the week, the timing of the attempted booking, etc etc etc. It’s silly to speculate on one airline being more expensive without doing a thorough statistical analysis.</p>
<p>BTW, if you are worried about price, why not shop around every time you fly? There should be no need to “switch” airlines. Just take the cheapest flight.</p>
<p>Jet Blue is still cheaper than most competing airlines on same routes, but I agree, not nearly as universally. And in all cases cheapest flights mean early AM late PM (red-eyes). I use kayak.com and it gets the best rates, especially if you use the flexible dates features. One tactic I now use is to look at outbound and return flights separately; roundtrip fares seem to provide no savings. </p>
<p>Caveat emptor, I spend almost as much time on it as CC.</p>
<p>you can also use sidestep.com</p>
<p>For one-way travel - look at Southwest. You can’t get a fare for Southwest on kayak or sidestep so you have to look on their website.
Frontier gives good prices as well, however, they are in bankruptcy.</p>
<p>If you book Southwest and they lower your fare - you can rebook and they will give you credit that you have up to a year to use.
If you book Southwest and need to cancel your trip, you can get a credit and a year to use it. They also do not charge you to rebook your trip. </p>
<p>When we fly - I look at all the prices/airlines an mostly end up using Southwest.</p>
<p>My daughter has used JetBlue to fly from Boston to Long Beach and it has never been a bargain, probably because of the lack of competitors for this route.</p>
<p>^I’d definitely agree, but flying out of/into LB is WAY easier than LAX (not to mention the airport is about 5 seconds from my house. ^_^).</p>
<p>^^^It was easier for my daughter too, which is why I didn’t hunt for a bargain in and out of LAX.</p>
<p>^^ I’ve driven from San Diego to LAX before to get cheaper flights (with 4 flying cross-country or to Europe). I’ve saved >$800 doing the 2 hour drive (each way).</p>
<p>Jet Blue pricing goes up as planes fill, and the big discounts don’t kick in if you are booking out too far in advance. So basically you will see prices all over the map depending one when you book. On major routes, other airlines have lowered prices to compete with JB – that’s the whole value of competition – but it does mean that often the competitors have better deals, especially on round trip fares. </p>
<p>I think your main problem is that you are booking out too far in advance – you will get much better fares if you book between 30-60 days out.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the helpful comments! I was thinking of booking JetBlue one way and Delta the other way (Pittsburgh to NYC). Maybe I am trying to do this too far in advance. I’ll keep checking in the next few months!</p>
<p>There’s a site called farecast.com that tells you at what point the prices might go up or down, and how far ahead to book for certain routes. I’m still trying to figure this site out, but I love the concept.</p>
<p>I checked prices for Boston to Long Beach against calmom’s hypothesis (I have already purchased a ticket for this summer), and one month-ish out is more expensive than what I paid 2.5 months in advance.</p>
<p>Clearly there are many variables to consider…</p>
<p>
Must be. A rt trip for 4 from Boston to Seattle cost me $240 more yesterday than if I had booked it on Saturday.</p>
<p>drb, I sympathize. I paid an extra $30 for a single ticket by waiting a week.</p>
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<p>Isn’t Long Beach basically JetBlue’s LA “hub?” </p>
<p>We’re in between Long Beach and San Diego, so can fly out of either airport. Flying out of LB is always cheaper and there are more flights to choose from when it comes to JetBlue.</p>
<p>Plus, we’re able to fly out of Orange County also. Some of our neighbors swear by flying out of Ontario. Others will brave the traffic to LAX. Lots of choices when it comes to where we live. But lately, it all seems very, very expensive, no matter where you fly out of.</p>
<p>I already booked for Thanksgiving on American Airlines - I am concerned that higher fuel costs will translate into higher fares. While I was thinking about it - the fare went up $ 11. I may lose out - maybe fares will go down…</p>
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and maybe pigs will fly, and we can send our kids to school on them.</p>
<p>Generally speaking, flying on Tuesday and Wednesday tends to be cheapest.
I found different prices with Jet Blue on different days. Are there any other close by airports where you might get a better price? For example, we live near D.C. and check 3 different airports-Reagan, Baltimore, and IAD Dulles as the prices are usually different at each airport. You might also luck out if Jet Blue or another airline flies to another city and then transfer to another airline if the connecting fares add up cheaper than one long distance flight. Did you check Orbitz.com to see the different fares? You might get a cheaper price on Orbitz.</p>