I am also watching prices on airfare for Thanksgiving break and for August move in. Don’t see big sales so far. Unfortunately our favorite Southwest doesn’t have direct flights so waiting for JetBlue sale.
@Ballerina016 are you in Southern California, I forget?
@sseamom, regarding #21539, margarines often contain trace amounts of dairy, for some people this is no big deal- some whey or lactose. http://vegetarian.about.com/od/guideproductpicks/qt/veganmargarine.htm
Yes we are
@Ballerina016 -check nearby airports as well. Manchester, NH is an hour away from Boston and you can sometimes get a better deal going that route, AND SW flies there. There are shuttles from Manchester to Boston, buses too. Or you can rent a car cheaply as well. I am from Manchester and often trade off flying into one or the other depending on the price. My sister includes Providence, RI for the same reasons-SW also flies there.
I saw Southwest had released dates further out, but Thanksgiving was a little pricey for my liking. Actually, I looked at the month at a glance first and thought prices were great–then I realized I was looking at the wrong week. :">
All of my friends(granted i only have 5 friends) are unable to come to my party because of work or other parties.
So sorry @readingclaygirl . We decided to have a drop in party because there are so many parties going in that weekend.
I think Thanksgiving and year-end airfares are going to be 50% higher (or more) than other times. They just are. And remember luggage costs for first move-in trip. I found airline baggage is the cheapest way to ship- and SWA works well for that- check allowable dimensions & weight. Moving boxes with vacuumed Ziploks inside them worked wonders- everything fit in 3-4 of them. With carry-ons and 2 travelers, that’s free on SWA, and may make the 1 stop (rather than non-stop) worth it. Virgin can work if you are disciplined and factor in faster reward-point build-up; but JetBlue is really great! It seems like over $400 is the going rate, not the $300 +/- that has been prevailing, right?
@CAMidwestMom Re: skinny sons and Blazers - I have purchased XS men’s Blazers from gap and slim separates from J. Crew. Express also has slim suit options.
Thanks @carolinamom2boys and it’s a come when you want type of party too. It’ll still be fun.
Thank you @sseamom it would still be with one stop. Yes JetBlue is running around $400 for both August and November as of now. I think Delta is fluctuating around 325 - 375 but the legroom at JetBlue is larger and it makes a difference for such a long flight.
Thanks, @PAO2008, for reminding me to book S13 and D16’s flights home for Thanksgiving. @ItsJustSchool, they are filling up and getting expensive! I booked home on one airline and back on another to get the best prices.
@readingclaygirl, have a great time at your party!
My experience with my D is that the Thanksgiving prices never drop but availability disappears so book those as soon as possible. I had been waiting for Southwest to post their flights for that week because SWA and American are the two that fly into our area. SWA is almost always cheaper but for Thanksgiving, I ended up booking S on American because it was $140 cheaper (not cheap, just cheaper). With my D, we sometimes had her return to school on Saturday night because the price was so much better than on Sunday but I did not want to do that for my S as a freshmen. Plus, I already had an American flight for D to return to Madison on Sunday and I’d rather make one trip to the airport that Sunday. As it is, S is flying home on Tuesday and and D on Wednesday. WashU does not have classes on the Wed. before Thanksgiving so everyone leaves on Tuesday. But D does not have the flexibility to leave on Tuesday. Definitely logistics that we did not have to juggle when D was in college.
I’m actually going through something similar this week - my D and my mom are flying on on different days for S’s graduation and leaving on different days. So 4 trips to the airport. My DH and I will split them.
@eastgrad, did you book for BEFORE or AFTER the game? That is one of the imponderables that have me delaying. Will your Frosh want to come home quick, or see the game?
@Ballerina016 - SWA does fly to Boston. Is it that it’s not nonstop? I like SWA and JetBlue also.
Yes it with one stop and it is more expensive then others
Tuesday night after the Game, @ItsJustSchool. Our kids are in session for Monday and Tuesday, and (as I recall) your D is out on the Friday before? Clearly, there’s a higher commitment to learning at our institution. But you might as well bring her home on Friday night before the game: your D will not want to go to the game, if it’s like any of the past 9. 
How many days your kids get for Thanksgiving? My DD will only have 4 days. I believe she will get 8 or 10 weeks for winter break, but I can’t buy tickets yet since I don’t know what her plans for this break are.
Here’s the MIT Registrar’s page with the calendar for next year, @Ballerina016: http://web.mit.edu/registrar/calendar/indexfutr.html
ETA: Our kids get Wednesday to Sunday for Thanksgiving, so they come home Tuesday night. Our winter break is long, about five weeks, but I don’t book until I know when their final exams are scheduled. They go back the end of the third week in January. DS had a great winter internship last year.