Janeway Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 I am so nervous! Son is headed to California this summer. He is flying in to the "John Wayne" airport. He can fly out of DFW or Love Field. What is the best way to find good air fares and buy him a ticket? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TX Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 In my experience Southwest has the lowest fares and the best customer service. You can go to their website and search their low fare calendar. Susan in TX 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 John Wayne Airport might be a little more expensive to fly into, FYI. I’ve never was a fan of SW but daughter and SIL love it. We are using it to fly to SanDiego in April. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 Do you have any miles or points? You could open a credit card and get them pretty fast. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 SPIRIT AIRLINES does not fly from DFW to Orange County (I checked on their web site for you). As has been suggested, if Southwest Airlines has Nonstop flights from Love Field to Orange County that would be a good option, with probably low fares and good service. In general, my impression is that at this time, the best of the largest carriers in the USA are probably Delta, Southwest, JetBlue, Alaska and SPIRIT, probably not in that order, so I would try to go on one of those. It depends upon the combination of the Fare (including extra cost items such as Carry-On bag and/or Checked bag) and the schedule. In general, the lowest fares are available 30 to 90 days before the departure date. No way to tell when the lowest fare will be available. Summer is a "Peak" season, so depending upon "when" during the Summer, it could vary within a few days, quite a bit. For example, around the 4th of July. How old is he? It is a very short flight (BTDT). He will be fine! P.S. I always begin on Google Flights when looking for airline flights, but I am not sure if they show Southwest Airlines flights or not. My impression has always been that one had to look directly on the Southwest Airlines web site, to see their fares/schedules and buy their tickets, but that may have changed recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodGrief Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 I find Google Flights to be useful in identifying some of the flight options Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 1. Set your browser to incognito and 2. Use Google Flights. Southwest won't be on there so search that separately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 58 minutes ago, kathyintx said: We've been using kayak. Are these other sites cheaper? Usually flying from Dallas to Dulles, or from Dallas to San Diego. Cheaper is not always better and occasionally leads to catastrophic problems. I like (and use) Google Flights, because when I am ready to make the reservation and buy the ticket(s) they transfer me to the web site of the airline involved. I strongly prefer to purchase directly from the airline involved... Kayak has an "Explore" feature, which is pretty interesting, if someone has flexibility in when/where they go. You can set a maximum budget and it will show you where you can go, within your budget, and then you can click to see which airline(s) involved and what the schedule is. I believe it is Kayak that shows a lot of listings for an Eastern European OTA (Online Travel Agency) called Kiwi. I have read about people (many people) being unable to contact Kiwi when things went awry. I think Google Flights may have something like the Kayak "Explore" but am not positive about that. One thing I found very interesting for the Christmas-New Years vacation break for DD, on the SPIRIT AIRLINES web site, where they show their basic fare for the route, was that depending upon "Supply and Demand" the fare one way from Cali to Raleigh-Durham was varying between $200 or $300 and a maximum of $1060 as I recall. It showed that if one is flexible, one can save $... And, if one is unable to be flexible, one can end up paying a lot more money. Always compare "Apples to Apples". If you are looking at a ULCC (Ultra Low Cost Carrier) like SPIRIT AIRLINES, they charge extra for everything, from a bottle of water to a "Big Front Seat". With the older more traditional carriers, those things may or may not be included, depending upon the Fare Basis. Look at schedules closely and connection times (if any). Often the fare is the same for a scheduled trip of perhaps 5 hours as it is for a trip involving 18 or 24 hours. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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