NYC to Miami (r/t) in August

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rjbraun
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NYC to Miami (r/t) in August

Post by rjbraun »

We need to fly this routing for a wedding. I am kind of surprised that the current round-trip fares seem to be about $300. I mean, is Miami really that popular in August! Anyway, we have little flexibility on the travel dates, given that we will want to be there for the wedding day (Saturday) and prior day, and then will plan to leave on Sunday. What's the best way to monitor fares? Is something closer to $200 r/t realistic for a non-stop flight?
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Aptenodytes
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Re: NYC to Miami (r/t) in August

Post by Aptenodytes »

Check out airports near Miami. Fares vary a lot. Kayak lets you create a fare monitor. Also investigate whether there are discount airlines that don't participate in the fare aggregators .. For those you have to search them individually.
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englishgirl
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Re: NYC to Miami (r/t) in August

Post by englishgirl »

The weekend is the most expensive time to fly. And flight prices generally seem to be high these days.

Given that you want to be there for Friday, I would look into flying late on Thursday night and/or leaving early on Monday morning. This does mean an extra night or two in a hotel, of course, so that is likely to more than offset the lower flight cost.

Jet Blue is pretty good as far as pricing goes (but I just checked, and they seem to only fly to Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, not Miami). Look into Spirit, which flies in and out of Fort Lauderdale, but beware of all the nickel-and-diming they do, even on carry on baggage. I always check Kayak for prices, but as already mentioned, some airlines aren't listed. You can get the train from FLL to Miami - it's not that far.
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Calm Man
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Re: NYC to Miami (r/t) in August

Post by Calm Man »

I live in NJ. When I fly anywhere, the car service costs for me round trip is about $300. Think about it - NYC to Florida for $300 round trip. It seems like so little !!!
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Bogle101
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Re: NYC to Miami (r/t) in August

Post by Bogle101 »

Do not, under any circumstances fly Spirit, yuck. Also, $300 is reasonable. Stop being cheap and book off now. The longer you wait the more likely prices will rise, although since it is all the way in August I guess you can play the waiting game and try to save an extra 25 here or there.
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Watty
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Re: NYC to Miami (r/t) in August

Post by Watty »

Calm Man wrote:I live in NJ. When I fly anywhere, the car service costs for me round trip is about $300. Think about it - NYC to Florida for $300 round trip. It seems like so little !!!
If you are talking about a car to get you to and from the airport then there may be a less expensive way that you can use.

What I often do is get a rental car at a suburban location near my house the day before and drop it off at the airport when I fly out of town. When I return I do the opposite. This works especially well when there a group of people traveling together.

I did this this last weekend and my wife and I were able to get home from the airport for less than $40 for both of us. The suburban car rental drop off location was only about ten minutes from our house so it did not take that long to drop off the car the next day. Different companies may have different fees depending if they want the cars relocated or not so you may want to check several different companies to get the best price.

There are lots of car rental locations in places like car dealerships that you may not know about but many of them are closed on Sunday.
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Aptenodytes
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Re: NYC to Miami (r/t) in August

Post by Aptenodytes »

Watty wrote:
Calm Man wrote:I live in NJ. When I fly anywhere, the car service costs for me round trip is about $300. Think about it - NYC to Florida for $300 round trip. It seems like so little !!!
If you are talking about a car to get you to and from the airport then there may be a less expensive way that you can use.

What I often do is get a rental car at a suburban location near my house the day before and drop it off at the airport when I fly out of town. When I return I do the opposite. This works especially well when there a group of people traveling together.

I did this this last weekend and my wife and I were able to get home from the airport for less than $40 for both of us. The suburban car rental drop off location was only about ten minutes from our house so it did not take that long to drop off the car the next day. Different companies may have different fees depending if they want the cars relocated or not so you may want to check several different companies to get the best price.

There are lots of car rental locations in places like car dealerships that you may not know about but many of them are closed on Sunday.
I would pay a lot of money to avoid having to rent a car from a suburban rental location. Even the airport locations can be pretty horrid if you don't have the elite perks. My experiences at the suburban locations have been just awful.
dickenjb
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Re: NYC to Miami (r/t) in August

Post by dickenjb »

$300 rt is not that bad. If you want to save a few bucks look at FLL it is usually the cheapest destination in South FL.
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rjbraun
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Re: NYC to Miami (r/t) in August

Post by rjbraun »

englishgirl wrote:You can get the train from FLL to Miami - it's not that far.
Great info, thank you! I only saw some outrageous fare to taxi between the two airports.

I found the train schedule (which looked reasonable, in terms of frequency and travel time), but I couldn't figure out how to calculate the fare. Do you know roughly how much it would cost one-way?
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rjbraun
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Re: NYC to Miami (r/t) in August

Post by rjbraun »

Bogle101 wrote:Do not, under any circumstances fly Spirit, yuck. Also, $300 is reasonable. Stop being cheap and book off now. The longer you wait the more likely prices will rise, although since it is all the way in August I guess you can play the waiting game and try to save an extra 25 here or there.
I know, I am being very frugal about this-- but since there are two of us, any savings will be doubled :D Besides, the only reason I'm going to Miami in August is for this wedding. I just can't believe the route will have much demand, so I guess I'm just trying to hold out for a better fare :beer
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rjbraun
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Re: NYC to Miami (r/t) in August

Post by rjbraun »

Calm Man wrote:I live in NJ. When I fly anywhere, the car service costs for me round trip is about $300. Think about it - NYC to Florida for $300 round trip. It seems like so little !!!
I always try to take public transport to the airport. Much more green that way. :mrgreen:
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englishgirl
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Re: NYC to Miami (r/t) in August

Post by englishgirl »

rjbraun wrote:
englishgirl wrote:You can get the train from FLL to Miami - it's not that far.
Great info, thank you! I only saw some outrageous fare to taxi between the two airports.

I found the train schedule (which looked reasonable, in terms of frequency and travel time), but I couldn't figure out how to calculate the fare. Do you know roughly how much it would cost one-way?
Yeah, well of course the fare calculator doesn't say "downtown Miami", it says "Metrorail transfer" just to make it confusing. It's $3.75 one way. BUT! You have to take a shuttle from FLL to the train station (a short distance, but, still, you don't want to walk it in August). I don't know if that costs money or not. Then in Miami you'll have to get on the Metrorail to go where you need to go, or take a taxi. So that's an additional expense too.

I wish Super Shuttle were an option. But they won't take you from FLL to Miami. Only to local hotels.
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eucalyptus
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Re: NYC to Miami (r/t) in August

Post by eucalyptus »

With 6 million people or so living in the area, Miami isn't just a seasonal destination for tourists ....
4stripes
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Re: NYC to Miami (r/t) in August

Post by 4stripes »

$300 doesn't surprise me. You can hardly set foot on a plane for less than $200 these days. $200 is the new $130. Kayak.com is probably the best way to monitor fares.
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Re: NYC to Miami (r/t) in August

Post by jebmke »

eucalyptus wrote:With 6 million people or so living in the area, Miami isn't just a seasonal destination for tourists ....
Right, it is also a major connection point to Caribbean and South America.
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Topic Author
rjbraun
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Re: NYC to Miami (r/t) in August

Post by rjbraun »

jebmke wrote:
eucalyptus wrote:With 6 million people or so living in the area, Miami isn't just a seasonal destination for tourists ....
Right, it is also a major connection point to Caribbean and South America.
Right. Both fair points! :oops:
chrisjul
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Re: NYC to Miami (r/t) in August

Post by chrisjul »

Check FLL but yes Miami is ALWAYS popular
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rjbraun
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Re: NYC to Miami (r/t) in August

Post by rjbraun »

Just to give a quick update, I bought my tickets yesterday for $280 r/t, pre-tax ($302, I think, with tax). A couple of things I thought might be helpful to mention (which are already noted in another thread I responded to).

I ended up buying based on a price I found when I searched for flights on tripadvisor.com. Tripadvisor redirected me to American's website when I was ready to purchase, but the price I got was much better than what aa.com was showing when I went directly to their site on my own.

American let me hold a reservation -- including ticket price guarantee -- for 24 hours. That was a nice surprise that I only learned of when I was basically at the point where you enter credit card information.
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