The price of flying to New Orleans (1 Viewer)

dajmno

Hall-of-Famer
Joined
Oct 17, 2005
Messages
4,962
Reaction score
2,764
Age
40
Offline
Airfare for getting to New Orleans is absolutely outrageous and criminal! I'm trying to book something for either one of the two weekends of Jazzfest.

I can fly direct out of Newark via Continental; JFK via JetBlue, or out of LGA via Delta or American. Given those options the cheapest flight is over $600! Who can afford this?!

Anything with in the next two months is insane too regardless if Jazzfest is going on. I want to go back and visit the family, but I'd have to book a trip that is at least 2 months out to get the base fare which usually comes in around $220.

What's it like in your market?

I hate the airlines.
 
A couple of hints - try Jet Blue; consider flying to Baton Rouge (or even Gulfport), and try xjet.com to see if they have a nonstop. You might also want to consider working in a Wed. or Thurs. fly as it may save you a couple of hundred.

TPS
 
Can you catch an AirTran flight?

I flew with them oneway to Atlanta out of N.O. and it was around 90 bucks
 
My wife flew to Disney Orlando and back out of Gulfport. She saved over 100 dollars. You may want to check out Baton Rouge/Gulfport as TPS suggested.

Joe
 
I found plenty of flights from New York to New Orleans in mid April for $229-$240 roundtrip after taxes and all with Delta on kayak.com. :idunno:
 
1) Saturday night stay
2) Book well in advance

You will probably have trouble booking for Jazzfest this close to the event. Next time book further in advance.
 
What's it like in your market?
Very bad, one of the many reasons I can't go to New Orleans.

If I wanted to go for a 2 week holiday in October, this is what it would take.

Board a flight from Heathrow at 0630, arrive in Manchester at 0725. Depart Manchester at 1035 arrive in Chicago at 1255 (CT), depart Chicago at 1945 (7 hours in an Airport, are you crazy?) arrive in New Orleans at 22.05 (0405 GMT)

22 hours travelling.

There are probably better connections and prices out there, but this was the best I could find just searching quickly, plus I have to upgrade because of my height the travelling lengths.....the grand total, for 2 adults return was.....<label class="optional"></label> £13,674.60 ($27,481.11 approx).

Without hotel, expenses and spending money.....yeah, I don't think I'm getting to a game in the dome anytime soon.

Or I ruin my credit history for the rest of my life. :scratch:
approximately.
 
From: http://jazzfest.swagland.com/travel.html

Swag's Jazzfest FAQ - Travel
Flights
When should I book my flight?

Generally, the sooner, the better. Try to book after you're sure what dates you will be attending, since cheaper airfares tend to be non-refundable. Booking two or three months in advance is a good rule of thumb, but you may well find seats available right up until the day of departure. It all depends where you are coming from.

Are flight discounts available?

Major US carriers usually do have discounts available. Check http://www.nojazzfest.com/travel/ for discount codes. Expect to save about 5-10% off of applicable fares.

The flights from my hometown are sold out, or hideously expensive. Any ideas?

If you can't fly into New Orleans (MSY), check for flights into Baton Rouge (BTR). New Orleans is an easy 80 mile drive on Interstate 10 from there. Also check Gulfport/Biloxi MS (GPT) - I've never done that drive, but it's about 70 miles.

Another possibility is to fly your favorite airline to Houston (Hobby airport), and to catch a Southwest flight to New Orleans from there. Southwest has about 20 flights each day on that route, so there's usually space available, and the fares are quite cheap, usually under $100 each way for a last minute, full fare ticket, and half that for an advance purchase discount ticket. Southwest has an extremely usable web site at www.southwest.com. Just make sure that your connecting flight goes into Hobby airport (HOU) and not Houston George Bush Intercontinental (IAH).

And if you are flexible with flight times, there's Priceline and Hotwire.
 
Airfare for getting to New Orleans is absolutely outrageous and criminal! I'm trying to book something for either one of the two weekends of Jazzfest.

I can fly direct out of Newark via Continental; JFK via JetBlue, or out of LGA via Delta or American. Given those options the cheapest flight is over $600! Who can afford this?!

Anything with in the next two months is insane too regardless if Jazzfest is going on. I want to go back and visit the family, but I'd have to book a trip that is at least 2 months out to get the base fare which usually comes in around $220.

What's it like in your market?

I hate the airlines.


Back in January, I booked airfare from DC to NOLA for $290 and that was only because I was willing to drive to Baltimore. Fare from DC was around $400 - 3 months before my departure!

It's gotten ridiculous. Though fuel costs have got to be driving most of it. It isn't like the gas companies that are rolling in record profits.
 
You can fly out of New York the Friday, April 25th and return on Tuesday for $250 on American.

If you wanted to leave out on a Thursday the price goes up to $355 but it still isn't too bad.
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account on our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Users who are viewing this thread

    Back
    Top Bottom