Most economical way/time to travel to FLA

amother

Chocolate

Mon, Jun 05 2017, 10:48 am

Not even sure which part of FLA, but considering a trip to probably Miami area in the coming year for family of 5/6 (6 includes an infant--meaning a body but not an airfare). For those who do this regularly any advice?

MommyM

Mon, Jun 05 2017, 10:56 am

Where are you coming from? If your time is flexible, look out for sales. Dansdeals. Com often posts deals to Florida often from New York but also from other major cities. Remember to take into account how much luggage you actually need before determinig which airline works out cheapest because different airlines allow different carry- one on board.
Just in general, I found travelling with a baby on Delta to be easier as we were allowed to board first before the first class (as opposed to JetBlue where the extra legroom seats were boarded first).

doctorima

Mon, Jun 05 2017, 11:02 am

Miami fares have been down due to Zika and airline competition. I've seen lots of bargain fares to Fort Lauderdale
and other places. Keep your eyes open, especially on Dan's Deals, and be ready to pounce when you see a fare you like.

amother

Chocolate

Tue, Jun 06 2017, 12:23 pm

OP here, for now from the NY area. When is the best time to look? We are to a large degree bound by a school calendar. We wouldn't be doing it before December/Jan. Even with Dan's deals, what is considered a bargain? I'm pretty clueless.

MommyM

Tue, Jun 06 2017, 9:00 pm

Dansdeals usually posts only the good deals whether its $64-$90 each way. There are a couple of times when tickets have been cheaper, but you can't really count on it. The deals though are specific days, which may/may not work with your school calendar.
Also, if you have only specific days that would work for you, it pays to start looking and while keeping an eye out on dansdeals. Do a weekly search on expedia, and see how the fares vary. Try to avoid busy seasons such as legal holidays. Mid-week flights are usually cheaper than weekend if those work for you.
Also, if you're looking for Miami area, it may be a good idea to check out FLL airport in addition to MIA, because sometimes it works out cheaper from there.

MommyM

Tue, Jun 06 2017, 9:10 pm

amother wrote:

I think most economical is to drive?

It is the most economical way, however, practically it's very hard, and not everyone is cut out to do it. It's a 20 hour trip without stops, and if your time is limited then you're exhausting yourself travelling to and from.
It can be done and has been done. (I've done it in the past.)

amother

Smokey

Wed, Jun 07 2017, 12:39 am

We flew to Miami a few months ago on spirit airlines to the FL airport. There are certain days that it is like 40$ each way but if you book at the airport you save about 15$ so our tickets came out to about 25$ each way. We left from Atlantic city airport. The only problem with spirit is that you have to pay for any luggage even a carry on. You are only allowed one personal item. We each took a backpack and stuffed everything into it that we needed for five days. I know there are people that ship their clothes UPS and it comes out cheaper.

frumPA

Wed, Jun 07 2017, 9:49 am

Spirit is by far the cheapest. Leaving on Tuesday or Wed is the cheapest. And you need to pay for luggage but when we went with 3 kids and 2 adults (one infant) we packed everyones stuff in 1 suitcase so wasnt that much extra.

amother

Chocolate

Wed, Jun 07 2017, 10:10 am

In our case, driving isn't "impossible" we've done long trips before, but not 20 hrs before. We'd need to upgrade our vehicle situation b4 undertaking such a trip, which is on the horizon, but not sure when.

Where are some strategic locations to stop on the way down if we'd break it up over 2 days--minyan? kosher food? If such a thing exists?

amother

Brown

Wed, Jun 07 2017, 6:08 pm

If you want to drive down I-95, it's about 5.5 hours to Richmond, VA; 12.5 to Savannah, GA; and 14 to Jacksonville, FL. All have at least one kosher restaurant and daily minyanim. (Jacksonville has an amazing new fleishig restaurant that just opened--I highly recommend it!)

As someone suggested earlier, check flights to Ft. Lauderdale. Often it's less expensive to fly there than it is to fly to Miami.