<p>So I’m trying to find the cheapest way to get D home for the holidays, and it is not easy! Seems her last final is on Friday, the 16th. Prices are through the roof starting on that Saturday. Ugh! Also, debating on when to send her back. Okay, I admit it, we’re still hoping for that shot at the BCS NCG and that is factoring into our decision and adding to the price.</p>
<p>So as I’m trying to work this out, I have a few questions. Could we get a shuttle from Tuscaloosa to Atlanta? If so, about how much would that be?</p>
<p>Any other airports I could consider besides BHM and ATL? </p>
<p>Also, is there any chance of getting finals moved up? If she could leave on the 14th, the ticket price could be $400 to $700 cheaper depending on her return date. Any input would be great!</p>
<p>D said she can’t get it moved, but of course she didn’t ask and probably won’t anyway. I will look at prices out of those cities. Thanks.</p>
<p>We have a saying here, “lucky we live Hawaii,” except when you’re trying to get your kid home for Christmas. Yikes!! Of course I shouldn’t complain, since we’re lucky Bama has amazing scholarships!!!</p>
<p>Rose, there are no shuttles to Atlanta from Tuscaloosa but there is one from the b’ham airport to the atlanta airport. $59 one way I think. Google BHM - ATL shuttle and the site will come up with the times.</p>
<p>You might want to consider taking amtrak from Tuscaloosa to either Atlanta or New Orleans and flying out of there. You’d have to take a short cab ride from either amtrak station to their respective airport but it might be a lot cheaper than flying out of BHM.</p>
<p>lil bro has (2) flights booked for his return to campus in January. One is to New Orleans on sat the 7th if we’re in the National championship game and the other is to BHM on monday the 9th if we’re not. He has a train ticket booked from New Orleans to Tuscaloosa on the 10th as well. All bases are covered now we just need to get in the damn game :-)</p>
<p>Thanks, NJ! I knew you would have all your bases covered for BCS game! It’s so much cheaper to fly on the 9th, but she’s not having any of it!</p>
<p>I’ll look into amtrak options. I didn’t know that was a possibility. I saw that BHM to ATL shuttle, so I was hoping there was one from Tuscaloosa that I didn’t see.</p>
<p>I’m doing the bidding on Priceline, but that’s not working out so well either. Oh, well, I’ll keep trying.</p>
<p>Rose808, is your “home” airport Honolulu or Maui and do you have a preferred airline? Finding inexpensive airfare tickets is one of my hobbies, so I’ve been searching around trying to find the best prices.</p>
<p>Remember that you can book two one-way tickets, booking now for December and later on for January. I’m also waiting to see who will be in the National Championship so I can book my ticket back in January. My December ticket was booked in late September and has me flying to Las Vegas before getting to Seattle later that night.</p>
<p>Home airport is Honolulu, but now that you mention it, I should look at other islands, as I could easily use Hawaiian FF miles to get her here.</p>
<p>I like the one-way idea. That might make the Priceline bidding easier. I’m usually good at getting really good prices, but having some trouble this time. We usually don’t travel around Christmas, and now I know why!!! </p>
<p>If you see any good deals, let me know. Right now, the dates that she wants/needs, it’s pricing out at around $1,500 What days do they say are the best days for booking tickets? Is it Wednesdays?</p>
<p>Keep thinking out of the box Rose, if you can find some better airport options and post here there might be one of us who can help. Parents here picking up kids and driving back to Nashville, New Orleans, maybe Atlanta area? Shoot if she wants to make the 10-hour drive DS can drop her off at Chicago Midway. If Sea_Tide is on it you’re golden :)</p>
<p>Thank you guys! I will look for other airports too. Sea_Tide helped me with some other options I hadn’t thought about as well. I’ll keep you posted if I find anything.</p>
<p>I looked it up on Priceline and it comes up at $1298? I probably can’t use my miles either, since it’s other airlines until you get to Vegas. I think I need to dedicate a whole day to this search. I’m afraid to make it too many connections, as I really don’t want her getting stuck in some random place for days. Didn’t that happen last year to a lot of kids? Another reason we usually don’t travel during this time of year. Too cold :(</p>
<p>^^^^Rose808 Try looking at prices on Tuesday nights online. Also clear your cookies. airline sites track your searches and often won’t drop prices if you are tagged. Try a different variable to your search as suggested before, like booking 2 one way tickets.</p>
<p>the rate i found (and i just found it again) was on hawaiian airlines website.</p>
<p>the reason people got stuck last year was because of that bad winter storm. i think that was kind of an anomaly. wouldn’t expect something like that to happen again.</p>
<p>If you can use FF from Las Vegas, you can get a Southwest flight from BHM to Las Vegas on Sat. for either $200 or $240 one way, They were lower a couple of weeks ago so you might want to keep that in mind for future options. </p>
<p>Remember that when buying two separate tickets, one is out of luck should the first set of flights be delayed long enough that one misses their other flights, whereas the passenger will be put on the next available flight if all flights are on the same ticket. Should one be checking a bag, they will have to retrieve it from Southwest and check it with Hawaiian. Other airlines should be able to interline luggage to Hawaiian at no extra charge.</p>
What days do they say are the best days for booking tickets? Is it Wednesdays?</p>