Outrageous air fare?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
1

<p>Is it just me or is anyone else seeing the flight prices increase dramatically? We aren’t booking our flights for bama bound or move in yet obviously until we know dates but the prices are going up every day. When we came down for our HC visit in November we paid about $320 round trip, now I can’t find any flights under $500. I thought maybe it was just our market but even checking other markets they all seem high. </p>

<p>I guess for these two trips it will be really pricey, and only I will be able to travel with him…not sure how we can also afford parents weekend etc., </p>

<p>(Southwest starts service up here in April but even their flights are expensive)</p>

2

<p>Upstate, deep breaths!</p>

<p>First, you can pretty much figure out your dates for BB and move-in. The “tentative” schedule is out there (it’s not going to change and if you sign up right away you will get what you want). Move-in might be a little trickier if your student hasn’t decided yet if he will do AA/OA or another activity that will require him to move in the week early. If there’s no chance, you know your weekend. Also, with all the “stuff” needed for move-in, is there any chance you might drive instead?</p>

<p>For all parents, I strongly suggest looking at alternative airports for both departures and arrivals. Flying into Atlanta and driving a couple of extra hours usually gives a lot more flight options. Nashville adds about 2 1/2 hours on to the 1 hour from BHM to UA, but again gives you another option. Watch the prices carefully. You can usually get the best deals late nights on Wednesdays but as prices fluctuate wildly - seems like by the hour - keep checking. </p>

<p>I love Southwest because of their flexibility. You can book a ticket with no change fees and if the prices comes down you can request a credit back.</p>

3

<p>Last year we flew Southwest to Bama Bound (from Chicago). I just checked fares for the same time this year and it’s about the same (and what I consider reasonable - $230 r/t). I kept checking back last year and fares did go down at one point ($193 r/t) so I rebooked - since there aren’t change fees on Southwest that’s easy to do. I remember checking fares for a trip when we were within 2 weeks of travel last year and the fares were crazy - I’ve had good luck with fares to BHM when booking well in advance, though.</p>

4

<p>My son wants to do Outdoor or Alabama Action - but don’t we need to wait to find out if they get in - they have to apply don’t they? Does anyone know what the date would be - I am thinking the 8th would be the travel down day? </p>

<p>I agree that the no change fees will be huge from Southwest, but the fare is still double that out of Chicago, jsut another ‘perk’ I guess of living in upstate NY :(. I think they have some great deal if you open a credit card though you get two free tickets, I will need to look into that. </p>

<p>Flights to Atlanta were just as expensive, I will check Nashville, hadn’t thought of that. 17 hour drive. Amtrack is nearly as expensive.</p>

<p>Relaxing won’t happen until next September :)</p>

5

<p>AA and OA are not competitive programs. if you apply when the application is available, I think you can be assured of getting in. It’s a first come first served thing, IIRC.</p>

6

<p>

</p>

<p>Hardly. September is when the real fun begins!</p>

<p>

First come, first served. He’ll get in if you send it in right away.</p>

<p>The program should begin on that Sunday. If the schedule remains true to last year, he’ll move in on Friday afternoon or Saturday.</p>

<p>Edit - sorry for the double post with beth’s mom. She obviously has faster fingers than me.</p>

7

<p>thank you!!! and i guess the flight down for him will be one way :slight_smile: for move in and therefore cheaper…</p>

<p>sorry to be soooo lame…</p>

8

<p>I fly into Birmingham about 10 times per year so I guess I’ve got some experience with this. The fares are, on average, much higher than a year or two ago, but… fares are very dynamic and change frequently. </p>

<p>Look at the seats on a flight. If the fare is high but there are a lot of seats available, the odds are in a week or two the price will come down.</p>

9

<p>We are now changing the way we book air travel. If there is ANY chance you might change your outbound or return flight then I HIGHLY advise everyone to do this. Book your outbound flight on one reservation. Book your return on a seperate reservation. </p>

<p>Last week when DH needed to change his outbound flight to MCO but keep the same return they wanted to completely rebook the entire reservation which then showed his return flight sold out even though he had a confirmed seat on the plane. It used to matter fare wise if you booked one way or roundtrip but those days are long gone. Now it does not matter. If we had booked his flights seperately we could have changed his outbound flight a few days ahead with very little penalty and not touched that return. The other issue is say that you book a RT and realize you may need to drive out but fly back home (ie: ride with D/S for movein but want to fly back home). If you do not make that first flight it cancels the entire reservation. If you book seperately you still keep that return flight with no penalty or hassles and can get a credit for canceling the outbound.</p>

10

<p>Also, forget not that your student can legally move into their on-campus housing as soon as that building opens. My Freshman S is in presidential this year, and one of the RAs on his floor is also his suite-mate. We arrived early on Friday and were not expecting to be allowed to move in until the official move in day on Saturday. The RA told us that as soon as the building opens, you can move in. In fact, one of the other suite-mates who was also a new Freshman to campus had been living in the suite for almost a week when we got there. That student was not there for any program such as AA or OA either. In fact, I am still not completely clear on why he elected to move in so early, but he did.</p>

<p>I am not sure how you find out when a given hall first officially opens its doors, but if you need to get in early I think you can. Might be important to some.</p>

11

<p>Matrix Airfare Search is a great tool to research lowest airfares (does not include Southwest Airline). [Matrix</a> - ITA Software](<a href=“http://matrix.itasoftware.com/]Matrix”>http://matrix.itasoftware.com/)</p>

<p>Expand your search with the “Nearby, Date Range, Multi-City” functions. Hope this is helpful!</p>

12

<p>As soon as my son decided to attend UA, we signed up for a Southwest credit card under a promo where we received 50k free points. Having a supply of points has made scheduling flights easier. We book all flights as one-ways (as TxNewCollegeMom recommends) and we’ve booked multiple flights for the same break when we were unsure of travel plans. For example, for spring break my son is booked on a Friday early evening flight and a Saturday flight, one of which we’ll cancel once he knows if his Friday afternoon lab will be held or not (or if he can take it earlier in the week). The points you don’t use go right back into your account. </p>

<p>Of course, this advice is only good for those who can use Southwest.</p>

13

<p>After what seems like hours online, I did end up finding a direct flight on Delta into Atlanta for the 27th - 29th for BB, for $300 - booked it just so I could have the peace of mind. I hope there isn’t any reason we won’t get the time slot. I had even thought during our last visit the Atlanta layover was a waste - so it will be close to the same amount of travel time, and I have a free rental I can use.</p>

<p>SW fares (so far) advertised here are expensive! I hope they will come down once service starts. They now only give 25K with the card, which is still good. The ability to cancel the flights is a huge benefit for sure.</p>

<p>Thanks to all for the advice, no idea what I would do without CC!!!</p>

14

<p>Given everything, I am actually seriously considering renting a car (one way) for move in, I agree those hours will be precious. </p>

<p>And can I jsut say all these people who already are mapping out their freshman’s schedules etc really irritate me (totally kidding), I can barely plan out bama bound let alone start helping him figure out his AP credits and what he should minor in :)</p>

15

<p>There is a current promo where you can get the 50k points if you spend $2k in 3 months of card opening. Not sure how far in advance UA allows this, but you may be able to prepay $2k towards fall semester expenses. This past fall I did pay my son’s spring housing early on a credit card bonus offer day. You have to call to do this (can’t do it online). If you have the $ in savings, might be a good way to get the points. </p>

<p><a href=“https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/southwest/radio[/url]”>https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/southwest/radio&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

16

<p>I have a lot of experience flying out of the NYC airports and although airfare varies based on time/date booked, in general flights are more expensive from the NY area. Flights this year are more expensive than last year. Southwest airlines rarely lowers its (read this to be never) prices from the NY regional airports, they don’t have to… add this to the high cost of oil and well, you get the picture.</p>

<p>Some things you can do:
1.) Book late at night, I find Tuesday best
2.) Use alternate days if possible
3.) Use alternate airports, like Atlanta and even NOLA, I have even used Orlando (and worked in a mini vacation :slight_smile: )
4.) Really compare prices, don’t forget baggage cost, extra legroom costs, priority boarding cost, not all airlines give you the same features, so make sure you are comparing apples to apples.
5.) You will probably not find many direct flights to NY from BHM, so be aware of travel time. Some flights require long stopovers and even multiple connections. Saving money is great but having to travel longer to get a savings may not always be worth it.
6.) Dont forget to add in the cost of transportation to/from the airport in the total cost of travel. For instance: if you fly into JFK, you can take the “train to the plane” shuttle and the railroad, versus flying into a closer regional airport but the costs added to the airline ticket might negate the savings.
7.) Sometimes flying the Red-Eye is cheaper but not always.
8.) Try not to fly the last plane of the day, if it is cancelled…you are stuck.</p>

<p>Amtrak is really for the early birds; you must book well in advance for the best fares. Look for sales and specials, but there aren’t many on the Crescent Line. If you are traveling by Amtrak it is an almost 24 hour ride from NYC’s Penn Station, and that is a long time in a coach class seat! Rooms are ridiculously expensive!!</p>

<p>Driving is doable, if you have a great car, but you might consider renting one for the move-in. You can take all your student’s personal belongings and have the car for all the trips to the store that you will invariably make once you hit town. The ride to T-Town is a great opportunity to have those last minute talks with your student, and can be a good bonding opportunity.</p>

<p>Usually due to costs, OOS students do not come home as frequently as in-state students; it is probably a good thing to discuss this possibility with your student before time. Some students don’t mind, others do, so you will have to plan accordingly. Some OOS state students use the break to sleep, do laundry, sleep, study, sleep, and catch up on things :)</p>

17

<p>upstate13 - sorry. :slight_smile: (I assume that was directed at me) My S decided on Bama back in August, so I have had lots of time to find things to obsess about!</p>

18

<p>I hate to argue with information given to anyone by an RA, but it’s not correct that any student can move into a building as soon as it opens.</p>

<p>On the contract signed by every resident on campus, it states that the contract begins on the first day of school. Clearly, we hold move in earlier than that in order to allow students to get situated, buy books, attend Week of Welcome events, etc.</p>

<p>Our student staff move in first, and must have time to attend training before other residents move in. If a building does not have on call staff in place, then no residents are allowed to move in yet. I’m not sure what the situation was with that one student who got through, but once students sign up for a move in time, we check their names against MBD, AA/OA and sorority recruitment participants. If a student signed up for an early move in time but was not participating, then they were rescheduled to a later time.</p>

<p>The only exception to this that I can readily recall is an international student because those flights do not always have a flexible schedule. In this case, we allow an international student to move in, as long as staff are in the building. But this is by no means an exception we grant lightly, in the best interests of our students’ safety.</p>

<p>Please let me know if you have further questions about who qualifies for an early move-in time.</p>

<p>Thank you,
Janine Gascoigne</p>

19

<p>lisa6191 :)</p>

20

<p>In my very detailed experience, airfares to BHM seem to go in either 2 or 4 week price cycle with the occasional sales. Currently, prices are on the high end.</p>

<p>As Nashville often has good fares to Seattle, I often book a fare from Seattle to Nashville and Nashville to Birmingham on the same ticket, sometimes connecting in Atlanta twice. :slight_smile: It often saves me $50-$100 each way and I get to spend more time flying and earning elite status, all of which are good things for me. :slight_smile: </p>

<p>I usually find that due to competition from Southwest, fares from Birmingham to Nashville, St. Louis, Orlando, Phoenix, and Las Vegas are often very good and will book often flights via those cities. I once booked a ticket with such a “fare break” in Newark, but didn’t end up flying there due to air traffic control delays. I’ve even seen a $150 roundtrip airfare for JFK-BHM, but that was a rare occurrence.</p>

<p>Officially, one is not supposed to move in early. Exceptions are sometimes made, but don’t count on them. As an upperclassman, I’ve always been able to move in on the regular freshman move-in days because I was flying a long distance* and was saving $200 on airfare by arriving a day or two “early.” Coincidentally, I’ve always had to fly to Phoenix first on my way back to UA in August because it had the only inexpensive redeye flights. </p>

<p>*I’m from an area close enough to Canada that there is a large amount of people at UA who are convinced that I’m Canadian, so YMMV on the “international student” exemption. I believe that students from Hawaii also fall under this rule.</p>