How to watch for flight deals to Playa

04-19-2005

Hi, just returned from 7 days in PDC and loved it! Husband and I want to return in the fall (minus the kids) to celebrate our 10th anniversary. I am sure this time we will forego the AI and stay in town at one of the recommended hotels.

My problem is watching for good flight deals. Non-stop from Chicago to Cancun seems to run about $500 per person. Are there any online "flight specials" notification website I can sign up for that might alert me to when flight specials might occur? I signed up at Expedia already.

Anywhere else to sogn up for alerts? Shammy, do you know if flight prices ever come down from Chicago to Cancun?

By the way, loved PDC and Dr. Taco was my absolute favorite!!

jeevers · 04-19-2005

us air computers just screwed up and gave away all kinds of flights for 18.00 plus tax they are honoring the tickets

kathy.web · 04-19-2005

Go to Funjet, click on hot deals. Choose Chicago-Midway. At the end of the Cancun hotels, it says air only. $199.00 round trip. I think you can only get this price for 1-2 months in advance. I used Funjet in March, booked in Feb. with no problems. Sometimes the price goes down to $99 out of Kansas City! I am going to track this for a while to see if these last-minute flights are offered year-round. Good luck!

Edit: they also have more dates and some $149.00 flights from O'Hare.

Dave y Stacey · 04-19-2005

It depends.

I found prices to drop the closer the longer I waited. Most prices are pretty high until about a month or 2 before.

Flying out of Chicago - you might want to check sunship1.com. We ended up at $575 for 2 people RT. Prior to that - anywhere we looked (including Sunship 1) was about 800-1000.

I would check all the airlines as you can find good deals on all of them.

playabum17 · 04-19-2005

You could do like I do and sign up to get email notices of all the bargain flights from all the bargain airlines and then just grab the cheapest flight you can find at the moment you book. I just surfed around and found the cheapest I could find. Later I found out there was a cheaper one, but I am such a planner and I don't like leaving things to the last minute. I still did farily well, my flight was $403 from Minneapolis.

jtm1631 · 04-19-2005

We found some good deals on American last year from O'Hare. The problem I have with Fun Jet is they look like good deals until you add on all the taxes and fees.

I don't know of any website notification's for low fares, but I have had good luck going direct with American at aa.com.

If you find anything, make sure to let us know.

playabum17 · 04-19-2005

I signed up on Suncountry, delta, and a couple others I can't remember. I ended up with Suncountry

ChicagoGuy · 04-19-2005

ATA has 129.00 one way fare. we got 2 round trips for 690.00. including all taxes and fees!!! usa 3000 also has a 99.00 one way fare by the time they add tax and fee -I belive a round trip will cost you 290.00. if you are flex with your dates you can get the usa 3000 this fall. I just checked for end of Aug begining of sept and I found it.

**Shammy** · 04-19-2005

I concur with all the above advice! These folks have the bases covered and I would check everywhere they all said.

In general, the closer to departure, the better the deals!

04-19-2005

Great, thanks to all! I just returned 2 days ago and I am SO ready to go back.

Just got the thumbs up from hubby to plan the fall trip.

JAH · 04-19-2005

worryfree.com posts all their Hot Deals on Tuesdays. I'm looking for 4 tickets for the end of July, so on Tuesdays I check both Worry Free and FunJet to see what kinds of deals they have into Cancun and Cozumel for my time frame. My arrival and departure dates are bit flexible, so that helps. I'm also keeping an eye on the commercial airliners, just in case they decide to have a fare war - just for me!

Softy57 · 04-19-2005

Another forum member told me about a program called Sidestep,which is quite good.Orbitz also has an "alert" function,where you put in your target cost ie.less than 500$,and they e-mail you when & if they can find it!

Not surprised you can't wait to get back,only gotta wait till Feb. 18-06 myself,lol.

Good Luck. I'm gonna check fares from Bos-O'Hare/Midway since we always seem to have to stop somewhere anyway!:p

Gimlet · 04-19-2005

Go to http://www.travelzoo.com/Get on the top 20 list, I see fights to Cancun for 89 buck's all the time.

jx2 · 04-19-2005

Alot of the cheap cheap cheap airfares do not have any fees and or taxes added on , these can add up to as much as $200, so be careful. I have found one source that works for several carriers and gives you the best price at the time, it is Kayak.com. I found a $305 R.T. from Portland Or., but after adding all the fees it came to $498. I just found a $414 on AA from San Francisco to CUN, with good times. I think I'm going to jump on that one now.

EDIT - As kayak.com can be good, I just tried orbitz.com and got the exact same flight from SF to CUN for $326. I guess you cant do too much looking.

Or if you dont want to spend all the time looking, as this takes hours over a period of days, Just call SHAMMY and let her do it for ya!!!

Teddy · 04-20-2005

I use a we bsite called vacationhotline.net. They are a wholesaler for apple and funjet. Best fares are usually for 2 to 4 weeks before departure. They list flights for most of the midwest(Chicago, Detroit,Milw, St Louis) They are based in Chicago. You have to add about $80 per ticket for taxes. I always get flights for about $199 plus tax.

04-19-2005	#1 (permalink)
kaki321 Guest Posts: n/a	How to watch for flight deals to Playa Hi, just returned from 7 days in PDC and loved it! Husband and I want to return in the fall (minus the kids) to celebrate our 10th anniversary. I am sure this time we will forego the AI and stay in town at one of the recommended hotels. My problem is watching for good flight deals. Non-stop from Chicago to Cancun seems to run about $500 per person. Are there any online "flight specials" notification website I can sign up for that might alert me to when flight specials might occur? I signed up at Expedia already. Anywhere else to sogn up for alerts? Shammy, do you know if flight prices ever come down from Chicago to Cancun? By the way, loved PDC and Dr. Taco was my absolute favorite!!

04-19-2005	#3 (permalink)
kathy.web añejo Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Missouri-North of KC Posts: 1,700	Go to Funjet, click on hot deals. Choose Chicago-Midway. At the end of the Cancun hotels, it says air only. $199.00 round trip. I think you can only get this price for 1-2 months in advance. I used Funjet in March, booked in Feb. with no problems. Sometimes the price goes down to $99 out of Kansas City! I am going to track this for a while to see if these last-minute flights are offered year-round. Good luck! Edit: they also have more dates and some $149.00 flights from O'Hare. Last edited by kathy.web; 04-19-2005 at 12:44 PM.

04-19-2005	#12 (permalink)
Softy57 añejo Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Massachusetts,U.S.A. Posts: 1,700	Hi kaki Another forum member told me about a program called Sidestep,which is quite good.Orbitz also has an "alert" function,where you put in your target cost ie.less than 500$,and they e-mail you when & if they can find it! Not surprised you can't wait to get back,only gotta wait till Feb. 18-06 myself,lol. Good Luck. I'm gonna check fares from Bos-O'Hare/Midway since we always seem to have to stop somewhere anyway!:p

04-19-2005	#14 (permalink)
jx2 añejo Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Pac. NW. Posts: 3,950	Alot of the cheap cheap cheap airfares do not have any fees and or taxes added on , these can add up to as much as $200, so be careful. I have found one source that works for several carriers and gives you the best price at the time, it is Kayak.com. I found a $305 R.T. from Portland Or., but after adding all the fees it came to $498. I just found a $414 on AA from San Francisco to CUN, with good times. I think I'm going to jump on that one now. EDIT - As kayak.com can be good, I just tried orbitz.com and got the exact same flight from SF to CUN for $326. I guess you cant do too much looking. Or if you dont want to spend all the time looking, as this takes hours over a period of days, Just call SHAMMY and let her do it for ya!!! Last edited by jx2; 04-19-2005 at 08:21 PM.

04-19-2005	#2 (permalink)
jeevers beachaholic Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 409	us air computers just screwed up and gave away all kinds of flights for 18.00 plus tax they are honoring the tickets

04-19-2005	#4 (permalink)
Dave y Stacey way into it Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Chicago Posts: 242	It depends. I found prices to drop the closer the longer I waited. Most prices are pretty high until about a month or 2 before. Flying out of Chicago - you might want to check sunship1.com. We ended up at $575 for 2 people RT. Prior to that - anywhere we looked (including Sunship 1) was about 800-1000. I would check all the airlines as you can find good deals on all of them.

04-19-2005	#5 (permalink)
playabum17 naughtiest chica Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: My body may be in Minnesota, but my brain is in Playa! Posts: 15,578	You could do like I do and sign up to get email notices of all the bargain flights from all the bargain airlines and then just grab the cheapest flight you can find at the moment you book. I just surfed around and found the cheapest I could find. Later I found out there was a cheaper one, but I am such a planner and I don't like leaving things to the last minute. I still did farily well, my flight was $403 from Minneapolis.

04-19-2005	#6 (permalink)
jtm1631 añejo Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Chicagoland Posts: 2,411	We found some good deals on American last year from O'Hare. The problem I have with Fun Jet is they look like good deals until you add on all the taxes and fees. I don't know of any website notification's for low fares, but I have had good luck going direct with American at aa.com. If you find anything, make sure to let us know.

04-19-2005	#7 (permalink)
playabum17 naughtiest chica Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: My body may be in Minnesota, but my brain is in Playa! Posts: 15,578	I signed up on Suncountry, delta, and a couple others I can't remember. I ended up with Suncountry

04-19-2005	#8 (permalink)
ChicagoGuy way into it Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Chicago Posts: 164	ATA has 129.00 one way fare. we got 2 round trips for 690.00. including all taxes and fees!!! usa 3000 also has a 99.00 one way fare by the time they add tax and fee -I belive a round trip will cost you 290.00. if you are flex with your dates you can get the usa 3000 this fall. I just checked for end of Aug begining of sept and I found it.

04-19-2005	#9 (permalink)
Shammy Moderator Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: The Joisey Shore Posts: 10,495	I concur with all the above advice! These folks have the bases covered and I would check everywhere they all said. In general, the closer to departure, the better the deals!

04-19-2005	#10 (permalink)
kaki321 Guest Posts: n/a	Great, thanks to all! I just returned 2 days ago and I am SO ready to go back. Just got the thumbs up from hubby to plan the fall trip.

04-19-2005	#11 (permalink)
JAH reposado Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Indiana Posts: 1,309	worryfree.com posts all their Hot Deals on Tuesdays. I'm looking for 4 tickets for the end of July, so on Tuesdays I check both Worry Free and FunJet to see what kinds of deals they have into Cancun and Cozumel for my time frame. My arrival and departure dates are bit flexible, so that helps. I'm also keeping an eye on the commercial airliners, just in case they decide to have a fare war - just for me!

04-19-2005	#13 (permalink)
Gimlet into ruins Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Otsego, MN Posts: 63	Go to http://www.travelzoo.com/Get on the top 20 list, I see fights to Cancun for 89 buck's all the time.

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04-20-2005	#15 (permalink)
Teddy way into it Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 161	I use a we bsite called vacationhotline.net. They are a wholesaler for apple and funjet. Best fares are usually for 2 to 4 weeks before departure. They list flights for most of the midwest(Chicago, Detroit,Milw, St Louis) They are based in Chicago. You have to add about $80 per ticket for taxes. I always get flights for about $199 plus tax.