Flying from NYC

I am trying to book a round trip flight from NYC to Chicago by the end of May.

Searching the airlines%26#39; websites, best I麓ve come up are flights for around $280 (final price) on Jet Blue, or around $320 in other airlines (United, AA, Delta, Continental).

Is that as good as it gets? Or am I missing something?

Do you think it would be cheaper flying from another town nearby? (e.g. Philadelphia, or Boston - I plan to visit them as well).

Thanks

Flying from NYC

Keep in mind, Chicago has two airports - O%26#39;Hare (ORD) and Midway (MDW). Both are about equal distance to downtown Chicago. Jet Blue is perfectly fine.

Use www.kayak.com or www.expedia.com to compare flights and airlines. If your schedule is flexible, experiment with other cities.

Airfares are a complicated science. Much of it has to do with supply + demand. In most cases, the earlier you book your flight the lower the fare will be. However, fare sales do occur periodically.

Flying from NYC

End of may is memorial day too so fares go up over the long weekend.

wwww.kayak.com. Try Southwest.

ZB

I just checked some late May dates on Southwest and it was $231 round trip. The only problem is that Southwest flies into ISP, the airport on Long Island. It is about 50 miles from Manhattan, and you need to take a train (1.5 hours) to get there. The train and the shuttle from the airport to the train station are about $15 each way.

Thank you all for your responses! I will keep looking, but at least I know what to expect...

Oh and thanks to you, I learnt about Memorial Day, I wasn%26#39;t aware of that.

I just researched Chicago-NYC airports and came up with fares between $250-$300 on AA. They have cheaper fares on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday.

Where are you staying in NYC? There are several airports that serve that metro area.

Philadelphia can be very reasonable to fly in and out of, as can Boston. Both are competitive routes. However, it would be unusual to book a round trip for less than about $260.

It won%26#39;t help this time but Southwest has announced new service from MDW to LaGuardia starting June 28th 2009. Five round trips daily.

One other thing about Southwest. You can re-book if a lower price is posted for your flight. The only issue is that you get a credit for a future flight instead of a refund, so it may not work for everyone.

What type of quilt do you like