Cheap flights to Florida are always possible
We’ve previously discussed some of the more helpful anomalies in US airfare pricing, including the wonderful fact that cheap flights to Las Vegas seem possible from everywhere at any time. Another one of those unusual situations is that most of Florida seems to be very cheap to reach by air, no matter the season.
This may not seem all that odd at first, but when you actually look at a map of airfares leaving from various cities in the United States, you’ll notice that far shorter flights are often far more expensive. It appears to be the situation that most major airlines, including a few cheap discount airlines, fly into the major Florida airports, so competition is always high and prices are always low.
Some might think that it’s just the great number of flights that causes this lower price, but in fact it’s all about competition among airlines. Take Atlanta, for example, where Delta Airlines controls something like 80% of all the air traffic there. It also happens to be one of, if not the, busiest airports in the world, yet prices in and out of Atlanta are always far higher than into Fort Lauderdale, which is always farther as well.
Destination: Florida
Everyone starts thinking about going to Florida around November, and by the time April rolls around most people are over it, unless you are a child and are thinking about amusement parks. Well, even though fares tend to be very low all winter as well, they stay weirdly low in summer.
It’s true that Miami can get very hot and muggy during the height of summer, but consider that the hotel prices are way down and that the awesome beach is always there to help provide a cooling sea breeze. It’s sure a hell of a lot nicer than any of the beaches in the New York area, regardless of what some people from New Jersey might think.
Of course Ft. Lauderdale is only about 30 miles north of Miami, and flights there are usually even cheaper. Right now you can get a roundtrip from New York to Ft Lauderdale for around $200 or perhaps even less. Miami itself is only a bit higher, but car rental prices are so cheap in Florida that it doesn’t really matter where you fly to.
Orlando, as we’ve discussed before, always seems to have an abundance of cheap flights itself. You can currently get from Chicago to Orlando for about $230 roundtrip, but better still, you can get from Chicago to Tampa for around $190. Many Midwesterners seem to prefer the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic, with Fort Meyers seemingly attracting large groups of people these days. It’s one of those cities that doesn’t have a major airport nearby, but it’s precisely that reason that it’s a desirable tourist destination for those staying two or more weeks at a time. Resorts in areas that are very close to major airports always have a bit of a frantic feeling to them, while resorts that are a bit harder to reach are preferred by those with time on their hands.