Sorry for the probably dumb question. We've always avoided traveling on weeks like spring break. But now that we have kids in school, we find ourselves with the masses.

We've pretty much decided on doing a Disney cruise next spring break. Just deciding if it's worth going out of Florida vs. Galveston.

We kind of figured FL was worth it for the Disney islands, assuming those flights were a couple hundred dollars a person. But, checking and flights from IAH to MCO are $2k a person....flights from IAH to FLL are $1k a person. This is United, we're open to other airlines for sure, but American is still like $500 to FLL, $700 to Orlando. Too early for Southwest.

Are these normal spring break prices or fuel is really expensive right now and we don't know what's going to happen so we're going to jack up rates prices that may come down as we get closer?

For a spring break ticket, I would expect it to be $700-$1000/pp, especially if traveling on the weekends (that would be to any popular destination). Airlines have been charging a premium during this week for years. We could sometimes get around it by traveling the Sunday before and avoiding the second weekend altogether. You will be bound by the cruise dates, though.

I wouldn't book United this far out. If you jump on Southwest right when they open up the flight schedule, you might can get a better price.

Bottom line is so many people want to travel during spring break, and there are only so many seats, so it's expensive.

Prices everywhere have gone up the past few weeks with Iran still going on and jet fuel through the roof. We had most of our travel for the year booked before prices started going up a month ago but are holding off on any additional plans for now.

On the cruise side, I would definitely try to do the Bahamas cruise if it becomes affordable, it feels like you get more bang for your buck versus sailing to Cozumel (which still is fun) and back on one of the smaller/older ships.

ETA: here is an article from yesterday discussing United's recent fare hikes:

https://thepointsguy.com/news/united-airlines-airfare-increases-jet-fuel-crisis/

They will be quite a bit higher than normal obviously and may or may not come down because of demand. But as they say, the most expensive tickets go to those who book early and those who book late.

I've dealt with this every year since we started diving. Those are normal prices for the beach destinations. We'd always spend about $1k per person for flights to Mexico for our dive trips. Having the companion pass on SWA helped. Leaving on Tuesday or Wednesday and coming home Sunday helps.

Flights to the LA area were better. We did Disneyland and Legoland a few times. They have beaches too, of course, but the water is a little colder. We went out there several times when our son was younger. Then we'd play in Utah as he got older and hiked more. Then the diving started and the money was flowing like wine. Wouldn't trade those memories for anything though.

Thanks, all.

Kind of reiterates what I was thinking. "Normal" $200 flights aren't going to happen. But $2k is probably just expensive placeholder pricing. So realistically looking at $600-$1k per person....

That will help with planning for sure.

As a seasoned, fellow spring break, and peak of the summer traveler all you can do is suck it up! I know that is a bummer, but I have a kid in school and a wife that teaches. We always have to travel during the high season.

Two years ago we had a SW flight to FLL the first day of spring break on SW. They canceled all their flights to South Florida because of weather. UA and AA still ran their flights, but late. The earliest we could get to ANY South Florida airport on SW after that fiasco was three days later. I saw a AA flight that connected through Jacksonville (of all places) for 500 one way that left early the next am. I booked it and saved our trip.

SW stranded us and we were on our own. They did ultimately refund me, so I wasn't totally out all of our fare. But we did have to spend a good hour on the phone with them, keeping our return flight intact.

Fly UA or AA to FLL, and do it the night before. Get in late, get a hotel, and sleep in and board your cruise!

If you're departing from FLL, don't forget West Palm Beach for flights. If budget is your primary consideration, sometimes it can be a better option even if you have to endure a 1-stop flight and add ground transportation.

Maybe spring break is different, but buying tickets almost a year in advance is usually more expensive.

An FLL departure gives you access to three airports (MIA, FLL, PBI). In the past I've found it can be cheaper to go into one airport and out of another.

Going out of MCO means you're competing with park traffic as well, so I'd expect that to be extremely expensive around spring break.

we just did a spring break trip last month to FL.

If we do a sp cruise again, we will do galveston, since I don't think houston spikes on SP like mia/fll/mco does. Is your galveston option to drive there? or flying there too?

Anyway, we flew into FLL for a great price on a friday (like $150/ea).
But coming home out of MIA on sunday, the afternoon/evening flights were $700/ea. I ended up renting a car and driving to MCO cause those were only $300/ea.

You really have a lot of options if you're willing to drive +/- 4 hours from MIA.
MIA, FLL, PBI, TPA, RSW, MCO

when I was checking, TPA, RSW and MCO were all about the same and a fraction of MIA/FLL/PBI. We chose MCO for the United club.