I am going to be flying from CLT to PDX and back in July 2014 on US Airways. I have been checking out their prices and flights on this website and on their homepage. I notice that they are not showing any direct flights for many months leading up to my travel date and they currently offer direct flights. My question is: Will they offer the direct flights as my travel dates get closer or have they discontinued direct flights between these to cities? I ask because the direct flight is cheaper and I prefer to fly nonstop. Thanks for the responses.
Well, first of all, do you want a direct flight or a nonstop flight? A direct flight is a flight between 2 points that stops at one or more enroute airports.
Most airlines allow you to make reservations up to 330 days (11 months) ahead of time. July 2014 is over a year from now. The CLT/PDX nonstop may be a seasonal flight.
Nonstop flights are NOT always the cheapest flights. Quite often you can get cheaper flights through direct or connecting flights. I also wouldn’t be booking a flight for 2014 this far out.
For example, Kayak shows a $332 fare for flights connecting at IAH for a trip departing on 18 Sep and returning 25 Sep. The US Airways nonstop flight is $519.(Yes, I now these are not 2014 fares. I’m using these dates because there is a nonstop flight on these dates between CLT and PDX). In fact, there are many, many flights under $500 for this city pair.
It would be best to wait until 1 or 2 months prior to your flight date.
Thanks for the clarification on direct flights and nonstop flights. I prefer nonstop flights when available. My family is on a budget and we try to find the lowest fare and we have flown from CLT to the west coast before and left the airport either real early in the morning or very late at night on nonstop flights; which is fine with us. I have a credit card with air miles on it with US Airways and I have to call them and book flights with them directly so I am not sure if Kayak and related sites would be beneficial to me but I will take your advice and wait to closer to July 2014 and book the flight. I hope you are right and this flight is a seasonal nonstop flight and it will open back up when the time comes closer to our vacation.
Yes.
It is a seasonal flight and flights for 13 months out aren’t loaded yet.