I haven't been to California since I was a baby, but I have no particular reason / occasion that I want to go for. I'd like to go to the San Jose - San Francisco area; since the weather there is often nicer than it is here in New York, I'm totally flexible about when I go. However, due to the limited number of vacation days I have to spend, I will probably just go for a long weekend, so I don't want to spend a lot of money on plane tickets.
Jet Blue often has tickets for about $300 round trip. Is this the cheapest option for flying (preferably direct)? Is there a particular time of year when flights from NYC to CA are cheaper than this (on a predictable basis, rather than hoping there will be an airline sale)?