Go in October or wait for "Kids fly free" from Seattle?

[brittu]

Hi All!

Just wondering if you experts had any insight in to how significant the savings is on a trip to Disneyland during the Kids Fly Free promo vs. going at another time during the year. We want to take our 2 boys, ages 3 and 5, to Disneyland in the coming year. We're in Seattle. We can either go in October. Or wait for the Kids Fly Free and go for spring break in April or even over a weekend in May. Either works for our schedule but I can't tell if one is better for our savings account. Are there enough discounts in the fall that the cost of 4 airfares is offset? Or is it better to wait for the full on Kids Fly Free promo and just live with either the April weekday or May weekend crowds.

Any input appreciated! Thanks,
Britt

[chrissiecutie]

I've heard from other posters that the discounts for kids fly free are not really all that great. To begin with, you pay full price, sometimes higher for the adult fares. In the end, it seems from what I've read on the boards, is that the discount didn't offset the higher cost of these full priced fares.

You may be better off to travel in Oct and pay for everyone's plane ticket. Keep in mind you'll be going during value season then so everything will be cheaper. I just checked JetBlue airlines website a few weeks ago and they had some great deals on fares to CA. Maybe they have something similiar for Oct?

[EnnEss]

You can get pretty cheap Alaska flights from seattle at other times of the year if you watch and stack that with another hotel discount or something that it should be economical to do it at other times. The trick will be to get good fares. It'll be a lot harder to get good fares when the kids fly free comes out.

[bumbershoot]

When I was planning our September trip last year, that kids fly free promo around that time did nothing for me. We did a package (without airfare b/c we drove that time), but after booking the package I realized I could have done better, money-wise, without the package.

Now that there are extra option of flights from Seattle, namely Jet Blue and Virgin America, IMO there are some good deals to be had. I would start looking at those sites, along with Southwest and the other, bigger, airlines as well.

Then everything else can be reserved or bought less expensively, in general, than inside of a package. In my experience, at least.

[avalon451]

I just looked at Alaska Air, and the entire month of October they have $79 each way flying into Long Beach. You can't beat that.

When we did a "kids fly free" package in March, I figured out that DH and I each paid about $700 rt for our tickets. Not a good deal at all.

[DisSarahK]

I would look at other options--I snagged Virgin America airfare for $79 each way for each person from Seattle to LAX for next month. (Plus taxes and fees of course!) Anyhow, as far as I can tell, that is far less expensive than what I would have paid on Alaska.

[bethy]

I second third and fourth that the Kid's fly free deal doesn't usually save money. I'm in Seattle. Plus I think October would be generally less crowded than Spring Break.

[imjen]

If you can get $79 each way into Long Beach that is a killer deal. I never got it less than $99 each way from Seattle and thought that was a pretty good deal. I did price out the kids fly free once and it was really not a good deal at all. Worked out to be more than $99 each way per person I believe. October is a much better time to go than Spring Break. Mid March through Mid April is super crowded.