Did you get airfare through Disney when you booked?

[BensWife]

We have our reservations made for our resort, but have not gotten our airfare yet. Every time we look for airfare from Colorado to Florida, the price goes up! When we first had the idea to go, the fares were $250 a ticket! GREAT! However, by the time we officially decided to book, they were up to $350, and checking today, they are now up to $466 a ticket! That is crazy! I totally wish we had booked when it was $250. Anyway, is there any advantage of getting airline tickets through Disney instead of somewhere else, like Expedia or the airline directly? Thanks!

[Mousemommy1]

Originally Posted by BensWife

We have our reservations made for our resort, but have not gotten our airfare yet. Every time we look for airfare from Colorado to Florida, the price goes up! When we first had the idea to go, the fares were $250 a ticket! GREAT! However, by the time we officially decided to book, they were up to $350, and checking today, they are now up to $466 a ticket! That is crazy! I totally wish we had booked when it was $250. Anyway, is there any advantage of getting airline tickets through Disney instead of somewhere else, like Expedia or the airline directly? Thanks!

No! Quite the opposite actually. You are probably not getting the best deal and if the price goes down from what you booked through Disney, the airline will not talk to you about changing the price because you booked through a 3rd party (Disney).

I always book my own airfare for sure.

[ErinsMommy]

i booked a package through Disney and a day later realized it was the same price as if I booked it direct with the airline but for me it was convenient to book it all in one place. I see you have 4+ months before your trip, you have time to price watch and I personally would wait as unless your traveling during a busy time.

[showers2flowers]

Originally Posted by ErinsMommy

i booked a package through Disney and a day later realized it was the same price as if I booked it direct with the airline but for me it was convenient to book it all in one place. I see you have 4+ months before your trip, you have time to price watch and I personally would wait as unless your traveling during a busy time.

This.

We booked our airfare through Disney, but in hindsight I wish we hadn't. Not that there were problems, but just doing something as simple as a seat change is....well, no longer simple since it's technically Disney that holds the reservation.

I don't think we got hosed on the price, but I think we could've done better booking it separately.

[ADisneyQueen]

There are times when it is cheaper to book through Disney. You just have to do the comparison on the same day. One time it was $100 cheaper per ticket for us.

[ErinsMommy]

Originally Posted by showers2flowers

but just doing something as simple as a seat change is....well, no longer simple since it's technically Disney that holds the reservation.

The day prior to your flight, you can check onto your flight and print your boarding passes. When doing so, it gives you the option to change seats. We did it in 2011 and moved from all the back of the plane to the front.

[creamypuffs]

I booked through Disney package last time I went and regretted it. When there are price drops, it was not possible to get it changed easily. I only did it because it was then charged to my Disney Visa card and I got 6 months interest free but in hindsight, it would have still been much better price watching and booking separately. I did that with this year's trip and booked with JetBlue and even after I booked, have continued to check prices and whenever it dropped, I was able to get credit back, so far got credit back 3x already for my upcoming trip!

[Gooshy]

we did. but only because it was still cheaper then the cheapest airline i saw by $100. we are also traveling during SWW at the beginning of summer vaca. plus id rather not have to deal with it later - lmao

[mickeynut1]

We always book our own airfare, but I have priced flights through Disney a few times just to see how they compared, and every time it was much higher than what we were able to get on our own (and the flight times weren't very good). Plus, we always fly Southwest and whenever a fare goes down in price, it's very easy to get a credit to use on a future flight.

[Coyotesweat]

I looked at Disney prices, which when I booked were similar to the same flights on the airline sites. But when I could pay for my package (which had to be by Dec 31 since I was leaving Feb 1 and you have to pay packages 45 days in advance and that was when deal ended) I hadn't gotten my Christmas week overtime check. Could not do tickets. Disney does not offer Southwest. I prefer southwest, as they have cheapest flights from Austin, especially since you get 2 free checked bags and the others charge $50 each bag. Plus, I don't have to mess with the baggage fee prepay thing at checkout. Got round trip for two from Austin for $486. Before that, price varied weekly from $540 to $700 plus. A couple weeks later, it went down to $436. Sigh. But it also might have gone up... I'm ok with $243 a person round trip to Orlando.

Just do your homework and run the numbers.

Katie

[davedmaine]

Definitely not. It's difficult to even figure out what price you're paying for airfare through Disney.
Use Bing Travel and they have a cool program that tells you if now is a good time to buy or if you should wait. Typically, you should book flights about 45 days out for the best deals.

[Missytara]

Often, you will find Disney flights will always have layovers, and some can be quite long. They are booking the cheapest flights.

I remember the first few years, I did the land/sea package and had Disney book everything. Back then, US Air was their preferred carrier and every east coast flight went through Charlotte, NC, including mine from BWI. I had a five hour layover in Charlotte one year - I figured any longer and I could have rented a car and driven the rest of the way.

It is better to have more flexibility by purchasing your flights yourself.

[HawkeyeFan]

We booked through KAYAK and got a FABULOUS deal through United.... 198.00 per person! Way way cheaper than we would have paid through Disney! Also, your rates will typically be better if you book mid week at night rather than on the weekends!

[Marthasor]

I agree. Do not book air through Disney. You will have zero flexibility if the price changes and their change and cancellation fees are strict than the airlines'. I always search third party sites for the best fares and then book directly with the airline.

[Masonmj84]

I made the mistake of buying flights through Disney the first time we stayed on-site.

Never again.

You have no control over the reservation if you have to change your plans.

For example, we booked our trip and then found out a week later that we'd unwittingly booked during a free dining black-out week. When we tried to change our flights to move the reservation to get free dining, we could not do so through the airline but, instead, had to go through WDW travel.

When we called WDW travel, they wanted to charge us a lot more to change the tickets than what the airline would have charged had we booked through the airline directly. Several hundred dollars more (and only a few dollars less than what free dining would save us).

In essence, we felt like Disney was trying to take advantage of our situation because they knew we were trying to change our plans to get free dining so they disingenously quoted us a price that would allow them to recoup almost all of the free dining savings. It took several phone calls and requests to speak to managers in order for them to finally agree to only charge the same as what the airline would have charged to change the flight.

The whole experience was so distasteful that, for a few days afterward, my wife wanted to cancel the trip because she felt that Disney was dishonest and untrustworthy.