Flight options - help!

[Holstar]

Hey guys!

So, we've absolutely 100% decided on Disney in August/September 2013! Woo! We've spoken with Disney, who have said we should be able to book for 2013 from the start of next week, so I guess we're trying to formalise what exactly we're looking for.

We're taking our three nieces (who will be 15, 12 and 9 at the time we go), two weeks, either Old Key West or Yacht/Beach Club villa, dining plan, 14 day tickets - Disney have said that they'll be able to offer us the package deal when we book, as soon as dates are released (so, the standard free dining plan, 14 day for the price of 7 tickets etc).

However, the one thing we're not sure about, and I'm still massively confused about, are our flights.

We have a couple of options...

1. We book our flights with our package direct from Disney. They would be Virgin, and we could only book Economy. As the flights would be booked as a part of a package, Virgin wouldn't allow us to upgrade with them. Should we decide to, we'd have to risk it on the day!
PLUS: Spread the cost of flights over a long period with the holiday.
NEGATIVE: Can't guarantee an upgrade.

2. We book flights with Virgin Atlantic. Either from Manchester or London, the prices are mostly the same.
Economy: £3,117.50 (approx. this was a quote by Virgin as a rough guide as to what they'd expect it to be!).
Premium Economy: £6,068.50.
PLUS: Flown Virgin before, love Virgin.
NEGATIVE: They class a child as an adult from 12, rather than 15 - meaning we'd be paying for four adults and one child

3. We book flights with Thomson, from Manchester.
Economy: £2,994.90 (not a massive difference from Virgin).
Premium Economy: £3,894.90 (HUGE difference compared to Virgin Premium Economy!).
PLUS: We'd definitely upgrade as it'd only be £600ish more than Economy Virgin. And a whopping £2,000 less that Virgin Premium Economy!
ANOTHER PLUS: A child is up until 15, so we'd being paying for two adults and three children!
NEGATIVE: I've never flown Thomson before, and I don't know what to expect. Also - not flying into Orlando International.

So....

We're not 100% set on flying Premium, I guess it comes down to the price of it all. But, we're wary that we're flying out early, and back late, so we will have three tired girls with us.

What would you guys recommend?

I'm leaning towards saying if we want to go Premium fly with Thomson, if we want to fly Economy fly Virgin (and book with with the rest of the holiday).

I guess, I'm weighing up that should we wish to book anything other than economy, we're going to have to pay up front directly with the airline, whilst if we're happy to go Economy, we can spread the cost with Disney.

Argh! I don't have a clue what to do!

What do you guys recommend? Is it worth it to upgrade? Has anyone flown Thomson?

As an end note... I guess I should say that this is supposed to be a big holiday. Our nieces have never been on holiday other than to DLP and I've wanted to do WDW since I was a little girl. I don't want to go, and then regret not upgrading at a later time... The chances are, we're not going to get this chance again.

Help needed guys! I know how wonderful you are with everything else, what are your thoughts?

Hollie xxx

 

[northwest1965]

Hi Hollie

I have flown Thomson (Premium) a few years ago. It was good. Like you said it depends on whether you want to upgrade. I have flown Virgin Upper/Premium Ecnomy and Economy. PE is great but our last 3 long hauls we have flown economy...did we regret it? No. I have got to the point where I would rather pay less for my flights and have more to spend on the holiday and maybe pay for the next!

 

[starrysky]

Hi Hollie

While I agree about spreading the cost of flights I don't agree with the prices that Virgin charge.

We normally pay the deposite with Disney for our hotel/tickets/dinning plan and then start looking at flights.

Best advice I can give is if you find a flight price/time that suits your group go for it. Don't just go with the price offered on a comparison site its not always the cheaper option. I have found that booking direct with the airline is cheaper.

Make sure you look at the baggage allowance as well as this varies from flight company to flight company etc.

On a side note we stayed at OKW last year and it was wonderful, great resort in a lovely location. Buses good and frequent. Great boat to DTD. We loved it so much we are going back this year.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Sounds like you are planning a great holiday Do you have any Virgin miles to use to possibly get m+m flights? Sometimes you can fly economy out and PE back for quite a good price (if available).

I have uses m+m this year for our Christmas holiday to do this.

 

[Disney Princesses LW]

Hollie just wondered what are the extra benefits of going Premium Economy with Virgin?? We have flown twice now economy because its long haul it was very good. Just wondered what extras you recieve to warrant paying the extra cost?

 

[Holstar]

In all honesty, although I found it so much nicer, I don't think any extra benefits could warrant £6,000!!

But, bigger seats, tons of leg room, the seats recline more, better entertainment system... and I found the food better? But, that may have just been the trip we were on.

Other than that, the cabin just feels different. It's much more calm and quiet.

Truthfully, we're only really considering it because we want this to be a big special holiday! But, from what I've researched, Thomson's Premium Economy facilities seem as good if not better than Virgin's, at almost half the price!

xx

 

[northwest1965]

In all honesty, although I found it so much nicer, I don't think any extra benefits could warrant £6,000!!

But, bigger seats, tons of leg room, the seats recline more, better entertainment system... and I found the food better? But, that may have just been the trip we were on.

Other than that, the cabin just feels different. It's much more calm and quiet.

Truthfully, we're only really considering it because we want this to be a big special holiday! But, from what I've researched, Thomson's Premium Economy facilities seem as good if not better than Virgin's, at almost half the price!

xx

I have to say, if you are flying on the Airbus, I dont think the PE is as good value. They seem close together and not like on the 747. We flew to NYC and SF recently and I am so glad we didnt upgrade

 

[akl-fan]

We upgraded last year and although it was nice, it so was not worth the money. The cabin is a bit quieter but they had run out of PE food by the time they got to the back row.

 

[Karenpowley]

have flown both but not premium on Virgin.

Highly recommend Thomson Premium - lots of legroom 36"- premium is curtained off, so does feel separate. Bigger back seat Tv's than economy, stop/start films and lots of games. Wouldn't pay that much for Virgin Premium though (could get your whole holiday for that!) - even though I always go Premium with Thomson...can't beat it!

Thomson Premium vote for me!

 

[creamsoda]

We flew Thomson Premium last time and are doing again in August. Really loved the extra leg room and the crew were brilliant. Having flown back from Tenerife last night in economy style seats glad we've upgraded for August.

 

[monica23535]

I'm pretty sure that Thomson charge full price for children on flight only.

It won't make a difference to the price you've been quoted on their system, but wanted to point that out in case others didn't realise.

It is mis-leading as the system asks how many adults and children (2-15years) are travelling but the price is the same for everyone except for infants under 2.

 

[Karenpowley]

I'm pretty sure that Thomson charge full price for children on flight only.

It won't make a difference to the price you've been quoted on their system, but wanted to point that out in case others didn't realise.

It is mis-leading as the system asks how many adults and children (2-15years) are travelling but the price is the same for everyone except for infants under 2.

Yes . We paid the same flight only price for our 10yr old for this July - but her premium seat is £50 cheaper! -

Sooo lucky though our flight price is now showing £1300 more expensive for the 3 of us, than when i booked it- although Premium cost has come down by £100 each...cheeky devils....

 

[Kath2003]

Hey guys!

So, we've absolutely 100% decided on Disney in August/September 2013! Woo! We've spoken with Disney, who have said we should be able to book for 2013 from the start of next week, so I guess we're trying to formalise what exactly we're looking for.

We're taking our three nieces (who will be 15, 12 and 9 at the time we go), two weeks, either Old Key West or Yacht/Beach Club villa, dining plan, 14 day tickets - Disney have said that they'll be able to offer us the package deal when we book, as soon as dates are released (so, the standard free dining plan, 14 day for the price of 7 tickets etc).

However, the one thing we're not sure about, and I'm still massively confused about, are our flights.

We have a couple of options...

1. We book our flights with our package direct from Disney. They would be Virgin, and we could only book Economy. As the flights would be booked as a part of a package, Virgin wouldn't allow us to upgrade with them. Should we decide to, we'd have to risk it on the day!
PLUS: Spread the cost of flights over a long period with the holiday.
NEGATIVE: Can't guarantee an upgrade.

2. We book flights with Virgin Atlantic. Either from Manchester or London, the prices are mostly the same.
Economy: £3,117.50 (approx. this was a quote by Virgin as a rough guide as to what they'd expect it to be!).
Premium Economy: £6,068.50.
PLUS: Flown Virgin before, love Virgin.
NEGATIVE: They class a child as an adult from 12, rather than 15 - meaning we'd be paying for four adults and one child

3. We book flights with Thomson, from Manchester.
Economy: £2,994.90 (not a massive difference from Virgin).
Premium Economy: £3,894.90 (HUGE difference compared to Virgin Premium Economy!).
PLUS: We'd definitely upgrade as it'd only be £600ish more than Economy Virgin. And a whopping £2,000 less that Virgin Premium Economy!
ANOTHER PLUS: A child is up until 15, so we'd being paying for two adults and three children!
NEGATIVE: I've never flown Thomson before, and I don't know what to expect. Also - not flying into Orlando International.

So....

We're not 100% set on flying Premium, I guess it comes down to the price of it all. But, we're wary that we're flying out early, and back late, so we will have three tired girls with us.

What would you guys recommend?

I'm leaning towards saying if we want to go Premium fly with Thomson, if we want to fly Economy fly Virgin (and book with with the rest of the holiday).

I guess, I'm weighing up that should we wish to book anything other than economy, we're going to have to pay up front directly with the airline, whilst if we're happy to go Economy, we can spread the cost with Disney.

Argh! I don't have a clue what to do!

What do you guys recommend? Is it worth it to upgrade? Has anyone flown Thomson?

As an end note... I guess I should say that this is supposed to be a big holiday. Our nieces have never been on holiday other than to DLP and I've wanted to do WDW since I was a little girl. I don't want to go, and then regret not upgrading at a later time... The chances are, we're not going to get this chance again.

Help needed guys! I know how wonderful you are with everything else, what are your thoughts?

Hollie xxx

Are you renting a car? If not, flying into Sanford rather than MCO is an enormous pain - no public transport and cabs to Disney is about $100 each way (probably more as you'd need a larger taxi to accommodate all 5 of you).

Have you considered flying indirect? Prices this year are coming out at around £2250-£2600 for 4 adults 1 child with 1 stop. The stop on the way out doesn't add much to your journey time, because you get immigration etc. out of the way at your first stop, so when you get to MCO you just walk out of the airport. It adds a few hours to your return journey though, but if it was saving around £500-800....

Thompson "premium" seems to just be offering almost everything that scheduled airlines' bog-standard economy offers. Seats are around 3" bigger - not noticeable unless you're 6'+ I'd say. You get seatback TVs - standard on every other transatlantic scheduled flight. Free booze - okay so that would save you a bit of money on some airlines (AA, Delta, United etc. charge around £3 per alcoholic drink in economy - how much are you going to be putting away?!) and meals included are standard on scheduled airlines. I guess what I'm saying is - what's "premium" about it??

 

[Disney Princesses LW]

Are you renting a car? If not, flying into Sanford rather than MCO is an enormous pain - no public transport and cabs to Disney is about $100 each way (probably more as you'd need a larger taxi to accommodate all 5 of you).

Have you considered flying indirect? Prices this year are coming out at around £2250-£2600 for 4 adults 1 child with 1 stop. The stop on the way out doesn't add much to your journey time, because you get immigration etc. out of the way at your first stop, so when you get to MCO you just walk out of the airport. It adds a few hours to your return journey though, but if it was saving around £500-800....

Thompson "premium" seems to just be offering almost everything that scheduled airlines' bog-standard economy offers. Seats are around 3" bigger - not noticeable unless you're 6'+ I'd say. You get seatback TVs - standard on every other transatlantic scheduled flight. Free booze - okay so that would save you a bit of money on some airlines (AA, Delta, United etc. charge around £3 per alcoholic drink in economy - how much are you going to be putting away?!) and meals included are standard on scheduled airlines. I guess what I'm saying is - what's "premium" about it??

any good airlines to try for non direct flights? I like the idea of saving money!! thanks

 

[Kath2003]

any good airlines to try for non direct flights? I like the idea of saving money!! thanks

They're all pretty much the same. Same cabin-style pretty much as Virgin/BA. Try United, Delta, Air Canada, US Airways, Air France, KLM etc. Personally I'd rather use the US carriers (United, Delta, US Airways) or Air Canada, because then you clear immigration at your first stop. Much nicer to just walk out of the airport at the other end and it means you add very little time to your journey by making the stop.

Also - yes, they have inflight entertainment. In fact, only twice have I been on a transatlantic flight without seatback TVs - once with American Airlines after the ash fiasco when they were using every plane they had going to get people back home, and the other time was with BA!

If you're willing to do an overnight stop and book an airport hotel at your first stop (either going out or coming home), you can get dirt-cheap flights - saving around £100 per person even on top of the cost of the hotel. Plus you arrive in Orlando/home first thing in the morning having already slept off the worst of the jet lag.

 

[Helen B]

Not read all the posts but when looking at Thomson, check those costs include baggage, as I've found if you're just looking at the base price then the baggage isn't included, but with Virgin it is. So this could add a further c.£70pp to the cost of your flights.

I'm looking for September at the moment, and for me Virgin is by far the cheapest, and we prefer to fly into International than Sanford, for convenience more than anything, as once we've got the car it's 20 minutes to our accommodation, but also because there's 2 flights a day we can fly back late and due to the Downtown Disney check in, we can get a full last day (when we went in Sept 2008, we checked in at 9am and then went to Animal Kingdom for the day.)

I probably won't book until April/May time, and if it's with Virgin I will try and get an M&M flight (currently taking £80pp off a return flight,) however, this is when the charters into Sanford will be trying to fill their planes so we could get a bargain into there, but will only do it if it's a really good deal.

 

[Karenpowley]

Just thought I'd let you know that if you book online with Thomson they ask for full payment when you book a flight- BUT if you ring them they take a low deposit and payment is made 10 weeks before - that it what i did for our holiday this coming July.

Thomson Premium also includes 23kg hold baggage and 7kg carry on.

Hope that helps if its better for you to budget but still get Premium.

 

[Holstar]

Just thought I'd let you know that if you book online with Thomson they ask for full payment when you book a flight- BUT if you ring them they take a low deposit and payment is made 10 weeks before - that it what i did for our holiday this coming July.

Thomson Premium also includes 23kg hold baggage and 7kg carry on.

Hope that helps if its better for you to budget but still get Premium.

Karenpowley, was that for flight only? If so, I absolutely love you! Our biggest worry is being able to pay for flights up front! It's so much money! If we were able to spread the cost, it would be amazing!

 

[Karenpowley]

Karenpowley, was that for flight only? If so, I absolutely love you! Our biggest worry is being able to pay for flights up front! It's so much money! If we were able to spread the cost, it would be amazing!

Yes it is!!!
I was in the same predicament as you, so thought I would ring them and ask. They said yes - offered me low deposit AND balance 10 wks before - the price was even slightly cheaper than online too!

Give them a ring.

 

[Holstar]

Yes it is!!!
I was in the same predicament as you, so thought I would ring them and ask. They said yes - offered me low deposit AND balance 10 wks before - the price was even slightly cheaper than online too!

Give them a ring.

Yay! I'm about to now... We can't book flights until later in the year anyway (they're not released until October!), but it will help me figure out the best way of booking with Disney!

Did you fly Premium? Any good? How did you find Thomson on the whole? I've only ever flown Virgin!

xxxx