Flying from the West Coast

[temple4]

We will be going to WDW next July and I was wondering which airlines/flights are pretty good from the west coast. We will have our DD's (3 and 6) with us. Southwest has pretty good deals, but are they comfortable for a trip that long? I was also thinking that a red eye flight would also be good. That way we would'nt have to lose one day going, since we will have to lose one coming back (unless we leave at like 6 in the morning). Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[jordanyosh]

Hey west coaster!!!!! I have travelled from just about every airport on the west coast to WDW. I have flown both Delta and United and both were good. Most airlines will be consolidating over the next few years and it looks like most airlines will offer food only for a price. I am flying Delta's new airline, Song, in September. No food if you don't pay. I used my miles, but flights round-trip from LAX were only 250. Not bad.

If Jetblue is anywhere in your area, I would travel with them. I have heard good things about them....leather seats and DirectTV in every seat and cheap too. Southwest is basically a Greyhound in the sky. I avoid them if possibe.

Remember flying from Orlando you gain 3 hours. If you have a non-stop flight, it is basically a 2 hours flight home. No big time loss.....

 

[minniecarousel]

We just flew American into Orlando from Oakland, changing planes in Dallas. Another option was flying United, non-stop from SF to Orlando. We've taken the red-eye once before, but I recommend flying in the day before your park-hoppers start. (we were at the Dolphin the first night, had our bags transferred over to the Beach Club for the remainder of our stay.) The problem with JetBlue is that you have to fly thru NY - which seems way-out-of-the-way from the SF Bay Area! (and - yes, bring your own food! Southwest is good about telling you that - we got a skimpy "Bistro Bag" bfast from American on one flight, and nothing on the other 3 flights!) It's a long travel day from the left coast - that's why we don't do it very often!

 

[OregonDucks]

We love the red eye flights when heading East. The kids sleep (4,9) and we snooze or get some quite talk time with eachother (its almost like a date!).

When we arrive at the hotel, we spend the day relaxing by the pool and a trip to DTD. We get to bed early , wake-up totally refreshed and our systems are on the new time zone.

You should see if there are any later departing times out of Orlando. We have a 6:30pm flight into Portland. Its like a bonus day. We get to play one last time before we have to travel home.

 

[Uncle Mikey]

I really like Southwest on short flights. But for a longer flight I would pick American. American has a little more leg room and overall is a more comfortable trip. I also think you will have several options out of San Jose on American in the morning. I think most of those will be connecting through DFW. We gave up on red eye flights a few years ago. We always arrived feeling very tired and not having enough energy to really enjoy the first day. Your best choices for red eye flights would be Delta or United. I liked United making a connection in Los Angeles and Delta making a connection in Atlanta. That way you have at least one lengthy stretch where you can try to sleep. I hope this helps.

 

[FreshTressa]

We usually fly American. We like the "extra room" (although it is very little) with the kids. They are usually competively priced.

I agree on the red-eye flights. I love them with kids, but I remember when they were babies I was always afraid one would be crying at a time when the whole plane is so quiet. At least in the daytime, there is lots of noise going on. but now that they are 4 and 5 I like the red-eyes.

I would most like to fly Alaska's nonstop out of seattle, but it is always way more expensive.

 

[LeftCoaster]

I fly Southwest out of LAX and it's not that bad. I'll take first flight out in the morning (around 7 am) and it will only have one quick stop. I think total flight time was 5 1/2 hours. Had a laptop with me and I was fine. The key is to not book a flight with many stops.
I haven't flown Jet Blue but, when I checked into it for a friend, they were having a layover in NYC. so, those most "direct" flight would still be 12 hours or so.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

We booked in June on United for our October trip to take advantage of the red-eye from LAX direct to MCO. Within a week, they had cancelled the direct red-eye and rebooked us on a red-eye into Washington DC, arriving on a connecting flight at MCO in the late AM. Not what I was looking for when I booked the red-eye! We rebooked a direct LAX-MCO daytime flight.

At about the same time as UA dropped its red-eye, AA also eliminated its red-eye from LAX-MCO. At this time, I think only only DL has an LAX-MCO red-eye. I think there is still one from SFO direct to MCO, but this flight always seems to be very expensive.

Also, don't count on extra leg room on AA. They announced that they are adding more rows of seats in coach to their entire 757 fleet, which is mostly what they fly to MCO.

If you get a non-stop flight from the west coast to MCO, you may get a meal, even in coach. But if you connect, a meal may not be available, even though the total transit time will be longer.

Since you are traveling next July, many things could change. Try to stay as flexible as possible. Don't book on an airline that only has a couple of acceptable flights to your destination. The one thing that seems to be constant is that there will be lots of change!

Don't rule out of Southwest as long as they have acceptable flights to your desination. If the schedule and price look good, unless you have lots of frequent flyer miles, the only thing that separates SW from UA, DL and AA is the seat assignment. And every time the airlines change their schedules (which seems to be monthly), the seat assignment can be shuffled, leaving this as a questionable advantage as well.

Good luck in your choices and enjoy! -- Suzanne

 

[pnelson]

We have always flown red-eyes since my son was 5-I definitely feel it is the only way to go from the West Coast. We have flown out of SJ, SFO, and Oakland-It all depends on who has had the best fare! We flew Delta and United for red eyes. If you connect in Atlanta, you get almost the entire trip across the country, so it makes for some uninterrupted sleep time. Then the flight to MCO from Atlanta is only 1 hour-It gives my son time to wake up and such! We love the red eyes because my son sleeps, and we have a drink, doze and read a book. It's usually a very quiet, peaceful flight. Yes, you are tired when you get to DW but we just relax that day and go to bed early.

 

[EthansMom]

My priorities for flights when travelling with my son: low cost & direct flights. If I can get a direct flight, all we have to do is get checked in and make it on the plane and then I can relax.

When booking our flights for an upcoming Sept. trip to WDW, I couldn't find any flights that were outrageously cheap, so I started looking for direct/nonstop flights. Found a good one on Delta and was able to use DH's frequent flier miles for two tix and bought the third for $351.50. Not great, but not bad.

Remember, many airlines aren't serving meals anymore -- we'll have to pack a lunch for our Delta flights.

I always enjoyed flying out of the San Jose airport when I lived in Silicon Valley, but recommend checking the prices and flights out of San Francisco also -- sometimes worth taking a shuttle to fly out of there, instead.

EthansMom