AC direct return flight from Ottawa to MCO only $537!

[cmmc]

Just wanted to let others know Air Canada dropped their price by over $260 - it's been hovering around $800 for months and yesterday they dropped their prices dramatically.

Our dates are May 4 - May 12 2019.

 

[ottawamom]

Love that flight. Unfortunately I won't be taking it again for a while. Have a great trip. We were there that very same week this past May.

 

[michelb]

If you have some flexibility, you can fly direct on Allegiant from Ogdensburg to Sanford for $220US ($290CAD) from May 3 to May 13th. You can also fly with them direct from Syracuse to Sanford for $188US ($247CAD) from May 4 to May 12. I suspect you might be able to fly even cheap with Frontier from Syracuse to Orlando but they only have prices until end of April right now so you'll have to wait a few weeks to get the prices / buy.

For one or two, the price difference might not be worth it but for a family, you'd probably save close to $1000 or more on airfare.

 

[cmmc]

The Air Canada flight from Ottawa (Y0W) to Orlando (MCO) was $2053.76 CDN for 3 adults and 1 youth, all in (taxes, seats, 1 carry on bag) and family would do the drop off at the airport so no parking fees. Plus the flight times are very civilized - Sat 9am and Sun 1 pm.

On Oct 24th, the price on Allegiant for 3 adults and 1 youth, including taxes, seat selection and 1 carry on bag each was $1592.94 CDN. Parking is $8 US per day * 11 days => $115.75 CDN for a grand total of $1708.69 CDN. Flights times are Fri 5pm and Mon 1:30 pm.

So we would have saved $345 CDN by flying from Ogdensburg BUT we would have had to add 2 more nights of accommodation and car rental and the teenagers would miss 2 more days of school. Sanford is a further drive from WDW and I’ve heard the car rentals from there are more expensive.

Allegiant doesn't have the best reputation for reliability and safety (they fired a pilot for evacuating a plane when smoke was coming from one of the engines! https://www.usatoday.com/story/trav...ot-fired-over-emergency-evacuation/1748167002 ). They have a small fleet so if there is a problem with the plane or the flight staff you have to drive back to Ottawa to get on another flight to Orlando, etc.

The following reddit thread convinced me it wasn’t worth risking flying Allegiant. https://www.reddit.com/r/ottawa/comments/8ni71t/psa_you_can_fly_from_ogdensberg_to_orlando_and/

Flying from Syracuse is a more reliable option but it's a 3 1/2 hour drive from Ottawa. There are 2 direct flights on Sat May 4th and Sun May 12th. But the airlines are Allegiant (to SFB) $968 and Jet Blue (to MCO) $2123 (again 3 adults, 1 youth, CDN $) . And parking would be another $126. So including parking the Allegiant flight SYR to SFB would be $1094 CDN and the Jet Blue SYR to MCO would be $2249 CDN.

 

[ottawamom]

I found it was worth it to drive and fly out of the States years ago when the flights on Southwest were really cheap. With only two of us travelling these days its not worth the drive/trouble. I find with flights if you feel good about it go for it. There are always cheaper/more expensive options out there.

Most important thing is you're going to Disney!

 

[michelb]

You did very well with your AC flight at $570CAD each. Right now the same flight with seat selection is $814.82 + $31.50 for 1 checked bag (although I didn't see it during the "checkout" process but AC charges for bags on NA flights) for a total of around $845CAD each. (i.e. roughly $3380CAD for 4)
Right now, the OGS-SFB flight with AllegiantAir for May 3-May 13th with seat selection (we never get that) and 1 luggage (we only travel with personal item) is $248USD (roughly $325CAD based on Google's conversion). (i.e. roughly $1300CAD for 4)

There are certainly a lot of people that don't want to travel with AllegiantAir but we've flown at least 30-40 times with them since around 2008 and I can't say that I've had any more delays or issues than I would have had with other airlines (I think we had a 4 hour delay once, a 1+ hour delay in Plattsburgh (because the a USAirways flight was delayed and blocking the gate), a few < 45 minutes delay and once they had to land in Plattsburgh instead of Ogdensburg because of ice on the runway (we flew to Ogdensburg a few hours later), but for most part have always taken off and landed within 20 minutes of the scheduled time.

It's true that you'd have to pay for a few extra days but you do get a longer vacation so you can't exactly use that when comparing the price.

Also you are saving because you don't need to park at Ottawa, if you didn't, Ottawa parking would likely cost you $93 plus tax (1 week plus 2 days) so that's pretty close. (You're basically just before parking gets cheaper at Ogdensburg ($90USD for 2 weeks, $150USD for 1 month).