Air Tran PWM to MCO and back

[Maine-iac]

I was excited about Air Tran coming to PWM. I have been checking to see what kind of flights they offer. I am really disappointed in the selection of flight times for both weekdays and weekends. Do you think these could change in the next year? It looks like we will be going with Delta if we can get a good price. We will not be able to be very flexible with our times and dates.

 

[Darcy03231]

Unfortunately if you can't be flexible with your dates and times you may not get the best deals for your flights. I've found to get the really low fares you have to fly at off peak times (ie really late in the evening or really early in the morning) and off days. I've saved as much as $200/pp by flying in on a Friday night vs a Saturday morning. With a family of 6 this adds up.

 

[Maine-iac]

Unfortunately if you can't be flexible with your dates and times you may not get the best deals for your flights. I've found to get the really low fares you have to fly at off peak times (ie really late in the evening or really early in the morning) and off days. I've saved as much as $200/pp by flying in on a Friday night vs a Saturday morning. With a family of 6 this adds up.

Unfortunately for Air Tran the only morning flight to MCO is 6:45 am and the only evening flight is 4:55 with 2 stops getting in a 12:10 am the next day. In between those you have a 12:30pm flight. Starting in July on Saturdays (just a trial run this summer) there will be a 2:22pm non stop flight to MCO.
Just not good options for me.
Yes we usually fly on weekdays.

 

[englishteacha]

If you're flying next April, Allegiant out of Portsmouth might be a good choice. They're not flying in the summer anymore but this year they flew through the end of April. Are you planning on going during April vacation next year? I wanted to go somewhere this year during April break but all the airfares were too high. I love being a teacher, but I do miss traveling off season! Anyway, back to Allegiant: They fly from Pease, and there's free parking. They fly into the Sanford Airport, which is very nice. We rented a car very inexpensively to drive into Kissimmee, where we stayed. We saved hundreds of dollars by flying from Portsmouth. We grew up in southern Maine, near the NH line, so driving to Portsmouth is like driving "home" for us, unlike driving to Manchester or Boston.

 

[Maine-iac]

Yes I have looked at Allegiant Air. I find them expensive sometimes though and only fly out 2 days a week. Do you know how far out they book? I will definately keep them as an option as we will be renting a car and not using DME this time.

 

[englishteacha]

When I called they said they release fares about 5-6 months ahead. They hadn't determined when they're resuming service in the fall when I spoke with a rep in February. If you can get the $198 RT from Portland for April break next year, that sounds like a good bet.

 

[snowbunny]

I am pretty happy with the Airtran flights out of PWM - yes 6:45 is early but you won't get anything different on Delta. And it's one stop at BWI which is easier overall than the JetBlue stop at JFK. The nonstop on Saturday is great, I wish my next trip didn't have to be midweek.

 

[Maine-iac]

I am pretty happy with the Airtran flights out of PWM - yes 6:45 is early but you won't get anything different on Delta. And it's one stop at BWI which is easier overall than the JetBlue stop at JFK. The nonstop on Saturday is great, I wish my next trip didn't have to be midweek.

Yes 6:45 is a great time (if you can get the one stop) but not for this trip. We will have to leave in the late afternoon/evening and that flight gets in after midnight. I am sure there will a trip in the future that Air Tran will work for us.