Airfare from Eastern Washington??

[Vougar]

Has anyone flown from Eastern Washington, specifically Spokane, Pullman, or Lewiston, Id to Disneyland? What is considered a good rate or bargain for airfare from these places?

I live in Pullman, WA and I'm planning our first DL trip for our family (me, DW, DD4, DD2). The plan is to fly from Eastern WA to DL around 2/26/12-2/28/12. We are planning on finding cheap transportation to a nearby off-site hotel and staying at DL for 5-6 days. I would then like to rent a car and spend the next 3-4 days in San Diego and then fly from San Diego back home.

I've only flown twice in my life so I have no idea what rates to look for. We may have lots of baggage, strollers, car seats, so that's something to consider for rates.

Thank you.

 

[Brady's Mom]

Strollers and car seats don't count as "luggage". You can (and should) gate check these items. You do NOT send them through the same luggage place your suitcases go. You actually take them with you to the gate where you get on the plane and check them with the attendant there. When you arrive at your destination they will be waiting for you at the gate.

Having the stroller in the airport can be very handy when you have small children. It was easier for us to go from the gate to baggage claim when we had the stroller with small kids. Our kids are big now, so they just bring their own rolling suitcases and stay with the group.

I looked a while ago at flights from Spokane to Anaheim area for my parents. They seemed around $250. But, there were layovers. Someone mentioned Allegiant, and I'm pretty sure they fly from there, but I'm not familiar with them. We prefer Southwest and JetBlue since your first suitcase is free with each airline and you can still take a carryon and a personal item.

Airlines to try:

Allegiant
Southwest
Alaska
JetBlue
Delta

I can't think of any more, but those should get you started.

 

[skiingfast]

Has anyone flown from Eastern Washington, specifically Spokane, Pullman, or Lewiston, Id to Disneyland? What is considered a good rate or bargain for airfare from these places?

I live in Pullman, WA and I'm planning our first DL trip for our family (me, DW, DD4, DD2). The plan is to fly from Eastern WA to DL around 2/26/12-2/28/12. We are planning on finding cheap transportation to a nearby off-site hotel and staying at DL for 5-6 days. I would then like to rent a car and spend the next 3-4 days in San Diego and then fly from San Diego back home.

I've only flown twice in my life so I have no idea what rates to look for. We may have lots of baggage, strollers, car seats, so that's something to consider for rates.

Thank you.

In general the bigger the airport the cheaper the fare. You might want to fly from Boise, Portland or Seattle. Even if you have to stay in a hotel for the night before flight this could be worthwhile. Pay attention to the cost to park your car too.

Car Seats and Strollers are free, but more than one bag per paid seat costs a lot more.

Round trip tickets versus two one way tickets sometimes make it cheaper too, but this usually depends on airline. The same can be true for rental cars.

 

[blackjackdelta]

I have flown on Allegiant out of the Tri_cities and it was 117/rt/PP at that time. The fly DC-9's not my favorite plane, but we made it there and back.(LAX) Had no time to visit Disney.

Jack

 

[rebecca1176]

I briefly looked on Expedia.com, ouch!! You could definitely cut down the airfare almost in half by flying from Spokane to LAX & back vs. Pullman and other CA airports.

We are flying from Seatac to LAX for $89 each way per person. I found this price from numerous airlines - Virgin, Southwest, Alaska, etc. We are flying United.

I'm not sure if the drive to/from Seattle is doable (especially with l'il ones eek!) but would cut the airfare cost quite a bit.

I do know of safe & reasonably priced places to park your car at Seatac as my hubby has worked down there.

I have only flown 2 times and this was my first time setting up flights so..yeahhhh...ackkkk!
We don't use strollers but have a wheelchair and have never had an issue. Do take your stroller and have ID on it. Not only for flying but for DL too

Good luck.

 

[Bungle]

Prices from the nw are awful. Could never understand why its cheaper to fly across the country than to california. We stalked the online sales for a while before we found a good deal. It will probably save you some money to drive to portland and fly out there. I have a friend who lives in chehalis and says driving down saves her almost 100$/person.

That being said the above poster is correct, carseats and strollers don't count as luggage! Also you get to bring bags with you. There are requirements but you can actually fit a lot into a carry on. The way we do it is everyone has a carryone, even the little ones. My 2 year old actually loves pulling his little rolling suitcase. And you get a bag to keep on you such as a diaper bag, laptop, purse. So everyone brings two bags, and then we have one checked bag. In that we put all of our shampoo and other liquids we don't want to have to deal with putting into small containers. It cost $25 each way for the bag.

Since you have a ways to go before your trip I'm sure you will be able to get some great prices.

Oh and rental cars out of SNA can be insane so you might want to start watching deals for that too.

 

[tanyaewa]

If you can get to Seattle - there is a deal on Virgin Airlines for $79 eachway to LAX. 4 ppl works out to $771. Great deal! I looked at their website today.
BTW - SEATAC has park & fly deals at hotels local to the airport to leave your vehicle at while you are away.

 

[Dobie]

The Dobies fly out of Tri Cities through SNA on either Delta or Alaska for about $330 per person RT. Last summer, we flew out on Allegiant through LAX and back on Delta through SNA, which was about $100 per person cheaper. I don't mind coming in to LAX and catching the Disney shuttle if it will save me a bit of money, but I'll be hogtied before I fly out of that mess!!

 

[Karenann*]

The plan is to fly from Eastern WA to DL around 2/26/12-2/28/12. /QUOTE]

Historically, great airfare deals are to be had in February. We have flown Alaska seattle to lax for 69 pp one way in Feb. and have seen great deals in the last two years during this time.
Alaska has also had children fly free during this time.

Southwest ran some specials for Feb/Mar last fall and folks had killer cheap flights. They went fast.

The folks here on the Dis usually keep up on great deals and like to spread the word when they run across great deals.

Get yourself signed up for e-mails from the airlines that fly out of Spokane.

Good luck and have fun planning a great trip for you and your family!

 

[djk]

We are flying Allegiant from Pasco to LAX later this month. We are 1 1/2 hours away from Pasco, but the airfare (we paid $110/pp/rt) and the fact that it is a direct flight is what made it an attractive option for us. We shall see how it goes....

 

[rebecca1176]

IMO - if you can get a non-stop, I'd go for that - especially with kids

We were going to fly Southwest but with 1-2 stops plus unassigned seats (I'm thinking like seating for WOC but possibly not seated together). I opted for another airline - nonstop. I found the same price! Again, I've only flown 2 times & this was my first time booking. Crossing my fingers!

Good luck

Becca - leaving in 15 days with
DH 10 at heart
DD 12
DD 9
DD 7

 

[aurorae]

i always start with kayak.com

You can click the box for include nearby airports, and also the box for my dates are flexible. And there are selections to include or exclude nonstops, 1 stop, multiple stops.

You'll have to check southwest separately, but they provide a handy link.

It lists the cheapest fares it found for each airport, and also for each airline. And there is a calendar showing the lowest fare it found for each day.

 

[DreamtheImpossible]

I live about an hour and a half away from the Tri-Cities and briefly considered flying out of Spokane, but I really didn't want to go through the issue of changing planes from Spokane to Seatac as the case usually was. In my opinion, it was worth it more to drive to Seattle and fly straight (and surprisingly cheaper!) from there.