Airfare...split or wait??

[shay425]

I hope someone has had this situation before and can offer some advice. I am paying for my family's trip to Disney the first week in December. We have not decided if we are going to drive or fly down. There are 9 of us (4 adults and 5 children). I do not have any credit cards (got rid of them a long time ago). I have been comparing prices to fly and the cheapest I can find right now from Memphis to Orlando for 9 is $1,117.44 round trip. That would be cheaper than renting 2 cars, gas and hotel rooms (down there and back). The problem is I can't afford to pay all of that at once right now. What would you do, split up and book half of us right now and then take my chances to book the other half at a little later date? Or wait until I can save it all and book all seats at the same time? I know, either way, the rates could change drastically. I am in a predicament and don't know which way to go. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

[gigi1313]

$1100 for NINE people round trip?! i'd jump on it! does anyone else in your party have a cc they could use and you could pay them your portion and the rest of your party could also pay them? or perhaps they'd let you do it on a payment plan?

another option would be to book all the outbound flights and pay for it right away... then rent the car when you're ready to leave wdw and drive home if you can't find a decent fare when you've got the cash available...

 

[shay425]

I agree, it's a great price!! I'm taking my daughter and her 2 kids and my son, his wife and 3 kids. Neither of my kids have a credit card. Oh, I forgot to mention I am paying for our trip. That's a good idea to book our outbound flights right away. I'm not sure about renting a car back one way. Do car rentals do that from one state to another? I'll have to check into it and see. Thanks for your suggestion!

 

[gigi1313]

yes, one way car rentals are very popular, and unlike in the past where a hefty fee was added, there's usually not a steep price to pay for one way... it's worth pricing out

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

You may have some difficulty renting a car without a credit card, as well. You needn't pay to reserve a car, but you'll have to place a cash deposit when (or if) you do rent it.

 

[CarolA]

Cash rentals generally require a return airline ticket. (There a whole thread on here someplace where some of us have done some research. The general concenus is $300 deposit, Return ticket, verififable address etc... crediit check probably. National wants a phone bill or utility bill for example and they will not accept cell phone bills as the "phone bill")

There often is a steep fee for one way rentals. I was going to do a one way MCO to SAV in a few weeks. It was SO steep that I am now driving from HH to Jacksonville. That gets the car returned in Florida and drops the "one way" charge. The only normal exception I know of is the "drive out" rates, but the credit card issue is a problem again.

 

[shay425]

Thanks so much for your replies! I'm still not sure what we will do. If we drive, Budget here accepts my check card. What they do is put an additional $150.00 hold on my check card and when I return the car, they just charge the amount of the rental. I've used them for past Disney trips.