Airfare to MCO is Prohibitive

[kathy884]

I live in St. Louis. Last March 2022 for spring break and flights on weekends I paid that most I have ever paid before to fly to Orlando. It was somewhere between $525 and $550 pp round trip for good mid day times, while I was expecting to pay about $350 pp round trip based on previous spring break trips in years past. Thanks goodness (we had five people flying) I had enough points to use those for two of the five airfares or I would have been way over on my vacation budget.

Timing makes a big difference though. This February I did a mini trip to Tampa followed by a day in Orlando and my midweek flight to Tampa one way was just $120 and my return from Orlando on a Saturday evening was just $160. I was surprised by how reasonable those flights were and plan to visit during a similar timeframe next year.

For so many years though we were tied to the school schedule and didn't want to take our son out when it wasn't an official break. And in our extended family, we have lots of teachers, so any sort of mini family reunion means traveling at those busy times where airfares are almost double what they are at other times.

 

[Eastern]

I was watching EWR-MCO for April and for the longest time it was hovering around $450 per ticket. Then a couple weeks ago prices suddenly went down and since I had used miles for one segment, I cancelled and redeposited and rebooked the tickets for $277 RT each. (the other segment was a cash booking but was eligible for free cancellation as well) If you're watching United, the price drops happened on Friday evenings, early Saturday mornings.

I would keep watching. Also, United has been changing planes frequently on all of the routes I have booked. If this happens be ready to cancel and rebook if you see a cheaper price. Change of aircraft should allow you to cancel for no penalty.

 

[barkley]

Honestly, I’d just find a different place to vacation in with flight prices like those.

i don't know if it's still the case but pre-pandemic, taking airfare out of the equation, it was less expensive to do a walt disney world vacation vs. to disneyland for the identical number of days/comparable lodging, meals and airport transportation. i've known a number of folks here on the west coast who questioned why our household was going to wdw vs. disneyland but once i explained the financial numbers they saw that the savings offset the airfare.

that said-we did our last orlando trip in 12/19 at universal. saved a TON vs. our prior wdw trips and our 'kids' (20 somethings) felt the same way we did-much more enjoyable and more of a vacation (did one afternoon/early evening to what used to be called downtown disney OMG, that place was bat s.... nuts! never again!

 

[mommy2twingles]

We use to live about 90 minutes from Philly and Newark airports so always plenty of options for nonstop. Now moved to NC with closest airport being Raleigh and hardly any nonstops. I refuse to stop when the flight is 2 hours or less.

 

[FCDub]

i don't know if it's still the case but pre-pandemic, taking airfare out of the equation, it was less expensive to do a walt disney world vacation vs. to disneyland for the identical number of days/comparable lodging, meals and airport transportation. i've known a number of folks here on the west coast who questioned why our household was going to wdw vs. disneyland but once i explained the financial numbers they saw that the savings offset the airfare.

that said-we did our last orlando trip in 12/19 at universal. saved a TON vs. our prior wdw trips and our 'kids' (20 somethings) felt the same way we did-much more enjoyable and more of a vacation (did one afternoon/early evening to what used to be called downtown disney OMG, that place was bat s.... nuts! never again!

Or just … literally anywhere else. It’s a big world out there.

 

[thealtonroute1982]

Last week I bought tickets from Bloomington (IL) to MCO. Round trip was $230 with Frontier Airlines. Back in January round-trip was $150 or less, I think.

 

[Psymonds]

Thank you all for all your wonderful suggestions. I am working through them one by one. I have been watching flying into Tampa and flying out of SJO. I try to avoid Oakland. We lost a whole day in Hawaii because of a serious problem with Alaska Airlines and Oakland being so small we could not get another flight out. But that's a story for another day. Suffice it to say I will never fly with Alaska again!!!

Alaska used to have twice as many flights out of OAK but when they bought virgin they went all in on SFO, because virgin had spent $$$ on the terminal space there and the long term leases. OAK works great for us for other airlines but agree, I've flown Alaska out of OAK much less. They've also cut most of the direct flight to outlying islands that they had before the pandemic.

 

[Psymonds]

Yikes! I just started checking airfare to MCO for our trip in July. The only non-stop from SF area is United (and they only have 2 a day) and with 2 little ones in tow we like to go redeye straight through. Well, Thursday morning, the fare was $705 as I recall (it had come down a couple of dollars from Tuesday). I was hoping it would drop some more, because that still seemed awfully high - then in the afternoon it shot up by almost $150!!! I thought wow, did they sell out most of the seats already? Then I saw what happened - they changed the plane, so instead of 289 passengers they now only have seats for about 170 to 190. Ugh! I guess if I get lucky enough for it to drop even a little I had better jump on it! Kicking myself for not having bought those tickets at $705 now that I'm looking at $842!

we paid for two full tickets, got one on miles and got two companion fares. Still almost as much as the hotel for a week, but we got painted into a corner on timing with a short summer between middle school and HS.

 

[KVH]

The sad thing is, it's not really that recent an issue. Bought our May tickets (SEA->MCO) for a direct flight. And that non-layover option really hurt. Double what we paid ~5 years ago. But TRIPLE what we paid for 10 years ago. I just think lately the rate which they're going up is faster now. I get some things now cost more but how much of that is trying to capitalize on the situation and sneak in some extra profit that has nothing to do with increased costs?

 

[Disneyhanna]

It is really creeping up from MSP. I mostly fly Delta since we are a big hub. 2019 and prior I could pay $250 RT for basic economy. In February 2020 I got a RT flight for 10k miles! Now I pay for main cabin for the rebooking flexibility which is $40-60 over basic. My trip this past February was about $420 RT which took lots of stalking of the flight prices, it was typically closer to $500. All of my future trips for similar times (aka not the redeyes) are more in the $550-600 range. I'm sure they'll drop a little but I'm not counting on any lower than $450 at this point. Ugh! Sun Country is also $400+ and that's before bags, so why on earth would I even consider that when I get free bags with Delta. I noticed Delta flights feel like they all shot up across the board when they introduced their 15% off for cardholders on award flights. My flight to Hawaii basically doubled and hasn't gone down since that announcement, I luckily booked right before that went live.

 

[dez1978]

I live in St. Louis. Last March 2022 for spring break and flights on weekends I paid that most I have ever paid before to fly to Orlando. It was somewhere between $525 and $550 pp round trip for good mid day times, while I was expecting to pay about $350 pp round trip based on previous spring break trips in years past. Thanks goodness (we had five people flying) I had enough points to use those for two of the five airfares or I would have been way over on my vacation budget.

Timing makes a big difference though. This February I did a mini trip to Tampa followed by a day in Orlando and my midweek flight to Tampa one way was just $120 and my return from Orlando on a Saturday evening was just $160. I was surprised by how reasonable those flights were and plan to visit during a similar timeframe next year.

For so many years though we were tied to the school schedule and didn't want to take our son out when it wasn't an official break. And in our extended family, we have lots of teachers, so any sort of mini family reunion means traveling at those busy times where airfares are almost double what they are at other times.

Our last 3 flights out of STL have been 160-300 each way. Used to be like $99. Our next 2 trips the lowest was 188 on the way there and 230 on the way back. I've tried every combo of times, airlines and airports and by the time I check a bag, the budget airlines are more expensive than SW. We pretty much only fly SW, but I was really trying to find a cheaper way.

 

[Kevin O'Brien]

Yikes! I just started checking airfare to MCO for our trip in July. The only non-stop from SF area is United (and they only have 2 a day) and with 2 little ones in tow we like to go redeye straight through. Well, Thursday morning, the fare was $705 as I recall (it had come down a couple of dollars from Tuesday). I was hoping it would drop some more, because that still seemed awfully high - then in the afternoon it shot up by almost $150!!! I thought wow, did they sell out most of the seats already? Then I saw what happened - they changed the plane, so instead of 289 passengers they now only have seats for about 170 to 190. Ugh! I guess if I get lucky enough for it to drop even a little I had better jump on it! Kicking myself for not having bought those tickets at $705 now that I'm looking at $842!

Hello @gardenrooms as you are flying from San Francisco I'm not sure what airlines you are flying with because I usually fly from Manchester (MAN) to Orlando (MCO) with Virgin Atlantic. Anyway I can give some advice about booking flights on how to get a deal if it helps.
Book early between 11 months to 9 months advance.
Some airlines might offer last minute offers.
A lot of long haul airlines offer ODR (out of date range flights) which means booking flights early via tour operator only before they are available to book online please remember ODR flights don't come under a price match which can cost more but it might be worth it because you are guaranteed your seat.
Virgin Atlantic, TUI and British Airways do black Friday deals and January sales but if you are in the US the airlines might do black Friday and January sales.
Have a look in the newspaper for savings and maybe follow the Travel weekly facebook page.
Also some airlines do Disney packages with flight, hotel and park tickets because the airlines from Manchester (MAN) do Disney packages.

 

[kathy884]

Our last 3 flights out of STL have been 160-300 each way. Used to be like $99. Our next 2 trips the lowest was 188 on the way there and 230 on the way back. I've tried every combo of times, airlines and airports and by the time I check a bag, the budget airlines are more expensive than SW. We pretty much only fly SW, but I was really trying to find a cheaper way.

I feel your pain. I much prefer SW to Frontier, Spirit, etc. and usually SW is right in line price wise if not the most economical option. One time I booked Frontier (two one way trips to Orlando and back for multiple people) as they were cheaper, but what happened is that they canceled our flights down due to a hurricane (I got our money back on those). But as I had booked flights back separately they did not give me my money back on those, so I was out the money for all those flights (They wouldn't even let me reschedule those). I realize that due to my not having booked a round trip that this clearly was the policy. Live and learn. Somehow, though, I think if it had been Southwest (so much better customer service IMHO) that they would have done something for me on this. I love Southwest and I hate Frontier lol, so if prices are close it's SW all the way. Also, I have a Southwest credit card and love all the freebie points I accumulate on that.

 

[Dakota731]

We may try Sanford airport for our upcoming trip since SW prices are really high for us this time around. How much longer would the trip from the airport be to a WDW hotel? And how much more would the transportation cost? So many things to add in to compare airlines!

 

[EACarlson]

Somehow, though, I think if it had been Southwest (so much better customer service IMHO) that they would have done something for me on this.

You would have received a credit good for one year from date of booking from SW if this was more than two years ago. Really good habit to get into when trying to save money on travel is look very closely at what you're agreeing to. Especially with lower cost options, there are usually reasons why they are lower cost.

 

[StacyStrong]

Not only are the costs prohibitive, but flights keep getting canceled/disappear and combine with others.

 

[Darcy03231]

Wow, those are some crazy airfares. We're not planning on going to Orlando anytime soon, but just for fun I picked a week in early June. Boston to Orlando, non-stop, on Delta or JetBlue is $238/pp roundtrip. If I wanted to fly Frontier or Spirit it drops to $215/pp roundtrip.

 

[Genie+]

We’re looking for 3rd week December and the Dec 22 flight home back to EWR Newark?

They’re all $738 on JetBlue Maybe we just won’t go home.

LaGuardia is reasonable though, so that’s the backup plan.

For TRON we booked in Feb for the upcoming weekend. Had to compromise if we wanted EWR- 5am and 6am flights. That kept the cost of the tickets around $230 RT each (17k points +$11). Works out OK since it’s a short 3 day trip.

 

[kelleybean]

We may try Sanford airport for our upcoming trip since SW prices are really high for us this time around. How much longer would the trip from the airport be to a WDW hotel? And how much more would the transportation cost? So many things to add in to compare airlines!

I'd say it's at least an hour from Sanford to Disney (and that's assuming no traffic). I do prefer Sanford to MCO. It is much smaller and easier to navigate and in my experience check in and security is generally faster. The only downside is that if you fly something like Allegiant they may not run flights to your destination every day, so if there are problems you have less options with alternate flights.

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

The sad thing is, it's not really that recent an issue. Bought our May tickets (SEA->MCO) for a direct flight. And that non-layover option really hurt. Double what we paid ~5 years ago. But TRIPLE what we paid for 10 years ago. I just think lately the rate which they're going up is faster now. I get some things now cost more but how much of that is trying to capitalize on the situation and sneak in some extra profit that has nothing to do with increased costs?

It’s all about increased costs, but the airlines use a pretty complicated model to offset those costs. Routes which have extra capacity are priced low enough to try to fill up the plane and not lose (as much) money on the route. They have to fly the route regardless of how many people have booked, and most of the costs are non-variable, so they will price low. Routes which don’t have lots of excess capacity are priced high - the profit made on those routes offset losses on other routes.

With the current fuel costs, increasing labor costs, reduced number of flights, and the ongoing pilot shortage, some of these high prices are really the new normal. Narrow body pilots will soon be eligible for up to $475k annually, and $575k for wide body pilots. Granted, that’s the extreme end of the pay scale, but shows how desperate the airlines are to retain pilots.

Over the past year, my flights to Hawaii (from Seattle) have averaged $700. 4 years ago, they were $480. Meanwhile, my brother has gotten fares from LA for $250, $200, and $189. Needless to say, the costs per flight don’t vary that much.