Airfares are Out of Sight

[tiffany123]

We're trying to find affordable airfare from Columbus, OH to MCO for both Dec., 2005 and Feb., 2006. Just two of us for those trips however we will be looking for air for 11 of us for June, 2006. Prices are hovering between $260 and $300 pp round trip and haven't gone anywhere but higher in the past weeks. Do you think we should continue to wait for a price reduction or bite the bullet and buy now. The Feb, 2006 trip is over President's Day weekend.
We know that jet fuel prices are high but it's getting so the average family can't afford to fly. No plane tickets=no WDW for us.

 

[Brian Noble]

For holiday trips, you should probably book as soon as you see a fare you can live with, since those flights will fill up faster than average, and low-fare buckets will empty quickly. For other trips, I wouldn't panic until about 6-8 weeks out. For example, NWA just extended their mid-week sale fares from late may to mid-june for DTW/MCO trips.

 

[LucyStorm]

Try registering with Travelocity and using farewatcher. It will notify you by email whenever the fare drops or if it drops below a certain level, whatever you set up. I am flying out of CMH in a few weeks, round trip it was $216. I have seen it as low as $160, but I took the $216 to get the exact flights I wanted. Delta has great flight times out of CMH and MCO for Orlando. Early flight in 6 am, late flight out 9 something. I booked about 6 months out for a holiday flight.

Have a great trip!

 

[safetymom]

I doubt you will see any or very few discounts with the rising cost of fuel and the time of year you are going.

 

[spiceycat]

you are looking too late.

when SW first came out with their discount flights for this route - delta come close to matching them. this was about 3 week ago. and only for around 3 days.

I got my May trip for $101 - the same flight now is $495 per person!

boy at first I thought you were looking for Dec.....

 

[zdad]

We're trying to find affordable airfare from Columbus, OH to MCO for both Dec., 2005 and Feb., 2006. Just two of us for those trips however we will be looking for air for 11 of us for June, 2006. Prices are hovering between $260 and $300 pp round trip and haven't gone anywhere but higher in the past weeks. Do you think we should continue to wait for a price reduction or bite the bullet and buy now. The Feb, 2006 trip is over President's Day weekend.
We know that jet fuel prices are high but it's getting so the average family can't afford to fly. No plane tickets=no WDW for us.

You should be able to better than that on Southwest. They haven't opened up their schedule that far out yet, but using what they hae in the late Aug timeframe, you an do the R/T for $210 each. Also DING fares will pop and save you lots o' change.

I'd also consider flying into Tampa if I were you (my latest soap box). I just got a Ding fare Philly to Tampa for $141 R/T, where the best rate into Orlando was $250 R/T. It's only 45 min further away than MCO. You won't be able to do the Magical Express, but the $$$ savings more than offset that.

Much luck in your search.

 

[aphasia83]

I agree, try Southwest. We're flying out of Buffalo, but for four people the total cost (tax included) is something l like $600.

 

[tiffany123]

Spiceycat,

What do you mean I am "too late". I'm not flying for over 8 months (Dec, '05) and 10 months (Feb, '06). The discount carriers haven't even released their fares for those dates so how can I be "too late"? We usually fly Delta to and from Columbus but their fares have been very high since the days of their release.

 

[Brian Noble]

I think s/he means "too far in the future."

 

[willieT]

For non-stop flights and (fairly) low-cost fares, you can't beat AirTran (airtran.com) and TMA (www.iflytma.com). You can expect $200 PP round-trip -- IMHO, a great price for non-stop flights.

I've flown both airlines many times with excellent results. AirTran has non-stop flights between Dayton and MCO, and TMA has non-stop flights between Sanford, FL (about 40 miles North of WDW) and Cincinatti. The Sanford airport is a very nice and relatively small airport; my family loves to use the Sanford airport, especially when compared to MCO. And, TMA usually has $79 flights each way; total price w/ tax would be around $180 PP RT.

I'm not sure if driving from Columbus to either location is an option for you, but it's something to think about.

Let me know if you have any questions -- I'd be glad to answer them...

T.

p.s. someone suggested the Tampa airport and said it's only 45 minutes further away -- hmmm, Yahoo!maps has 80 miles from TPA to WDW, and that's 80 miles on I-4 in nasty traffic. Not a good option unless you are traveling at off-hours and no construction delays occur ...

 

[undertheradar]

With drive time being less than 15 hours, I would plan on driving on one of those trips. The drive down I75 is fine and you could plan on stopping around Macon tosleep for the night. Gas couldn't get near the cost of the airfare you are looking at. Other options would be to consider flying from Pittsburgh, Cinci, Dayton or Indy. When we lived outside of Cinci 3 years ago, it was much more budget friendly to drive rather than fly(we were needing 5 seats).

 

[spiceycat]

oh I though you wanted June...

Sorry Dec - you are much to early!!!

SW is still in Sept.

the other airlines (delta) won't go down on their prices until SW and other airlines post their prices.

I was right the first time and didn't know...Sorry about that!!!

get on SW mailing list.
www.southwest.com

then you will know when their prices come out - generally when they first come out -they are lower - however get your ticket quck.

if you want another airlines - Delta generally lowers their price a day or two after SW announces their prices.

boy I was confused!!!