airline ? for upper midwest travelers

[shantay1008]

I keep reading about Southwest's Ding fares and was wondering if we had anything similar in the MN/WI region. We always seem to fly NWA because we are either using frequent flier miles or are trying to accumulate them, but now that we know we'll be going to MCO a lot more I'd like to come up with some smart airfare strategies. Do we even have anything like a Southwest Airlines flying out of here?

Any suggestions or ideas would be great...thanks!

 

[dgaston]

Check out www.allegiantair.com We have only used them 1x. They fly out of smaller cities on limited schedules. You pay for everything on board, and our flights were both full, but the fare price was right. They assign seats ahead of time for $10 each, or at check-in. They fly into Sanford airport which is 20 further away from WDW, closer to the Atlantic beaches. We would fly them again, depending on SWA fares and schedules.

 

[mommym]

Hi from Minneapolis! Aren't you so envious of those $59 Southwest fares? Sometimes we luck out and find $250 from Sun Country but for a family of 4 that adds up to make those shorter 4 day weekend-type of trips not feasible. But...since we joined DVC I've been scouring different airlines out of MSP and have found Air Tran (or is it ATA, now I'm confusing myself) offering $99 one-way fares to MCO. Makes it a little cheaper and every little bit counts. We're actually thinking about doing the 24 hour straight through drive this fall for MNSSHP-YIKES! I have friends who do this twice a year and say it's not too bad if you are staying for awhile. Their first day is basically a blur once they get there but then they stay another 7 or 8 days. I'm also going to check some of the lesser known airlines like Champion and Midwest Air(?) to see what's out there. Good Luck and let me know if you find some good deals. I'm assuming you fly out of MSP, too?

 

[slk537]

Greetings all from Eau Claire!

We also fly NWA - we have seen anywhere from $180 up to $400 (never paid more than $235 though). My DB and SIL are flying Midwest this summer and got it for $198. Every time I have checked Midwest, the further out you book, the better off you are to get the $198. You leave MSP and transfer in Milwaukee, but it seems to only add about 45 minutes to the whole flight and the planes are really nice...huge seats, meals available, cookies baked on most flights. Sortof like flying first class in the whole plane. I'm fairly confident we'll try it at some point.

I am jealous of the "dings" but thus far we've been happy with nwa and the midwest options. We have the nwa rewards cards and seem to rack up miles there and that helps. Of course there is always the whole "drive to Chicago" thing...

Check out midwest - I think they have great potential! www.midwestairlines.com

 

[Peepster]

Midwest Airlines is the best in my opinion and we fly them 90% of the time. It's much easier for us, of course, because we're in Janesville and they are based in Milwaukee. BTW, I just came back from your neck of the state...Prescott, River Falls and Eau Claire. I travel WI for my job.

Back to the point...I've noticed on Midwest that the earlier you're willing to book, the less the price. We flew them for Christmas and it was $214 round trip and direct! We're going down again in three weeks (WahOOOO!) and paid $280 plus we are taking two friends on our frequent flyer miles for nothing.

We drove to Chicago a couple of times for Southwest, but think Air Tran out of Milwaukee is just as good and priced competitively. Does Air Tran fly out of MN?

Off topic...it's great to know there are so many of you DVC'ers/DIS'ers around the midwest!

 

[deide71]

Midwest DVC/Diser here...........

We usually fly NWA. In the past we have found direct flights from 170-200R/T. However, for our trip next Oct. (MEA week) we have been hard pressed to find anything less than 270 ! That's tough for a family of 5. We are waiting for the Airtran Oct. rates to book.

 

[cobbler]

I wish we could get cheap fares like that here. I live in W Michigan and in order to get to SW I have to go to Detroit or Chicago. This is why we usually drive but I am flying down with my mom through Midwest later this year and we got airfare just over 200 which is pretty good for up here.

 

[Inkmahm]

I live in the milwaukee area and fly Midwest whenever I can, including to Disney. I'm even picky enough to work around getting the 2 x 2 wide leather seat flights rather than the save flights with the 2 x 3 seating. The extra comfort is worth it!

I also book early- I have our flights for December booked on Midwest already during one of their recent sales.

 

[Cruelladeville]

Here is another hello from Michigan!! We are the part of the state that got 14 inches of snow from a freak storm on Thursday! We flew SW once out of Detroit for cheap, but had to drive 250 miles, and then parked in a parking garage that I swear must have been in Canada, for $20 per day. The cheaper parking garages must be far enough away to be in Russia! So we fly NW out of Grand Rapids, where parking is $6 per day and 11/2 hrs away --we have first class seats at spring break for $498!! (Coach was $400, sooooo...) We just got an email from Midwest Air that said they had reduced rates on our dates to $203 round trip at an airport a 1/2 hour from home! But I have never seen $69 fares from Michigan to MCO.