Am I insane???? I need some objectivity here PLEASE

[ms.ojo]

OK, I just jumped on a Ding for $99 one way fare to Orlando from Hartford. I've been hoping for $69 (or less) but watching everything become more unavailable and prices increasing to $157 or more for 1 way so this seemed like a good thing.

Problem is I had to split the ressie as only 3 seats were available at $99 and one of us is at $157. UGH. That's $508 (w/ all the taxes and fees) for our family of 4 and we're only booked for 1/2 of the trip!!! Who knows if I'll be able to secure a good fare returning on Columbus Day weekend. It appears all those seats are going too and instead of $137 they're $157 or more. I'd say at best they may open a few seats like they just did on my arrival date at the $99 price...so I'm probably looking at another $500+ for my return trip. That's $1000 in airfare! So much for the BIG savings from free dining.

We were lucky to go to Disney 2x last year. DD is now nearly 40" tall and can't wait to get back and do the big kid rides. DS is eager to get back and celebrate his bday there in Oct and do the MNSSHP again. ME...I love to go...and DH wants to keep us all happy and says "do it".

BUT....I think this is crazy! We are no longer "saving" anything on the dining plan...it's paying for this airfare at best! I'm having to take ds out of school 4 days (1st grade) b/c we had to arrive on 9/30 for the free dining. Yes it's our favorite time of year to visit. But if we go NEXT October....dd will DEF. be over 40" w/out any need for chunky sandals and I'll be more diligent about locking in early low fares at $69 when they post! Or we could go in April over Spring Vacation. Again, crowded (we've never done spring vaca'n) and regular season so more expensive.

I can't believe this, but the prudent side of me says I should call back SWA and exercise my right to cancel the purchase w/in 24 hrs for complete refund. Just cancel this trip and plan for next year. But that's so hard to do. kwim?

Anyone care to way in on this???

 

[tinaluis]

I know from your previous posts how worried you were about getting a good DING fare. Honestly, I think you may have panicked, but the good news is that if the fares go down, you'll be able to re-book and save the credit for a future trip (thus ensuring a future trip). We were planning on drivng to WDW but got a great DING fare of $54 each way for our trip. I booked it and then booked a rental car, so that this trip with free dining is THE MOST EXPENSIVE vacation we've ever taken. WDW sure knows what they're doing . Seriously though, if you can live with the airfare you've gotten, just keep watching for lower fares and be prepared to rebook if they come down. Othwerwise, relax and enjoy planning the rest of your trip!

ETA: Don't completely give up on SW for late September/October fares. Our DING fare came out less than 2 months before our trip so I'd expect that SW would be releasing some better DINGs as your trip draws near. In fact, I easily passed up all other DINGs until I saw the one we booked -- $54 each way which was cheaper than any other DING and only $8 more each way than the CHEAPEST we'd ever paid.

 

[Randman]

I'd say keep the reservation if you can stomach paying that much.

I had the same situation this past May. I booked 4 roundtrips BDL to MCO at around $900. I kept my eye out for Dings and sales and I eventually got us to Florida for half that. DW and I are using credit the last week of Sept and still have $170+ left over. (Another trip in January '07, perhaps?)

It's too bad you missed the $137 R/T BDL to MCO Southwest had a few weeks ago, but I'll bet that you'll work it out for far less and you'll get another trip to look forward to due to having some credit.

Good luck.

 

[ms.ojo]

I jumped in to secure what I could...and now instead of feeling elated I'm going to Disney ...I'm like, I still have to keep looking for lower airfare! not to mention airfare for the trip home.

Dh doesn't think I should cancel. Just sit w/ it, keep looking, and if we have to have a credit, well we'll use it next April (since I believe it has to be 1yr from date of purchase not 1 yr from date of the flight???)

I know this is a personal (STUPID) dilemna that could have been avoided if I had booked the trip on 6/8!!! but that's water under the dam. I can't change that. All I can do is play the waiting game....and if I'm going to do that, I should probably cancel these flights.... then more seats will be available and they'll have to offer better rates to filll the plane as the dates get closer....

Thing is...it IS on 9/30...and then Columbus Day weekend. Very busy travel dates. well, I'll stew on this a bit more. I know it's hard for strangers to relate... and I can only imagine what you are all thinking... but I really do appreciate some guidance. I've always booked my flights right as new mths become available on SW and get great low rates. I've never been in this predicament.

Thanks for listening.

 

[snowwite]

OK, I just jumped on a Ding for $99 one way fare to Orlando from Hartford. I've been hoping for $69 (or less) but watching everything become more unavailable and prices increasing to $157 or more for 1 way so this seemed like a good thing.

Problem is I had to split the ressie as only 3 seats were available at $99 and one of us is at $157. UGH. That's $508 (w/ all the taxes and fees) for our family of 4 and we're only booked for 1/2 of the trip!!! Who knows if I'll be able to secure a good fare returning on Columbus Day weekend. It appears all those seats are going too and instead of $137 they're $157 or more. I'd say at best they may open a few seats like they just did on my arrival date at the $99 price...so I'm probably looking at another $500+ for my return trip. That's $1000 in airfare! So much for the BIG savings from free dining.

We were lucky to go to Disney 2x last year. DD is now nearly 40" tall and can't wait to get back and do the big kid rides. DS is eager to get back and celebrate his bday there in Oct and do the MNSSHP again. ME...I love to go...and DH wants to keep us all happy and says "do it".

BUT....I think this is crazy! We are no longer "saving" anything on the dining plan...it's paying for this airfare at best! I'm having to take ds out of school 4 days (1st grade) b/c we had to arrive on 9/30 for the free dining. Yes it's our favorite time of year to visit. But if we go NEXT October....dd will DEF. be over 40" w/out any need for chunky sandals and I'll be more diligent about locking in early low fares at $69 when they post! Or we could go in April over Spring Vacation. Again, crowded (we've never done spring vaca'n) and regular season so more expensive.

I can't believe this, but the prudent side of me says I should call back SWA and exercise my right to cancel the purchase w/in 24 hrs for complete refund. Just cancel this trip and plan for next year. But that's so hard to do. kwim?

Anyone care to way in on this???

I dont know your exact dates but airtran has a lot of lights $111-124 round trip from Boston. We drive to Manchester NH to get a better deal at times or Green airport. You might want to check those flights they are direct Boston to Orlando. http://tickets.airtran.com/Select.aspx

 

[rigs32]

Ding fares rarely come out for high travel days - which includes holiday weekends. If you cannot stomach paying what is out there now, I wouldn't bank on prices going down.

 

[ms.ojo]

Ding fares rarely come out for high travel days - which includes holiday weekends. If you cannot stomach paying what is out there now, I wouldn't bank on prices going down.

This is what I've been thinking. So grabbing the $99 heading out I think is as good as it's going to get. And coming home, we can actually shorten our trip (and still have 7 or 8 days) so we're coming back BEFORE the holiday weekend and I would guess I can get something pretty low for it on a Ding over the next couple of mths. Overall my rndtrip fare is higher than ever before...but dh is supportive, and it's certainly better than $320pp round trip we were facing.

I would consider Boston and Airtran...but it's a double whamey for us. 1: we're driving a distance AND 2. we'd be paying for parking! Here at Bradley we live 10mins away. My mil does a d/o and p/u so we have no parking costs either. Plus it's nice to know when you land, you'll be home w/in 15mins of getting your luggage.

Well, i guess I'm getting the stomach for this higher fare heading out ... and hopeful for something decent if we return early. Maybe I can do a little happy dance now....

 

[ms.ojo]

I'd say keep the reservation if you can stomach paying that much.

I had the same situation this past May. I booked 4 roundtrips BDL to MCO at around $900. I kept my eye out for Dings and sales and I eventually got us to Florida for half that. DW and I are using credit the last week of Sept and still have $170+ left over. (Another trip in January '07, perhaps?)

It's too bad you missed the $137 R/T BDL to MCO Southwest had a few weeks ago, but I'll bet that you'll work it out for far less and you'll get another trip to look forward to due to having some credit.

Good luck.

thanks for the positive vibes. Having credit for another trip to look forward to would be great.

 

[tmt martins]

If you can get it under $250 RT then thats a good deal on heavy travel dates take what you can.
Or plan on being very flexable with travel during mid-week.

 

[chris1gill]

How long have you been looking for flights? I think two weeks ago Southwest had a sale online for it's entire booking timeframe (through October) for 59.00 each way to/from Hartford/Orlando.... I booked October dates for 135 per person... Anyhow, I seriously predict that by the end of July you will see that rate again & when you do, you should book then....

 

[ms.ojo]

How long have you been looking for flights? I think two weeks ago Southwest had a sale online for it's entire booking timeframe (through October) for 59.00 each way to/from Hartford/Orlando.... I booked October dates for 135 per person... Anyhow, I seriously predict that by the end of July you will see that rate again & when you do, you should book then....

I started looking on June 8...and saw the $59 fare...but didn't see the fine print that it expired at midnight as we weren't serious about the trip...just thinking about it. So I missed that.

I hope you're right, and end of July some good fares will post and I can lock them in...but for now, I have something, and we'll just see where we go from here. Today's paper had a big article about how much more expensive airfare is this summer and hotel rates, along w/ of course gas prices at the pump.

 

[lovesdumbo]

DS is eager to get back and celebrate his bday there in Oct and do the MNSSHP again.

I'm having to take ds out of school 4 days (1st grade) b/c we had to arrive on 9/30 for the free dining.

Just want to wish you luck. I do understand what you're going through. I had to purchase 6 tickets for my Aug trip so I know how stressful it can be. I was watching SW rates very closely for our Aug trip and was all prepared to pay $205.60 each rt but on the very day I was going to book I got a $44 ding and ended up paying $105.60. I still cannot believe the deal I got. I think when you get a credit you have 1 year from date of purchase to purchase a new ticket. I don't think you have to actually fly within 1 year of purchase.

I think your DS will have a very magical birthday at Disney. Don't worry about school. I took my DD out of first grade for 6 days last Oct and she didn't suffer any. Her teacher also gave me her blessing to take her out again for another 3 days of missed school to bring her to celebrate her 7th birthday in May. We (just the 2 of us-left all others at home) had a great time!

Here's a little pixie dust for a great fare

 

[bobcat]

I feel your pain! I was stressing about our August trip and obsessively checking the ding fares, slowly losing hope that anything under $99 one way would come. I was able to take advantage of the SW email for summer fares and booked at $64 each way. Keep looking and hopefully something will pop up.

 

[pooch]

Here at Bradley we live 10mins away.


We're 10 minutes too!!! Enfield, CT. I was panicked about not having a flight for our 8/25 trip so when SWA released the dates, I booked at $1132 for 4 rt's - OUCH!!! Since then, they've gone down twice and I now have them for $548 and future credits of $584. My advice is to hang onto the flights and keep looking. I missed 2 Dings (stomach flu and too sick to look) that would have saved another $120. DH said get over it!!! Be patient. You'll find a lower price!!! Sending you pixie dust

 

[ms.ojo]

Howdy!!! We live in East Granby. What a small world. I'm feeling hopeful again today that something will come our way in july for good fares. Thanks for the pixie dust and for sharing your good experiences!!!!