Anyone else waiting to book SW from CT for April vacation?

[Goofygirl17]

I can't wait! I'm actually going to take the day off because last year I ended up paying $30 more per person per flight because I couldn't book it from work and it kept going up all day!

We're going the week before Easter and flying home on Easter. We check in on Sunday but I'm going to book a flight for Fri night or Sat if it's cheaper.

I'm also going to open multiple tabs so I can book 2 1-way flights and check multiple airports. Last year I had two tabs with my flight down and flight back started and then opened another tab to check other airports. while I was doing that the price went up again but because I had started booking I got the original price.

Good luck everyone!

 

[DisGeebs]

Hi there.. we were in the same boat as you last year. I am not sure where you live and if it is easy to do, but have you thought of going out of White Plains (westchester) NY? we did and saved almost $400 per person (we traveled over the school vacation). Just for a frame of ref.. we live in Meriden and it is about 1 hr to 1:15 to to White Plains. (vs 30-45 min to Bradley) Or, you can even look at going out of Providence if you live on the eastern side of the state. Sometimes just having the options makes me feel better. Good luck with booking and have fun on your trip.

 

[DisGeebs]

Forgot to mention in my post that SW doesn't fly out of White Plains but does out of Providence. But you can still price out to get some ball parks now.

 

[mlittig]

I can't wait until next Tuesday I can book my flight down which is the important one We will fly out on either Wednesday night or first thing Thursday morning

 

[momtwoboys]

We are flying out of BDL too for the week before Easter, BUT we bit the bullet and booked with Jetblue for the first time. Usually fly with Southwest. We were nervous that the prices were going to be no better. for the 4 of us, roundtrip April14th-22nd we got $1,907.60 MUCH higher than we would have liked, but its done. Good Luck

 

[dreamsofdisney]

Yikes! I can't believe the $1907 price tag! We're a family of four (although my little one will have just turned 2when we travel and was a former 1 lb 2 oz preemie who is VERY small for her age!) We're in Central CT close to BDL and have thought about driving to Boston or Providence, but probably won't.

I usually wait for DING fares through SW and pay around $200 each plus fees. I'd love to find something around there, but I'm guessing It will be closer to $260 each plus fees since I'd like only non-stop fares. Thankfully, we're going 4/6 thru 4/16 which is well before the Easter holiday. I actually bumped the dates back a day because fares tend to be lower flying out on a Wednesday instead of Thursday, and flying back Saturday instead of Sunday. It means an extra day out of school and work, but at least DH will have Sunday at home to rest before going back to work!

GL to everyone! BTW...I'd love to have a CT/MA DISmeet sometime. Maybe a trip to Westfarms Mall to the Disney Store for a pretrip meet?

 

[dreamsofdisney]

Just checked JetBlue and the fare including taxes and fees is $1057 with non-stop flights!!! I LOVE SW, but I might have to change to JetBlue. It'll be interesting to see if the fares change to be even more competitive when SW releases fares...

 

[jeff968]

White plains is our favorite airport too!! We live in Fairfield county and it is an easy 40 minute drive to the airport down the Merritt. My Dad will do it and drops us off and picks us up. Airtran and Jetblue both fly out of there and they have plenty of non-stops. That said, we are going out of JFK next February because I got $179 RT NS for President's week which was a steal!!! I haven't done that well in years. The NYC airports are always a challenge (let me tell you about the time they closed the whitestone bridge to truck traffic due to winds and we sat for over 2 hours on the highway only 10 minutes from LGA and almost missed our flight) but they have some great prices.

 

[Goofygirl17]

Hi there.. we were in the same boat as you last year. I am not sure where you live and if it is easy to do, but have you thought of going out of White Plains (westchester) NY? we did and saved almost $400 per person (we traveled over the school vacation). Just for a frame of ref.. we live in Meriden and it is about 1 hr to 1:15 to to White Plains. (vs 30-45 min to Bradley) Or, you can even look at going out of Providence if you live on the eastern side of the state. Sometimes just having the options makes me feel better. Good luck with booking and have fun on your trip.

Thanks. We've flown SW out of Hartford, Long Island and last year Providence. I would prefer PVD but will go to the cheapest airport

I've been checking Airtran and Jet blue out of White plains and the prices are just crazy- all of the non-stop flights are $290s or higher. I just can't pay that much for a flight. I'm hoping SW will come in cheaper.

Good luck everyone!

 

[Girlie1]

We are travelling 4/14-4/21. We also like to fly out of White Plains. WE live in the New Haven area and DS6 is autistic so we really like the small airports. I decided to pull the kids out of school for two days so we can go Thurs-Thurs instead of Sat-Sat. Figured airfare would be cheaper and I have Easter at our house and did not want a ton of family arriving the day after we get home. Considering the time we are going I think we did pretty well. We decided to fly AirTran down ($139/each for 4 of us) and then I bit the bullet and booked JetBlue for the trip home ($249/each). I think last year we travelled Sat to Sat and paid about $2200 for all 4 of us. Airtran has not released the fares for 4/21 yet but I generally prefer Jet Blue. Since Airtran only has one flight direct each day and it leaves realtively early from MCO I decided I would spend the extra money to fly Jet Blue and get the later flight. I am a bit crazy and check the rates everyday and will sure to call to get a credit if it goes down.

 

[francie57]

We use Delta out of BDL each Aug. for our annual trip. I just booked our airfare yesterday and was able to get a round trip (including tax/fees) for $189/person. That is much less than it was last year. We love that they have a non-stop around 7:30 in the morning and then a non-stop for the trip home around 6:00 p.m.

 

[dreamsofdisney]

Girlie1 - My DS (17) has Autism, too, but thankfully he's been okay with airports since he was little. (He's on the H-F/Aspie side) I work with children on the spectrum, too, and have helped create storybooks and social stories for both the parks and the airport. Hope you have a magical trip!

francie57 - WOW!!! Great fares from Delta! What are your travel dates? I'm so impressed, I'm off to go check them out for our dates...

 

[momtwoboys]

Our younger DS is on the spectrum too! He is Asperger's and is so excited to get to watch TV on the flight! I know the price seems high but we can only go during April vaca or the summer...We flew last year in April and got $220. pp rt. I got the feeling that I wasn't going to see those prices this year, so booked with Jetblue. Does anyone know if the flights go down, can I get a credit? Maybe when SW releases their flights mine will go down??

 

[francie57]

DreamsofDisney- our dates are Aug. 11-18. We will be there just before the free dining starts again. For us the free dining isn't a deal since we stay at the BWVs in a 2 bedroom - a room discount is a better deal. I was amazed at the price for Delta since last year the best we could do was about $300 per ticket. I like knowing I have my airfare set and that we have our seat assigned already. Just will keep checking to see if there are any changes.

 

[dreamsofdisney]

Wow! A lot of us with kids on the spectrum. I wonder if that's because of the higher than average rates of Autism in CT, or if it's just that WDW is so good to kids on the spectrum, that we keep coming back!

I just checked Delta for our dates. If we booked non-stop both ways, it was actually considerably more, but for a family of 4, they had a non-stop flight down and 1 stop on the way back for $820 including fees!!! I almost booked right there (although I'm still going to have a hard time leaving SW since I love them so much) but then I did the math...

SW and JetBlue have 1 free checked bag per person. Delta charges $23 or $24/1st checked bag EACH WAY. That's nearly $200 more for luggage! I tend to pack heavily since my DD has lots of medical supplies and baby stuff, plus we'll be there 11 days, so there's no way of reducing the number of bags. Still, it's $30 or $40 better than JetBlue, but it includes a stop on the way home with a 2 1/2 hour layover. I guess I 'll keep my fingers crossed for SW, and then decide after Tuesday.

 

[Goofygirl17]

I wish there was a way to preview fares! I can't wait until Tuesday. We have to book non-stop flights because my daughter has anxiety and there is no way we could get her on and off two planes in a day! Or even land and take off again.

I checked Delta, Jet Blue and Air Tran again- all almost $300 per person per flight- no way!

Anyway, good luck everyone!