Anyone ever use Friends and Family into MCO

[barbarabini]

We are planning a a trip to Disney in August and have the option of using a frineds and family airline voucher. The cost would be 36 dollars vs. 300 dollars. Would you take the chance?> I was going to leave on a thurs morning even though my reservations at WL arent till Sat -- that I can change. Anyone ever attempt it. It will be 4 people ( 1 infant) The savings appx 200 v. 1200 dollars seems to good to pass up. Let me hear your experiences

 

[Lewisc]

You really didn't give enough information. What dates? Close to Labor Day might be a problem? Where are you flying from? How many N/S flights does the airline run? Is your family willing to fly on different flights? You understand you probably won't be sitting near each other.

We are planning a a trip to Disney in August and have the option of using a frineds and family airline voucher. The cost would be 36 dollars vs. 300 dollars. Would you take the chance?> I was going to leave on a thurs morning even though my reservations at WL arent till Sat -- that I can change. Anyone ever attempt it. It will be 4 people ( 1 infant) The savings appx 200 v. 1200 dollars seems to good to pass up. Let me hear your experiences

 

[CarolA]

OK. So this is an airline voucher.

Here is the deal.... you want 3 or 4 seats on a plane. Chances are not good that you will all be on the same flight and practically non existent that you will have seats near each other.

I would talk long and hard to the person giving you these 'vouchers'. You need to know their priority. Also, there are dress codes.

I have done this on Delta, but I knew that I was flying standby. Being a solo and having flexibility it worked, but I don't know that I would do it again. (Not that I have a choice, we don't have the vouchers anymore). I once met a woman waiting in Atlanta for a flight to Orlando. When she first got there things looked good, but as time went on.... by the time I got there she was 36th on the waitlist.

What about getting home?

Thursday may not the "boon" you think it will be. Lots of business travelers will fly home that Thursday evening in anticpation of the weekend.

 

[SB in KY]

I am usually the bargain queen....my kids think I am unbelievably cheap....and I prefer to think of myself as thrifty...however the thought of flying standby with an infant makes me queasy....I would absolutely buy at least 1 ticket for mom and infant. If this is a family with 2 adults and the rest kids I would not do it either....

I would also rethink the Thursday night thing....flights in almost all markets to MCO fill up in this order...Fridays, Sundays, then Sat and Thursday evenings...if you need to fly standby I would look at a mid week fkight (Tues and Wed mid-days are the last to fill)

SW is running some great fares for late August now and a lot of the other airlines are matching those fares....I would come a lot closer to looking for a bargain fare even if we had to drive a little ways to get it, than I would trying to fly stand by with an infant.

That said....if you do not have any other choice and the other 4 passengers were travel saavy adults....I would buy Mom and baby a confirmed seat and look for slowest flight times for everyone else (and have a contingency plan for who flies when there are only 1 or 2 stand by seats,,,,cause it would be pretty rare for all of you to get on the same flight)

Remember...if you are going in a day or 2 early just to use the vouchers the $$ you spend in those days for lodging and food might help pay for confirmed seats on the planned day of arrival.

 

[Lewisc]

Carol is right. I was thinking of regular standby. Get to the gate early enough and you'll be near the top of the standby list. Sounds like you'll always be bumped to the bottom of the standby list. People who get stuck in traffic and miss their flights will be standing by for later flights. You're in very bad shape if weather conditions cause some flights to be cancelled.

You check the night before. What will you do if it's obvious you have no chance of getting to Orlando? Cancel your trip? Book a full price ticket? Drive? If SW flies your route you might at least make a backup reservation the next day. If you don't need to use it you'll either get a refund or a credit.

Carol is right, you need to talk to your friend and find out exactly how the vouchers wil work. Not only will you be waiting in your local airport but you have to decide what you'll do if 2 of you make a flight. Do you wait in MCO or go to your hotel? What do you do if 2 of you don't even clear on a later flight?

I'd consider it as a single or couple but I'm not sure I'd do it with 2 kids.