April 2015 flight and rental car deals?

[jenhclec]

Hi everyone,

This will be our family's 2nd time to WDW. We went last year in August, but this time we are looking to go in April 7 - 14. It seems that Tuesday to Tuesday round trip flights are cheaper than Sat to Sat. We are a family of 5, flying out of NYC, and so far Kayak shows $220-240. Do you think this is a good deal? Should I book the tickets now? Or do you think they will drop?

Also, anyone know any codes for discount on a minivan rental? Last time we didn't need a car, but this time we have to have a minivan to fit everyone and everything. I would like to rent from an agency inside the orlando airport.

Any tips or advice is greatly appreciated! TIA

Jenny

 

[PrincesCJM]

IMO, $200-240 is a good price. I'd suggest buying but please note, that I am not familiar with the typical price out of NYC.

In terms of car rentals, DO NOT PRE-PAY. Book the cheapest price you see now and keep searching. Often, rentals are the lowest within few days of the trip. If you don't pre-pay, you can easily cancel reservations. Minivans are in high demand, which raises prices. I have heard that it can be cheaper to rent two smaller cars but that only works if you have two drivers. And in renting two cars, it would be twice the parking fees at WDW.

 

[lidec]

We are flying out of Albany on 3/26 to Orlando and then out of Tampa on 4/2. I have Southwest points and Im finding flights at about $120 to $191 each way. If you are comfortable with your amounts I would book. I was hoping with gas prices being down that flights would drop also. The car rentals seems to be very high. Im at about $500 for a minivan unless we flying into Tampa and out of Orlando then it is about $300. Just keep watching and book your lowest rental as long as its not a pay now you can cancel and rebook if the prices go down. For your car rentals look at mousesavers.com for codes or if you belong to any companies like costco or bjs check their website for discounts

 

[jenhclec]

How do you not prepay?

All the websites asks me to create an account and put in credit card info to reserve. They say free cancellation. But I guess that is not the same thing as not paying in the first place.

Do all the rental companies do no prepay or only some. I used my bj membership and found a miniminivan for my dates for 380. I feel that is decent? It is from dollar rental.

 

[lidec]

When you go in to price the car rentals some will give you 2 prices. One will be to pay at counter and then there is a lower price one to pay now. Dont do pay now unless you are really set on that rental. You can reserve a car and not pay for it until you arrive at the rental place. Then each day go in and search for a better rate. If you find a better rate, reserve that car and go and cancel the previous rental you had booked. Theres no charge for reserving as long as you do not do a pay now. Go into all the rental car sites (National, Alamo, Thrifty etc) and price out a car for the dates and times. If none are lower than the BJs rate then you can go into BJs and reserve the minivan. If you find a rate lower later you can cancel your BJs rental and reserve the lower priced rental. Right now I would be happy with $380 for a minivan out of Orlando. Im not finding anything that low unless we fly into Tampa, I can get $282.

 

[monorailsilver]

For flight price comparison, we are flying out on good Friday and coming back 12 days later.

We are flying out of hartford to Tampa and we are paying $240 rt on delta. I bought them the first day I could. I did look at NYC airports and they were a bit higher but LGA was cheaper then JFK and HPN was more then both.

FYI, Some schools in CT have vacation the week after Easter and others have it the following week.

 

[rdevine10]

I try to stay around $200 per ticket and we live in CT (fly out of hartford, white plains, NYC or Newark- even once out of Islip for a deal I couldnt beat!).

That time is prime spring break time. Our schools in CT (western) are off April 11 to 19. If you can get a deal for around $200 I say book it. You would be hard pressed to find it lower. (I did just get a deal in Dec from White Plains to Daytona for $167 per person and it hasnt been that low in many years!).

I agree- book your car rental but do not pre-pay. Keep checking rates and often you will get a good drop within 14 days of the trip- but you must be diligent and check daily or multiple times a day.

Good luck!

 

[rdevine10]

FWIW I just looked at my tickets- we are flying April 8 returning April 21 from White Plains and we paid around $200 per ticket- although I had a small $36 credit on jet blue. HTH