Best place/time to book flight to WDW?

[mommy2boysaz]

Hi, everyone. I am planning our first trip to WDW for Oct or Nov of 2007 and was wondering when the best time is to start looking for plane tickets and where I should be looking? I am very new to all of this and have read some of the posts here, but don't know what the Southwest airlines "ding" is? Do most of you book through a travel agent or directly through the airlines or through one of the online sites, such as Expedia? We are going to be in need of plane tickets and a rental car, but already have a place to stay. Can you make arrangements through Disney for plane, car, tickets to parks, even though you aren't staying at a Disney resort?
Sorry about all the questions! I'll take any words of wisdom!

Britte

 

[Rella Bella]

I use Expedia or one of the travel sites to get a ballpark price then I sign up for online specials notification at specific airlines I want to watch.

If you know how much a regular fare is, you'll have a good idea when you're getting a good deal. Then you can also call a Travel Agent and tell them to watch for a great deal for you & to call you if one comes along... but be sure to ask about their fee... and if it is per ticket or per sale.

From our area AirTran,Continental & Southwest usually have the best prices. AirTran in particular runs lots of specials. They email me every time they have a sale... some are better than others. I've paid as little as half the regular fare. I purchased that online directly from AirTran. Usually buying online gives you a better discount than calling.

As long as you buy tickets 4 to 6 weeks or so ahead of your trip, you should be able to get a good price... watching carefully you can get their best price!

 

[Cruz91]

IMHO - I would NOT use a travel agent. You pay for their service. If you've already taken the time to log on to this site - you have more than enough drive and intelligence to schedule things yourself and save some cash. I checked with AAA before I scheduled our trip and found that their hotel and ticket prices were actually more than what I paid.

As for airfare - we drove for our first trip and I've been actively searching for a way to fly the second time around as 'cost effectively' as possible! A GREAT start is DING - if you're flexible on travel dates and have nerves of steel! DING is a program from Southwest (southwest.com) that runs in the background while your computer is on and waits for a message from the mother ship telling of great deals. It seems that a lot of travel is limited to Tues and Weds - which I assume are slow days for most carriers?? If you can hang in there and get lucky, you can save a good bit of cash. For tix from Columbus (CMH) to Orlando, the standard rate for me to book when I want to go is about $275 per person. I've seen DING's CMH-MCO for as low as $69 each way ($140 round trip) per person, or a savings of almost 50%!! But DING's don't seem to hit till about a month out, that's where the nerves of steel come in! I'm going to risk getting a DING in late Oct or early Nov for our November trip. If we don't get a DING and the rates are not acceptable - we can always drive again

Good luck!!! You can do it!!!

 

[MinMouse]

Just a note about the SW fares. We usually drive to WDW but are flying in two weeks. Because of some family medical issues we had to wait and wait to buy the airline tics and I wasn't sure we were going to get a good deal. My parents fly a lot and wanted to try SW. So when it was a definite go we booked SW $79 PHL to MCO and than $131 (UGH!) MCO to PHL. Both were SUnday flights and we could not catch a break on the return UNTIL . . . I read on these boards that you could change your flights on SW to lower fares if they came out. Well, did they ever come out. We now have $59 each way = $120 Roundtrip. There is no cost to change the flight and you receive a credit to be used within a year. So it is worth it to keep watching the SW fares. We now have a $552 credit though (there are 6 of us traveling). It's a good thing we're going back to WDW in November. I think we'll fly instead of driving!!!

 

[rparmfamily]

Hi, everyone. I am planning our first trip to WDW for Oct or Nov of 2007 and was wondering when the best time is to start looking for plane tickets and where I should be looking? I am very new to all of this and have read some of the posts here, but don't know what the Southwest airlines "ding" is? Do most of you book through a travel agent or directly through the airlines or through one of the online sites, such as Expedia? We are going to be in need of plane tickets and a rental car, but already have a place to stay. Can you make arrangements through Disney for plane, car, tickets to parks, even though you aren't staying at a Disney resort?
Sorry about all the questions! I'll take any words of wisdom!

Britte

Where is your home airport??

Rex

 

[mommy2boysaz]

Rex- I am in NW Ohio, so Indianapolis is usually the cheapest place to fly out of around here, and not too bad of a drive. The closest airports would be Toledo, OH or Ft.Wayne, IN, but they are often really high priced. Columbus, OH would be possible, too, but I think Indy is usually cheaper and about the same distance away for us.

Everyone else- Thank you for all the great info. I will definitely sign up for the "ding"! I'm not crazy about the idea of waiting until the last minute to purchase tickets, but I guess I'll just see what happens!

Thank you again!
Britte