Bit the Bullet and Begrudgingly booked air...

[bfamily5]

Can't believe the prices! I've been watching the airfare steadily increase over the past 2-3 months In 2009 I snagged an amazing deal and flew all 5 of us from Portland, ME to Orlando and back for under $800...last year I printed off the airfare for the dates we would be travelling this year (as a reference point) and everything is double!!! Today , after yet another increase on the flight time I preferred, I booked a different time at the lower price ...now I need to resist the temptation to check again, in case it goes down...phewff! Needed to vent!

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

I was about to book our flights for march Break 2012 and when I got home from work, the price for the 4 of us had jumped from $1400 to $2100....needless to say the next time I see a price I can live with I will book it ASAP. We are travelling from either Halifax or Moncton - but likely halifax as the price is much lower

 

[Macduffy]

are you still flying out of Portland? I'm hoping to fly out of Bangor and save myself the extra few hours of driving but it's $400 more (don't get me started on baggage fees either!)!

 

[bfamily5]

we are going out of Portland... It doesn't seem that much farther but it is cheaper...I like cheap!

 

[JillinCalgary]

This will make you feel MUCH better..

We just booked our flights.. Calgary to Orlando (5 days at Disney World) leaving December 19th. We then drive to Fort Lauderdale and board the Allure of the Seas. Return flight home Fort Lauderdale to Calgary January 3rd. We are a family of 5. Of course we're flying at the most expensive time of year, but guess what our airfare was.

JUST UNDER 10K!!!!!! This is why us West Coasters travel to Disneyland instead of Disney World. Florida is a loooooong way and a very expensive destination :-(Absolutely we are treating this vacation as a trip of a lifetime..

Cheers,
Jill

 

[lizzyb]

This will make you feel MUCH better..

We just booked our flights.. Calgary to Orlando (5 days at Disney World) leaving December 19th. We then drive to Fort Lauderdale and board the Allure of the Seas. Return flight home Fort Lauderdale to Calgary January 3rd. We are a family of 5. Of course we're flying at the most expensive time of year, but guess what our airfare was.

JUST UNDER 10K!!!!!! This is why us West Coasters travel to Disneyland instead of Disney World. Florida is a loooooong way and a very expensive destination :-(Absolutely we are treating this vacation as a trip of a lifetime..

Cheers,
Jill

Oh wow! Ok no more complaining from me.

 

[DaniB]

This will make you feel MUCH better..

We just booked our flights.. Calgary to Orlando

We are a family of 5. Of course we're flying at the most expensive time of year, but guess what our airfare was.

JUST UNDER 10K!!!!!!

Out of curiosity, did you check into driving? I have no idea how long that would take or cost but it makes me wonder. 10K?! Wow! When I first scanned your post and saw the amount, I thought you were flying from Australia.

 

[JillinCalgary]

Absolutely ridiculous, isn't it. Flights down were $700 per person and return was over $900 per person. Add in the tax and times it by 5 total cost came in at just under $10K. These flights are with Air Canada.

Did we look into driving? No. We'd basically have to drive 3 or 4 days straight each way... distance in kilometers is VERY far. We drove to Ontario once and it almost killed us. LOL And don't forget the time of year - winter! Driving could be dangerous if we encountered any storms along the way. And of course my husband would have to take at least a week or more off of work. If it was closer we'd definitely consider driving..

Why the heck are flight prices so ridiculous these days? They aren't getting any better.. infact they are getting worse!

I have no doubt this will be a once in a lifetime vacation. We definitely won't be heading back to Florida anytime soon. SO.. we're going to enjoy every minute of it

 

[CdnCarrie]

Absolutely ridiculous, isn't it. Flights down were $700 per person and return was over $900 per person. Add in the tax and times it by 5 total cost came in at just under $10K. These flights are with Air Canada.

Did we look into driving? No. We'd basically have to drive 3 or 4 days straight each way... distance in kilometers is VERY far. We drove to Ontario once and it almost killed us. LOL And don't forget the time of year - winter! Driving could be dangerous if we encountered any storms along the way. And of course my husband would have to take at least a week or more off of work. If it was closer we'd definitely consider driving..

Why the heck are flight prices so ridiculous these days? They aren't getting any better.. infact they are getting worse!

I have no doubt this will be a once in a lifetime vacation. We definitely won't be heading back to Florida anytime soon. SO.. we're going to enjoy every minute of it

Wow our family of 4 flew from Wpg to Miami in January for $1700.

 

[Muddypaws]

I have also been watching the flight prices from Regina to Orlando for early next year. Wow! is all I can say. After seeing another jump in price today (it is now up to $936 each - we paid about $500 each for our trip last Feb) I am starting to prepare myself that a trip to Disney may not happen for us next year. Combine that with the blog post about last quarter's financials and the reiteration that they are still weaning off the discounts has made me seriously depressed.

 

[canadianjovigirl]

This will make you feel MUCH better..

We just booked our flights.. Calgary to Orlando (5 days at Disney World) leaving December 19th. We then drive to Fort Lauderdale and board the Allure of the Seas. Return flight home Fort Lauderdale to Calgary January 3rd. We are a family of 5. Of course we're flying at the most expensive time of year, but guess what our airfare was.

JUST UNDER 10K!!!!!! This is why us West Coasters travel to Disneyland instead of Disney World. Florida is a loooooong way and a very expensive destination :-(Absolutely we are treating this vacation as a trip of a lifetime..

Cheers,
Jill

OMG that is crazy, we always pay about $400 per person return to Orlando and have never paid more than $500 return to go to Florida, Boston, Philly or NY..............and for our family of 5 that is expensive enough. Thankfully we dont travel over the Christmas holidays..........we fly from Calgary as well, but use the american airlines with a couple hour stop over if we need to to reduce our fares to 1/2 the direct flight prices

 

[DaniB]

I can see why you have no interest in driving. I wouldn't want to drive for 4 days either! I haven't travelled outside my own province, so I tend to forget how far places like Calgary really are. I really wish my husband & I had taken a road trip to BC 15-20 years ago, before we married & had kids.

For us, I'm told it would take about 24 hours to drive to Orlando. Since we never did have our BC road trip, I would like to spend two days driving to Orlando and 3 days back exploring. But after a recent road trip with our daughter, that will have to wait until she matures a bit more!

The airfare prices... that just floors me!

 

[monkey30]

Absolutely ridiculous, isn't it. Flights down were $700 per person and return was over $900 per person. Add in the tax and times it by 5 total cost came in at just under $10K. These flights are with Air Canada.

Did we look into driving? No. We'd basically have to drive 3 or 4 days straight each way... distance in kilometers is VERY far. We drove to Ontario once and it almost killed us. LOL And don't forget the time of year - winter! Driving could be dangerous if we encountered any storms along the way. And of course my husband would have to take at least a week or more off of work. If it was closer we'd definitely consider driving..

Why the heck are flight prices so ridiculous these days? They aren't getting any better.. infact they are getting worse!

I have no doubt this will be a once in a lifetime vacation. We definitely won't be heading back to Florida anytime soon. SO.. we're going to enjoy every minute of it

Oh man it is the time of year that is killing you for sure!

We booked with American Airlines for 405/person return from Calgary end of August. We were chocked since we have never found deals like that before. I will pay the extra baggage fee (we have it down to a science all 5 of us in 2 suitcases and 1 carry on!) to save that much.

So next time maybe if you can go at a different time of year, I suggest it or if you can manage try flying out of Great Falls, the drive is a bit of a pain, BUT can cut the flight costs in half if u can get them. Good Luck
This is trip number 3 to WDW and the most we have paid for it was $4000 total resort included.

 

[gilsan]

Absolutely ridiculous, isn't it. Flights down were $700 per person and return was over $900 per person. Add in the tax and times it by 5 total cost came in at just under $10K. These flights are with Air Canada.

Did we look into driving? No. We'd basically have to drive 3 or 4 days straight each way... distance in kilometers is VERY far. We drove to Ontario once and it almost killed us. LOL And don't forget the time of year - winter! Driving could be dangerous if we encountered any storms along the way. And of course my husband would have to take at least a week or more off of work. If it was closer we'd definitely consider driving..

Why the heck are flight prices so ridiculous these days? They aren't getting any better.. infact they are getting worse!

I have no doubt this will be a once in a lifetime vacation. We definitely won't be heading back to Florida anytime soon. SO.. we're going to enjoy every minute of it

Are you flying executive class? If you check Kayak with your dates they have flights for 1 stop with Continental for $752 return including taxes for 5 $3759 total CDN including taxes and fees. I wouldn't be surprised if that price drops in Aug-Sept. It might be worthwhile to look into cancelling the tickets and eating the cancellation fees.

 

[CdnCarrie]

We're leaving just after NYE and we won't be buying flights until the summer. Prices are still really high. Usually a seat sale comes out in the summer for the winter months. I think you bought way too early.

 

[gilsan]

We're leaving just after NYE and we won't be buying flights until the summer. Prices are still really high. Usually a seat sale comes out in the summer for the winter months. I think you bought way too early.

I agree I have found the best time to buy tickets is 2-4 months out. Around now 7-9 months the prices are really high and seem to go higher, but about 3 month out the prices drop. Example August with Air Canada would cost you $2600 for 5 return including tax. I have found that prices around Christmas can be purchased for the same as the rest of the year unless you are going Dec 22-Jan 1 and buying 2 months out. We were thought about going last year at Christmas and we found tickets down and back for the same prices we paid April earlier in the year and September the previous year.

Air Canada allows you to sign up for fare alerts as does Kayak.com

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

What about driving to Seattle and departing from the USA? Usually the prices are much lower from the USA.

 

[JillinCalgary]

WOW! This is where I bow my head in shame.. I *so* wish I'd found this site earlier :-( Kayak? I've never heard of it. I'll definitely be checking it out. As for flying out of the States.. I've never really thought of that! Mainly because we don't live close to a major city center. Great Falls is the closest and I never really thought of it having an airport. Who knew! I really appreciate the suggestions!

The time of year we travel is sadly set in stone. My husband owns his own business (okay, I guess I'm an owner too LOL) and over Christmas is the best time for him to take time off (by a landslide). Also, it's the best time to maximize time off school for our children. As well, my older son (and I get how ridiculous this sounds considering he's only 11) plays competitive hockey and it's the only time we're able to go away without him missing tournaments or games (he play 12 months of the year)

I've been stung before with waiting for flights to get cheaper. Infact, I'm currently having this issue right now! We're suppose to be going to Vegas June 3 to 6th but are finding package deals to be out of this world for mediocre hotels. We've been looking for months. Now that we're three weeks away the prices have increased and I'm panicking!! Can anyone find me a deal to Vegas? lol Anyway.. back to Disney... No to executive class, but yes to the most desirable flights out there. We go through Toronto with very little time at the airport waiting for the next direct to Orlando. I hate multiple stops.. I'm not a good flyer as it is and of course we are traveling with children.


Hmm.. lots of food for thought here. I totally appreciate the responses. Clearly I have some research to to and perhaps incurring a cancellation fee might very well be worth it if I can find a significantly better deal.

Cheers to you all!
Jill

 

[4orm]

It's ok! You'll have an amazing trip!
See what the cancelation charges are but don't beat yourself up over any money lost. If anything else let it be a motivator to have the best trip ever!

 

[gilsan]

It's ok! You'll have an amazing trip!
See what the cancelation charges are but don't beat yourself up over any money lost. If anything else let it be a motivator to have the best trip ever!

I agree there is probably not much you can do about it now. Look at it this way you got the flights you wanted at the times you wanted and you won't need to spend the next 5 months searching for airfare.

On our last trip we wanted to fly direct home I had a price I wanted to pay when it hit that price I bought. About 3 weeks before the flight you could get the seats for almost half of what we paid. I could have been upset about it but I decided to think of the extra cost as peace of mind.