Budget Help and Other Questions Please??

[toystoryduo]

We are thinking about trying to get a family vacation together for late April/early May. My cousin will be graduating from college in Jupiter, FL and we decided to add a Disney trip to the celebration. Yeah!

My parents and my DH and DDs will be driving down to Florida most likely. We will be spending four days with them at Disney. Then my brother and grandparents will fly down to Orlando.

Question #1: What is the cheapest way to get my brother and grandparents from the Orlando airport to a DTD hotel? What are my options?

Question #2: I have never flown before and have no idea how to go about getting a great price on airfare. Any tips or suggestions?

Question # 3: Do the Four Day Hopper Passes have 1 Plus or 2? What is the cheapest price that you are getting on these?

I am trying to get as much information as possible because I have to present everyone with our options within the next week. Plus, I will be trying to plan another family vacation for December and the information that you give me can help for that trip too. (DH's side of the family..... That is gonna be the tough one to plan! My side of the family will be a piece of cake, of course. LOL! )

Thank you for your help!

 

[powellrj]

check out the mousesavers.com web site. She has the answers to all the questions about air fare and what kind of transportion there is plus answers to your hopper pass questions. Hope that helps a little.

 

[mad4themouse]

Originally posted by toystoryduo
Question #1: What is the cheapest way to get my brother and grandparents from the Orlando airport to a DTD hotel? What are my options?

A towncar or limo will do it for about the same price as Mears motorcoach but it will be faster and more comfortable. Plus the limo driver will handle their luggage from baggage claim to their hotel door. This might be worth it for your grandparents. Total cost (one-way) would be in the range of $45-$50 plus tip.

Question #2: I have never flown before and have no idea how to go about getting a great price on airfare. Any tips or suggestions?

Download SideStep. It will compare airfares for you for various sites (Expedia, Orbitz, Hotwire, etc.) with only a few keystrokes on your part.

Check airfares just after midnight on a Wednesday morning. This is when many cancelled tickets are put back into the system. After 9 am EST, the rest of the world is waking up and those good fares disappear quickly. So when you find a good one, jump on it! I got a great fare from PHL to LAS back in October ($123 RT!!) by doing this. Later that same day, the cost was nearly double what I paid!

Lastly, consider alternative airports. You can fly into Sanford, FL or Tampa/St. Pete for less sometimes. You may also find cheaper fares out of smaller airport close to you. I recently found airfare to MCO from Atlantic City, NJ for $50 less than flying out of PHL. AC is an hour's drive from here but for a family of 4, that's a savings of $200!

Question # 3: Do the Four Day Hopper Passes have 1 Plus or 2? What is the cheapest price that you are getting on these?

My 4-day PHPs included one plus. Sign up for the Mousesavers.com newsletter. Mary almost always has a link in it to Ticketmania.com for special pricing on PHPs. Ticketmania's website offers them for $218 (adult) including taxes and with free shipping. The Mousesaver's readers' price is even less.

Good luck with your trip planning!