Can't find airfare from Chicago to Orlando :(

[IheartAriel]

I should say airfare we'll pay, it's in the $300's. We're planning on going August 1-8, 2009. Deposit is made at CBR but still can't find good air and may have to drive. Anyone from the Chicagoland area that's done the drive and can offer advice? We'll be traveling with a 1 year old and a 2.5 year old.

 

[madamimadam]

Hi,

I'm from Springfield and may have an alternative for you. We are flying from Bloomington IL in June on Airtran. The rates from Bloomington tend to be around $109 each way and they fly into Orlando. There are some direct flights to MCO and some through Atlanta. Free parking too.

Adam

 

[IheartAriel]

We are two hours from Bloomington but that beats the 20 hour drive!! Thanks for the info!

 

[Manda]

I fly out of Midway and we always fly Southwest. They haven't released their fares for August yet, so you might want to wait for that just to make sure you can compare all the options. I've flown for as little as $59 one way - but last August, I could only get it down to $112 one way. But I booked at $149 OW originally and then kept rebooking as the price went down. There were cheaper options, I believe, but I like to fly at a specific time regardless of cost, so I sometimes have to skip on the $89 offers, etc.

 

[puffkin]

August is still really far away for airfare! I have found that the best prices are usually 2-3 months out (especially if you are using Southwest).

 

[Kies99]

Airtran:

August 1, 2009 - Leave Midway 7:00am arrive Orlando 10:31am (Nonstop)
August 8, 2009 - Leave Orlando 7:55pm arrive Chicago 9:31pm (Nonstop)

Total cost (roundtrip with taxes included) for 3 passengers (assuming you'll hold the youngest in your lap):

$687.60

 

[Stitchfans]

That is what we ended up paying for our trip this March. In past we had to pay even more. Never drove there cause DH said he didn't want the travel time to cut into our time there since we only have so much time to begin with.

 

[KNJWDW]

Did you check out flying out of Milwaukee? We have friends from the Chicago area that prefer Milwaukee over Ohare.

 

[wilderness01]

It is an 18 hour drive from Chicago. My best advice if you want to drive is to split up the drive into 2 days, stop and do something fun to break it all up. I would also recommend that you have some kind of distractions for the kids, i.e. books, toys, dvd player, etc. I know the little one is young, but a disney movie in would distract them. Good luck.

I booked Air Tran for the summer and it was about $200 pp without their extra charges.

 

[lastminutemom]

It is way to early to find "sale" airfares for August. The last sale email I got from Airtran and Delta only went through March for Florida and May for the rest of the US. You have a while... wait it out.

 

[wilderness01]

It is way to early to find "sale" airfares for August. The last sale email I got from Airtran and Delta only went through March for Florida and May for the rest of the US. You have a while... wait it out.

Sorry but this is not true, at least from Chicago to Florida on Airtran. I booked in the beginning of December on Airtran for June to FL.

 

[IheartAriel]

WOW thanks for the replies! I was holding out for Southwest, which is supposed to release August dates soon. I didn't see that Airtran flight, the times look amazing and yes the little one would be a lap baby.

Off to check out airtran! Thanks!!!

 

[El&Asmom]

We almost always fly SW from Midway. Their sale fares are not going to be out yet for Aug. We typically watch starting about 4-5 months before a trip. When the fare is at a reasonably low rate we book it. SW has a policy that if their fare drops, they will issue you a credit for the difference on the same flight. We have a credit from out Sept trip that we will use for our April trip since the price went down after we booked the flight. That way, we don't feel horrible booking a pretty low rate, and then worrying that the rate will drop even more. Not all airlines will do this.

Good luck. I wouldn't resort to driving just yet. The sale prices will probably be there.

 

[mommyof3rookies]

When my husband was stationed at Great Lakes Naval Base we drove down in 2003 my boys were 2 and 5 and they were great. We had a portable tv/vcr combo, some toys, by 5 year old had his gameboy and we took books and crayons. We taught them how to get the truckers to blow their horns, LOL!! They were hilarious, I wouldn't trade that road trip for anything!! We drove a little more than half way one day got a hotel and drove the rest of the way the next day, same thing on the way home. We are drving down again in April, this time from Ohio with 3 kiddos this time. The boys want to teach their sister how to make the trucks blow their horns, I guess it's a right of passage !

 

[ckrum]

WOW thanks for the replies! I was holding out for Southwest, which is supposed to release August dates soon. I didn't see that Airtran flight, the times look amazing and yes the little one would be a lap baby.

Off to check out airtran! Thanks!!!

Make sure you pay the extra $ to have seats assignments together. That's the only issue w/Airtran. One trip they had DD6 at the time, DH & I all spread out. Not acceptable, so we learned it's worth the extra $.

 

[ckrum]

We are two hours from Bloomington but that beats the 20 hour drive!! Thanks for the info!

Flying in & out of Bloomington is awesome! Free parking, little to NO lines and very friendly staff. We usually get there 1 hour early and that is more than enough time for check in and everything.

 

[IheartAriel]

Well we've got 13 people going so I'm also going to look into group pricing. I didn't know airtran had a fee to sit together? I've never heard of that.

 

[lilrooster]

We have driven that several times. Also, like others have said check out other airports like Midway. How about Indianapolis? My parents live by chicago and I am in Indianapolis, they have opted to fly out of here several times dues to the differences in prices. It is a about a 3 hour drive though.

 

[Tam1067]

Last year we paid $178 r/t each on United. This was in early August, and we booked about 5 months out. SW is scheduled to release its August fares on Jan. 29, so I'm waiting for that, but last year, United and American were actually slightly cheaper than SW when we booked. I think anything less than $200 is going to be decent unless you're willing to fly at the undesirable times.

 

[ckrum]

A few years ago, we had a group of 10 fly Airtran. Arrangements were made through AAA, but I know we got some kind of group discount (10 or 20%). Might be worth checking into.