Cost analysis on flight. Please help...

[MomtoEmIs&Ow]

I posted this on the Trasportation forum too, but I know the good ol Budget board DISers will be able to help out, so please help!!!

This might become a novel, but I am trying to decide which one I should book. And this is really starting to stress me out, so I am not in the frame of mind to figure it all out, so please feel free to help, and weigh in....

I will start off saying that we are already paying alot more than I would like to pay for flights, and we have never flown Delta before. I know that there are quite a few Air Tran 'haters' , but we have had good expeiences with them.

All flights are non-stop: To book with AT is $1273 out of a smaller airport (Flint, MI). A 7:00a.m departure to mco and a 9:00p.m return from MCO.
To book with Delta is $1257 out of Detroit, MI. A 8:30a.m departure to MCO and a 6:00p.m return flight from MCO. So my questions are....

Do they charge you for seat selection on Delta and if not do you have to wait till check in at the 24hr mark to choose your seats?

I know that is something like $6 to choose AT seat before the 24Hr point, and we would only pay this for our return flight. There are 5 of us so $30. Can anyone tell me if that is still the price, I can't seem to find it?

I know that Delta charges $30/checked bag, as where AT charges $15 so big difference there. I think that if we go with AT we will check 3 or 4 bags. And with Delta I would only check 2. I am not willing to pay more than $60 for luggage

Airport parking is cheaper in Flint- $40 for the 9 days and DTW it would be $75. I should also add that the AT flight is so early that we would stay at a hotel the night before in Flint. ($55-65 on Priceline.) Otherwise both airports are an hour from us. Are kids are to young to wake up for the 7 a.m flight and then drive an hour.

THen there is the time at WDW to factor in. A few hours difference...
Leaving WDW @ 3:00 p.m or 6:00p.m.....

WHat would you do??? Thanks for any feed back & suggestions

And if anyone can find me cheaper direct flights with good times, fairy dust is always good And I have done my research, and it is killing me, I just want to book and be done with it!

 

[griergirl2]

What are the dates of your trip?

 

[Disneychix]

Can't help figure out your math because you have quite a few scenerios but I can tell you we usually get the latest flight home and about 90% of the time we are always saying we are ready to go by the early afternoon. That last day is nice but with young kids and having to check out of the hotel early, sometimes it's just nice to get moving on your way home.

 

[taitai]

Delta does not charge for seat selection. You pick your seats when you book your tickets.

Bags on Delta are free if you have a Delta Amex gold or higher.

If your kids are too young to get up for the early flight, then they are probably too young to take the 6pm home. What time will that get you home?

Is this summer travel, in which case you need to factor in summer lightening storms which can delay things even further. I never take late afternoon/early evening flights from the south in the summer. Been burned too many times by late afternoon storms that push everything back for hours.

 

[savannahcat]

My kids are the same ages as yours. Personally, I would never try to depart MCO at 9pm with them. Too many chances that your flight will be delayed. My kids would be grumpy getting up early for a 7am flight too, but they would be much worse if we were still stuck at MCO at 11pm.

 

[Green Tea]

I wouldn't pay for seat selection on Airtran. I would just book with them and go. I think they all suck, but Delta sucks a little bit more.

 

[Swimalie]

Through Delta bags are $25. And if you pay on line before you get to the airport, you save $2 per bag so they would be $23 each.

 

[MomtoEmIs&Ow]

We are going Aug 28-Sept 5.

We actually have never got to stay the whole day of our departure before, but thought that it would be best to get all the time that we can at WDW...

I assume that Delta Amex is a credit Card?

Good points on the storms to delay, and being stuck @ MCo at 11p.m
Thanks!

Also we will always book our seat on our flight home because last time we were at WDW we were at the park at the 24hr check in and got stuck at the back of the plane , and to me that is the worst. Why bother flying if you can't look out the window... LOL

THanks!

 

[sydneysmom]

Personally, I'd fly Delta. I'm one of those people who LOVE Delta. We priced out our flights for Sept and I was hoping for a cheap SW flight...well, we didn't get a cheap flight and the only times offered stunk. So I priced Delta...the times were awesome ( basically bought us 2 vacation days) and the price was only $ 150 more than SW. it was worth it.

You pick your seats right when you book. You can check in at your Disney hotel and get your boarding passes. (you will have already chosen your seats for going and coming home). It's SOOOO easy. And as a PP said, your first bag is $25 ($23 if you pre pay online). There's comfort in having your seats picked and everything is all done in advance. I don't want to worry at the 24 hr mark. I want to enjoy my last day in Disney !!

The only downside is if you have to change your flight it's $ 150 fee. I found this out when our flight went down $ 180. So, we didn't get to change it to get the lower price. but still, it's okay.

So Delta is my vote !!

 

[bumbershoot]

Also we will always book our seat on our flight home because last time we were at WDW we were at the park at the 24hr check in and got stuck at the back of the plane , and to me that is the worst. Why bother flying if you can't look out the window... LOL

THanks!

I've been at the back of many planes, and there are windows.... But if you're booking the very latest flight anyway, it's going to be dark, so who cares?


Delta most likely has more flights daily to and from your airport, so if there's a delay, you might be more likely to get on a relatively timely flight after your scheduled flight. Whereas when AT changes their schedule, they do it dramatically (cancelling an 8pm one and only having an 8am one), from what I've read and time and again.

For me I'd fly Delta, and get more Alaska miles (b/c they are mileage partners), but then, we fly Alaska more often than Delta (for personal purposes...DH flies Delta for business a lot, which is how I know about the Alaska Air connection).

 

[Green Tea]

We are going Aug 28-Sept 5.

We actually have never got to stay the whole day of our departure before, but thought that it would be best to get all the time that we can at WDW...

I assume that Delta Amex is a credit Card?

Good points on the storms to delay, and being stuck @ MCo at 11p.m
Thanks!

Also we will always book our seat on our flight home because last time we were at WDW we were at the park at the 24hr check in and got stuck at the back of the plane , and to me that is the worst. Why bother flying if you can't look out the window... LOL

THanks!

Airtran assigns seats. It is Southwest you need to check in at the 24 hr mark for.

 

[bear_mom]

Well, for us........... we like the two non-stop flights to MCO from Flint.

We live an hour away from the airport and get up around 4, get the kids up at 4:30 and pile them into the car and off we go. We have done this three times now, ages 4 and 7, 6 and 8, and 7 and 9. They do really well with this. They have fallen asleep every year except the first year.

When we get to DW we check in, head to our resort, drop off our bags and then off to a park. Early dinner (5:30'ish) at Chef Mickeys and then back to the resort and off to bed for them. Dh and I will them unpack and set up the room.

For the flights home, I find that they typically get a little earlier as you get closer to flying. I think the lastest we have left is 7. That allows us a good park day on our last day also.

I prefer to fly out of Fint to DTW. Smaller airport, less people. Easier to get in and out of.

Emily

 

[MomtoEmIs&Ow]

Well, for us........... we like the two non-stop flights to MCO from Flint.

We live an hour away from the airport and get up around 4, get the kids up at 4:30 and pile them into the car and off we go. We have done this three times now, ages 4 and 7, 6 and 8, and 7 and 9. They do really well with this. They have fallen asleep every year except the first year.

When we get to DW we check in, head to our resort, drop off our bags and then off to a park. Early dinner (5:30'ish) at Chef Mickeys and then back to the resort and off to bed for them. Dh and I will them unpack and set up the room.

For the flights home, I find that they typically get a little earlier as you get closer to flying. I think the lastest we have left is 7. That allows us a good park day on our last day also.

I prefer to fly out of Fint to DTW. Smaller airport, less people. Easier to get in and out of.

Emily

So u think that they will change the flight home from MCO to an earlier time? Just curious when the last time you took these flight was? And if you don't mind, how much did you pay? Oh and at first I thought that you had 6 kids I thought geez they have to wake up 6 kids at 4:30 a.m LOL

 

[kaytieeldr]

Honestly, you need to set up a simple spreadsheet with separate columns for the different scenarios:
airline
total airfare
total seat cost
total luggage cost
total parking cost
total hotel cost

Some fields will, of course, be blank - no seat selection fee or hotel cost for Delta. If you don't have or want to use a spreadsheet, you can just use a piece of lined paper and a calculator. Then add up each column and compare totals. Note that it would be necessary to have 100% accurate prices to get 100% accurate comparisons. Someone pointed out above that Delta charges less than you think for checked luggage; you don't know for sure what a Priceline hotel would cost, with taxes and fees, until your bid is accepted.

 

[mommy2_3]

we are booking an early flight (about 6am) so that means we will have to get up around 4am get everything packed up, then head to the airport. i am getting my kids dressed before they go to bed the night before, this way all i need to do is brush their teeth and change diapers. i am certain they will sleep on the way to the airport and should sleep on the plane. my kids get up as early as 5:45 and i wish they would sleep till 7am! i am making sure everything is by the door so all i really need to do is brush my teeth/hair, wake up hubby, we tag team and change the kids diapers so we leave our house no later then 4:45. we should get to the airport about 10 min. after 5. i am doing early check in, and that early there shouldnt be many people there.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Also factor in that flying out of Flint provides very few options if your flight is cancelled or delayed for any reason (lightening storm, mechanical, whatever). From Detroit you would have numerous other flights to be switched to in such cases.

 

[kawing123]

Have you tried Spirit Air? They have many dates for 27 dollars each way. Everytime we have flown Delta out of Detroit we always have encountered delays. So if you think flying Delta will eliminate delays it simply is not so.

 

[labdogs42]

Honestly, you need to set up a simple spreadsheet with separate columns for the different scenarios:
airline
total airfare
total seat cost
total luggage cost
total parking cost
total hotel cost

Some fields will, of course, be blank - no seat selection fee or hotel cost for Delta. If you don't have or want to use a spreadsheet, you can just use a piece of lined paper and a calculator. Then add up each column and compare totals. Note that it would be necessary to have 100% accurate prices to get 100% accurate comparisons. Someone pointed out above that Delta charges less than you think for checked luggage; you don't know for sure what a Priceline hotel would cost, with taxes and fees, until your bid is accepted.

This. You have the info, populate the spread sheet and if the prices come out about even (which it sounds like they are close enough to me), pick which flight times you prefer.

 

[DawnM]

I am flying Delta in a few weeks from Charlotte to Seattle.

I couldnt' believe it would be $50 r/t just to get my stuff there. I figured out it would cost $7 to ship 3 changes of clothing there and I could take a carry on and do laundry there.

BUT, I got a Delta gold American Express offer just 2 days ago. Checked bag is no charge AND I get 25,000 bonus miles on my account once I use the card. The first year's annual fee is waived and then it is $95 a year after that. I may cancel at that point as I don't fly much anymore now that there are 5 of us.

Dawn

 

[bear_mom]

So u think that they will change the flight home from MCO to an earlier time? Just curious when the last time you took these flight was? And if you don't mind, how much did you pay? Oh and at first I thought that you had 6 kids I thought geez they have to wake up 6 kids at 4:30 a.m LOL

It was last spring, the week that spans April/May. I can't guarentee that they will change, I usually don't pay that close of attention to what the time was when I booked vs. what time our flights actually were. I'm pretty sure they did get a little earlier though.

Emily