December trip plea for help

[hippsmom]

We are looking at a trip 12/18 - 12/24. I have never planned a trip this far out before. I am waiting for airfare to list on the various websites but will probably book with SouthWest or AirTran. Should I book as soon as they come out? If the price goes down do you get a credit or no? Also, we are thinking of going to Kennedy Space Center, what is the best option to get there? One more thing, we are going to go to the Star Trek Exhibition on International Drive, again, what is the best option to get there? Thanks for the help!

 

[grimley1968]

I wouldn't necessarily book with SW immediately when rates come out, but it's nice to have it booked a few months before, just to ease stress a little. Yes, if cheaper rates come out later, SW will give you a credit if you cancel the old tickets. You can use that credit up to 1 year from the date the credit is given.

To get to those other places, I highly recommend renting a car. It may seem expensive, but it's probably cheaper than any shuttle bus service all the way to KSC for multiple people. Make the Star Trek, well, trek on the same day or the day after and you can maximize your rental. You can rent from the Car Care Center (close to MK) or at the Dolphin resort. CCC probably has more options than the Dolphin, though getting to the Dolphin is pretty easy, and drop off is even easier.

 

[Greysword]

I have a couple of suggestions:

- Look at your airfares using http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ to get a baseline for costs. You can also use Yapta or airfarewatchdog.com to track fares for you and get notifications should your desired flight drop in price.

- Book your rental car now. Rental car reservations can be canceled or changed at any time, so you might as well get a reservation in now, while prices are an average. You would then just keep an eye on car prices periodically, so if it drops (or a special coupon is given), you can make the change.

- If you are staying off property for any length of time, go ahead an save the hotel room ,too. Just like car rentals, hotel reservations can be canceled once you know you won't need them.

If you have a general itinerary, jot it down and keep an eye out for ticket specials or other discounts for these attractions throughout the year.

ETA: Discuss a good airfare price point with your family, and which airlines they would not like to fly with. Once you find a fare that meets your threshold on an acceptable airline, then book it and don't look back. Value is a personal feeling, and if you feel you got a good deal, then be happy with that vice worrying whether something slightly better may come along.

 

[stargazertechie]

Discuss a good airfare price point with your family, and which airlines they would not like to fly with. Once you find a fare that meets your threshold on an acceptable airline, then book it and don't look back. Value is a personal feeling, and if you feel you got a good deal, then be happy with that vice worrying whether something slightly better may come along.

I agree with this 100% UNLESS you book southwest. If you book with SW and the price drops, you get the difference back as a refundable credit that must be used within 365 of the date you ORIGINALLY PAID for the reservation. The credit MUST be used by the named pax on the tickets, and are not transferable, even among family members.

We have a spreadsheet with all of our southwest tickets by family member, confirmation number, and then any refund we receive if we rebook at a lower fare. This way we can "trace" money we have in reserves easier, and we don't "lose" it by forgetting about it. We started doing that after realizing we lost over $800 total in refunded credit over the course of a year

We're currently using our refunded credit from last year (approximately $280 a person) to take a spur of the moment trip in February before it expires! Those little price drops of $20 or $30 per ticket do add up!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I love SWA because of the fact I can switch flights it another flight time has a lower price than what I paid.

I would not book right when SWA releases the fares. They have various sales thoughout the year so I would wait to purchase. I looked a few months ago for my trip that I am taking next week and the fares were $238 each way & I knew that was I high price. I waited and watched and sure enough last week they went down to $114 each way


Your best option to go to Kennedy is a rental car. Kennedy is over an hour away so taking a cab service will likely run you a couple hundred dollars. You can rent a car for one or two days. Alamo has 2 rental locations at Disney and they will come and pick you up at the resort.

 

[IggyLans]

I wouldn't necessarily book with SW immediately when rates come out, but it's nice to have it booked a few months before, just to ease stress a little. Yes, if cheaper rates come out later, SW will give you a credit if you cancel the old tickets. You can use that credit up to 1 year from the date the credit is given.

To get to those other places, I highly recommend renting a car. It may seem expensive, but it's probably cheaper than any shuttle bus service all the way to KSC for multiple people. Make the Star Trek, well, trek on the same day or the day after and you can maximize your rental. You can rent from the Car Care Center (close to MK) or at the Dolphin resort. CCC probably has more options than the Dolphin, though getting to the Dolphin is pretty easy, and drop off is even easier.

I believe it's up to 1 year from the date of original booking. So, if they booked their airfare in March 2013, and the fares went down in August 2013, they would have until March of 2014 to use their credits... I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Rpsemont]

Where are you flying from? There may be people who can give you a good idea of what a "good" fare is.

We went last 12/13-12/22. We fly out of BDL (Hartford) I did not buy when fares were first released because I wasn't sure we'd be able to go.
Ultimately, I finally "first' purchased our tickets on SWA on 10/19 for about $240 RT which was a fare I could live with, but not as low as I would have liked. Between 10/19 and 11/20, I rebooked 4 times and by the time we flew, I paid $155 RT (which is lower than I've paid in a couple years!)
(I also had some date flexibility that I factored in)

I would suggest you get some guidance on what is a "good" fare (could also read that as "Likely") for your specific departure airport and dates.
If SW flies from your city, I would book SWA when you see that fare, just because you can get full credit if the fare goes down. Of course, this assumes that you'll be able to use the credit within a year of the original booking date.
If you don't think you'll be flying again, then buy when you see something you can live with. For our December trip above, I will admit that I was getting pretty nervous in October that we might have to cancel the trip because I had waited too long. When I booked 10/19, I got fares that were lower than they had been in September.

I believe it's up to 1 year from the date of original booking. So, if they booked their airfare in March 2013, and the fares went down in August 2013, they would have until March of 2014 to use their credits...

This is correct, but important to note that they would have until March 2014 to complete a trip - not just purchase a new ticket.

As far as visiting Kennedy, etc. I would plan to rent a car. Start checking dates now and again, if you find something reasonable, book it. Car rentals are easy because you can cancel and rebook as much as you want.

Check rentals from/to MCO for your entire trip - or check for two days rentals at one of the locations on or near Disney. I seem to have alot of luck with Dollar at the Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Resort (which is right across the street from the DTD bus stop. I take a bus from the resort to DTD, Walk across and get my car, and frequently return the car to MCO when we fly out

Good luck!

 

[IggyLans]

Where are you flying from? There may be people who can give you a good idea of what a "good" fare is.

We went last 12/13-12/22. We fly out of BDL (Hartford) I did not buy when fares were first released because I wasn't sure we'd be able to go.
Ultimately, I finally "first' purchased our tickets on SWA on 10/19 for about $240 RT which was a fare I could live with, but not as low as I would have liked. Between 10/19 and 11/20, I rebooked 4 times and by the time we flew, I paid $155 RT (which is lower than I've paid in a couple years!)
(I also had some date flexibility that I factored in)

I would suggest you get some guidance on what is a "good" fare (could also read that as "Likely") for your specific departure airport and dates.
If SW flies from your city, I would book SWA when you see that fare, just because you can get full credit if the fare goes down. Of course, this assumes that you'll be able to use the credit within a year of the original booking date.
If you don't think you'll be flying again, then buy when you see something you can live with. For our December trip above, I will admit that I was getting pretty nervous in October that we might have to cancel the trip because I had waited too long. When I booked 10/19, I got fares that were lower than they had been in September.



This is correct, but important to note that they would have until March 2014 to complete a trip - not just purchase a new ticket.

As far as visiting Kennedy, etc. I would plan to rent a car. Start checking dates now and again, if you find something reasonable, book it. Car rentals are easy because you can cancel and rebook as much as you want.

Check rentals from/to MCO for your entire trip - or check for two days rentals at one of the locations on or near Disney. I seem to have alot of luck with Dollar at the Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Resort (which is right across the street from the DTD bus stop. I take a bus from the resort to DTD, Walk across and get my car, and frequently return the car to MCO when we fly out

Good luck!

Yep! That's what I meant!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I believe it's up to 1 year from the date of original booking. So, if they booked their airfare in March 2013, and the fares went down in August 2013, they would have until March of 2014 to use their credits... I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

here is an example of how it will work.

If you buy your ticket on March 3, 2013 and your flight price goes down you can switch your ticket to the lower price and get a travel credit for the difference which will expire on March 3, 2014. When you travel in 2014 your return flight home must be completed before March 3 2014 in order to use the credit.

 

[Donna M]

Where you're flying from and when you go will play a role in your fare too. We have been flying down out of Boston or Manchester, NH for years. We like nonstop and travel during school vacation week. We book, or try to, the day they come out. Never have the prices dropped; they have always gone up, by a lot too. Now, I could get cheaper flights with stops, or less desirable times, but the flights we like only go up in price.

Today the price is $413, our price is $286. Last week of April, AirTran since SW was too ridiculous.

 

[Rpsemont]

Where you're flying from and when you go will play a role in your fare too. We have been flying down out of Boston or Manchester, NH for years. We like nonstop and travel during school vacation week. We book, or try to, the day they come out. Never have the prices dropped; they have always gone up, by a lot too. Now, I could get cheaper flights with stops, or less desirable times, but the flights we like only go up in price.

Absolutely True! When we were required to fly during school vacation times I always bought as soon as the fares came out.