DING! CMH to MCO

[Laxmom]

Just go a ding for Columbus to Orlando One-Way!

- Fare is valid for travel Monday-Saturday, July 2 through August 31, 2007 only74-$94 one way thru Aug 31.

Indy to Orlando

Indianapolis to Orlando for $54-$69 One-Way!

- Fare is valid for travel every day, August 1 through August 31, 2007 only

Not quite our window yet but I hope someone can use it!

 

[Cruz91]

I booked my flight going down last week for $99 per person (flying out Sat 10/13). My return date is flexible, so I didn't book it yet. Anyway - the day after I booked, I checked SWA's site and the flights went down to $79. I went ahead and got the $20 per ticket back. You may want to look at booking at least one way now. Then if you get a cheaper DING, you can just get a credit and apply it to that purchase. If you don't get a DING, you'll have the lower price for that leg of the trip.

 

[Laxmom]

Great advice. Between FF's and SW's dings, I am sure I will be able to find a good deal.

 

[boomhauer]

Anyone know how to change an exisiting reservation and rebook the DING reservation? Only way I can see is by cancelling flight and booking new DING flight seperately.

 

[Laxmom]

Looks like Cruz91 has done it so I would call customer service for starters since this ding is good until 3:30. Please post what you find out.

 

[SB in KY]

I am a little late offering advice here...but if it comes up again...if you want to rebook on SW for new flights or a DING fare or whatever...the first thing you want to do is start the booking process for the new flight and enter everyones names, etc....then minimize your screen...it will hold your new fare for 15 or 20 minutes that way and you are certain you can get the fare you are looking for. Then open SW again in another window and go to the travel center and cancel your old floghts and write down the confirmation number! Then you go back to your new booking and finish by clicking the "Apply Ticketless Travel Funds" tab and enter the number from your cancellation and it will apply the funds from the old tickets to the new ones.

The reason I do it this way is that you are CERTAIN you have the seats at the new cheap fare before you give up your old reservation.

If you kept the exact same flights but just rebooked at the lower fare you can call the SW Customer Service number and they will refund the $$ to your credit card AFTER your trip is completed. If you change flights/times/etc they will leave the balance in Ticketless Travel Funds for you to use later.

BTW...I am feeling pretty good about booking the $30 each way fare from CMH to MCO a couple of weeks ago when they celebrated their 15th anniversary of flying out of CMH....all 4 of us are flying for $316 RT (includes all taxes and fees) to MCO in August!!!

 

[Laxmom]

Wow! That is a great rate. I ended up finding FF tickets out of CMH on Northwest in Sept. (Searched before and they weren't there except for the high point tickets.) I just had to be creative and use Delta points for one and Northwest points for the other. Then call and have both ressies linked in their systems. As it gets closer, it will all revert to Northwest's system.

Yea for both of us! And thanks for the info on SW. Planning another trip a year from Sept for 6 of us. That info may come in handy.

You bypass CVG also and fly out of CMH, I see.

 

[MrMarv]

KMy congratulations to both of you; I haven't been to either Cincy or Columbus since 1991; I used to be a HUGE baseball fan until the strike in 1994 broke my heart and demolished my interest in the game forever.

I attended a Dodgers/Reds game at Riverfront Stadium in 1992, making that the 23rd ballpark where I'd attended a game in person, and also saw Don Henley in concert, which culminated an awesome stay in Cincy; that gorgeous Embassy Suites on the Riverfront in Covington, Ky. opened in the summer of 1992, and it was really inexpensive, compared to today's rates.

I'm sure that both of you LUV the noose which SW has applied to Delta's Cincinnati hub by really lowering airfares from Columbus, Indy & even Louisville.

Gotta LUV those DINGS, don't you????????

 

[Laxmom]

That's about when we gave up on baseball too. And until they spend some money on some pitching...things haven't changed since 1992 in that aspect! We went to the last night game in Riverfront. Have only been once to the new stadium. That makes 2 ballparks for me! There is now a beautiful Marriott right on the river and that area has been redeveloped. Very nice.

It is ridiculous what they charge to fly out of CVG. I have saved as much as $250 per person by flying a surrounding airport. The last 2 times I have, Delta has called and moved our flight to CVG for the same money. Guess they can resell my seat again at the other airports but can't fill the seat out of CVG. Big surprise. For us, it is 45 min to CVG, an hour to Dayton and 1hour 15 to Columbus. Even Indy is better and is 2 hours away if the deal is really substantial. We are fortunate to be that close to 4 airports. It makes it easy to find a good deal!

 

[MrMarv]

LaxMOM---I must commend you for utilizing Columbus as opposed to Cincinnati (or Dayton), and savings TONS of money in the process.

That $250.00 per person savings really does boggle your mind, doesn't it?

'Drive a little and save a lot' never sounded so good, did it??????

I noticed in the Auto Club Tourbook that there are several hotels which have sprung up since that Embassy Suites opened, including that Marriott that you mentioned, a Hampton Inn, and a Courtyard by Marriott a few blocks away. The staggering amount of nightlife options within walking distance of any of those hotels must be superb.

 

[SB in KY]

We will fly out of Cinci, Indy, Louisville or Columbus to save enough $$...although flying out of Cinci NEVER saves $$!! I will be so happy when some discount carrier breaks in there. When 4 of us can fly RT for $300 (which is a lot less than we would spend just on gas driving!) by driving 3 hours instead of 1 we will drive the 3 hours!! I have not flown out of CMH in quite a few years but those fares were too good to pass up!

 

[MrMarv]

I really don't think any discount carrier will go into Cincinnati anytime soon; Southwest has the city flat-out surrounded thanks to its flights to/from Louisville, Indy & Columbus.

The monopoly which Delta and Comair have at the Cincinnati airport would appear to make it next to impossible for Southwest to not only start serving Cincy, but being able to have the number of slots available they'd need to make starting new service economically feasible, even with their superb balance sheet.

Folks in Cincinnati (or within 125 miles) just have to do their homework when planning vacations.

 

[Laxmom]

The crazy thing is that I can drive and hour to Dayton, get on a plane there saving, say $125, (being conservative) and layover in Cincinnati on the same plane that I would get on if I were beginning my trip out of CVG. It is nuts!

Right now, it isn't too bad on a flight for Sept to Orlando. The difference is only about $25 but you don't get any decent flight times.

Southwest has done a good job surrounding the area here though. They fly out of Indy, Louisville and CMH. That has to make an impact as most of the people I know drive to one of those when they fly for leisure travel. I have heard that the thing that makes the flights so expensive are the gate fees that CVG charges the carriers. True or not, I don't know. But I will continue to shop all the options and pick the best one for us....which usually isn't CVG.
We're just fortunate to have options!

MrMarv, they are going to be starting what is called "The Banks Project" which is a revitalization fo the Cincy side of the river. Newport has done such a good job on their side that Cincy got left in the dust. It really has the beginnings of something nice.

 

[MrMarv]

Guess I'm going to have to plan a visit to Cincinnati in the near future the next time I fly to either Indy (LOVE that city!!!) or Louisville since I've never been there, before it gets too humid.

I received a vistors guide package from a website whose address (I do believe) was visitnky.com, and there were tons of things to do on the Kentucky side of the Kentucky/Ohio border, including lots of restaurants, and at least one 20-screeen movie theater, so the folks in Cincinnati REALLY had to do something.

That's another really insane story about being charged $125.00 for a very short plane ride between two cities whose airports are barely an hour apart; nuts is not the word for it!!!

The airfare structures of those six legacy carriers are also nuts!!!!

I recall planning a visit to Evansville, In. a couple of years ago ( I was considering relocating, and Evansville & Louisville were on my list alongside Indianapolis), but several of the flights which American had from here (LAX) to there consisted of flying to Chicago, then back to St. Louis, and then a third flight on a different plane to Evansville.

Now that is nuts!!!