Do you purchase airfare through Disney or on own?

[DreaminDisney]

We're not traveling until next year and we have purchased airfare both through disney and on our own for previous trips to Disney but flying from Chicago seems pretty much same price through disney or on my own.

Is there any benefit to just going through Disney or do most of you purchase on own?

 

[DVC Grammy]

Always on my own, and usually SWA because of the DINGs!

 

[DreaminDisney]

Southwest doesn't fly out of Chicago Ohare.

 

[TheWog]

We always purchase on our own as well. Disney airfare for our cruise was so much more expensive so I didn't even bother investigating. We too have Southwest here and get great fares. Are you closed to Midway where they do fly out of?

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I normally just purchase the airfare separately as it's easier to deal with the airline direct than through a third party if you need any special requests or are trying to get any price adjustments.

 

[BNC]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you asked about flying out of Chicago right??? If that's the case, SWA does fly out of Chicago (Midway but still Chicago). If you're closer to O'Hare and would like to fly out of O'Hare then buying your tickets through Disney would of course be the same price, they're buying the same tickets you'd be buying. However people that would like to save money and aren't inconvenienced by flying out of Midway will choose to fly airlines like SWA and Airtran who run specials to fly to Orlando far cheaper than Disney would buy. After all going to Disney means you'll be spending a pretty penny and some would like to save where they can.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

Price was the only reason I don't get tickets as part of my Disney package any more. In retrospect after paying for our 2005 trip, I didn't think I'd gotten a very good price on the airline tickets.

One of the benefits of booking it through them is that their travel insurance then covers your flights as well.

 

[TheWog]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you asked about flying out of Chicago right??? If that's the case, SWA does fly out of Chicago (Midway but still Chicago). If you're closer to O'Hare and would like to fly out of O'Hare then buying your tickets through Disney would of course be the same price, they're buying the same tickets you'd be buying. However people that would like to save money and aren't inconvenienced by flying out of Midway will choose to fly airlines like SWA and Airtran who run specials to fly to Orlando far cheaper than Disney would buy. After all going to Disney means you'll be spending a pretty penny and some would like to save where they can.

Here is a DING that came out today for prices from Midway to MCO.

Chicago (Midway) to Orlando for $49 One-Way on Flight 1257 Only!
- Fare is valid for travel Monday-Thursday and Sunday, October 1 through October 27, 2006
- Fare may not be offered each way
- Fare is valid for travel on Flight 1257 only
Chicago (Midway) to Orlando for $49 One-Way on Flight 2249 Only!
- Fare is valid for travel Monday-Friday, October 1 through October 28, 2006
- Fare may not be offered each way
- Fare is valid for travel on Flight 2249 only
Chicago (Midway) to Orlando for $54 One-Way on Flight 1257 Only!
- Fare is valid for travel Monday-Friday, September 14 through September 30, 2006
- Fare may not be offered each way
- Fare is valid for travel on Flight 1257 only
Chicago (Midway) to Orlando for $54 One-Way on Flight 1506 Only!
- Fare is valid for travel Monday-Thursday and Saturday, September 1 through September 30, 2006
- Fare may not be offered each way
- Fare is valid for travel on Flight 1506 only
Chicago (Midway) to Orlando for $54 One-Way on Flight 2228 Only!
- Fare is valid for travel Monday-Friday, September 1 through October 31, 2006
- Fare may not be offered each way
- Fare is valid for travel on Flight 2228 only
Chicago (Midway) to Orlando for $54 One-Way on Flight 2431 Only!
- Fare is valid for travel Monday-Friday and Sunday, September 1 through October 31, 2006
- Fare may not be offered each way
- Fare is valid for travel on Flight 2431 only
Chicago (Midway) to Orlando for $54 One-Way on Flight 549 Only!
- Fare is valid for travel Monday-Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, September 1 through September 30, 2006
- Fare may not be offered each way
- Fare is valid for travel on Flight 549 only
Chicago (Midway) to Orlando for $54 One-Way on Flight 876 Only!
- Fare is valid for travel Monday-Thursday and Saturday, September 1 through September 30, 2006
- Fare may not be offered each way
- Fare is valid for travel on Flight 876 only
Chicago (Midway) to Orlando for $59 One-Way!
- Fare is valid for travel every day, September 1 through October 31, 2006 only

 

[TheWog]

Price was the only reason I don't get tickets as part of my Disney package any more. In retrospect after paying for our 2005 trip, I didn't think I'd gotten a very good price on the airline tickets.

One of the benefits of booking it through them is that their travel insurance then covers your flights as well.

but then again getting trip insurance is also much less money when doing it on your with a site such as www.insuremytrip.com

Kids under 16 are usually covered for free also.

 

[DreaminDisney]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you asked about flying out of Chicago right??? If that's the case, SWA does fly out of Chicago (Midway but still Chicago). If you're closer to O'Hare and would like to fly out of O'Hare then buying your tickets through Disney would of course be the same price, they're buying the same tickets you'd be buying. However people that would like to save money and aren't inconvenienced by flying out of Midway will choose to fly airlines like SWA and Airtran who run specials to fly to Orlando far cheaper than Disney would buy. After all going to Disney means you'll be spending a pretty penny and some would like to save where they can.

You're not wrong, You are correct. I do live closer to O'hare but looking at SWA fares compared to other airlines looks like a pretty big savings. I will have to look into flying out of midway next year if it means saving that much more $$$ especially since we plan to travel during Thanksgiving break. Seems the prices for other airlines out of O'hare (on travelocity.com) for this year, that time are way up there.

I never heard of DING until today (thanks to disboards ) and all I have to say is WOW!

 

[CleveRocks]

I did an exhaustive search of airline schedules, routes (from two different airports) and fares. I knew EXACTLY which flights (coming and going) were best for me. Our travel dates were flexible within a certain window, and I made our final WDW package reservations based upon the cheapest dates for us to fly.

When I called CRO to adjust my resort reservation, she asked if I had already booked airfare. I told her no, but that I knew what I wanted and I was about to purchase it directly through the airline's website (AirTran). She asked if she could give me a price quote, and I thought, "Sure, why not?" I gave her the airline name and flight numbers and dates.

To my absolute shock, she quoted me a price about $150 cheaper PER TICKET than AirTran's website. I refreshed the AirTran website's webpage several times, to make sure that the price hadn't gone down there, too, but it did not. So I booked my air with Disney. I saved about $600 compared with what I had planned to pay a few minutes later.

Strange but true ....

 

[rubbergypsy]

wdw sometimes gets great deals on airfare, but keep in mind that they are paper tickets and if you want to change them for any reason it becomes a big pain