Dont want to start trouble but ...

[justhat]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that our friends tried to book a flight for this December using their Skymiles and did it at 330 days and they're on a waiting list!! How absurd is that!?! They are trying to travel out west from DC. Yes, there are options open for them using 25,000 miles, but they would have to connect twice. They don't have any kids, but still do not want to spend an entire day travelling. Like pumpkinboy said, with kids this is practically impossible, as I know I could not handle 3 flights with my infant daughter. So regardless of the reasons, terrorism or otherwise, I think the point is that flying to Orlando with Skymiles is near impossible.

 

[dreamflight99]

POSTED ON THE www.delta.com WEBSITE (under SKYMILES: USE YOUR MILES: Award & Upgrade Charts)

Home~~SkyMiles~~Use Your Miles~~Delta/SkyTeamAwards
Awards from the Continental US, Alaska and Canada


Area of Travel**Economy Class **Business Class**First Class

Between the continental U.S., Alaska, Canada: Mileage Required

Continental U.S., Alaska, or Canada 25,000=COACH 45,000=FC
Hawaii 35,000=COACH 75,000=FC
Mexico, the Caribbean, or Bermuda 30,000=COACH 60,000=FC
Central America 35,000=COACH 60,000=BC
Northern South America 35,000=COACH 70,000=BC
Southern South America 50,000=COACH 90,000=BC
Europe1 or North Africa1 50,000=COACH 90,000=BC 100,000=FC
North Asia2 60,000=COACH 120,000=BC 140,000=FC
Southeast/Southwest Asia2 70,000=COACH 120,000=BC 140,000=FC
Indian Subcontinent 80,000=COACH 120,000=BC 160,000=FC
Israel or the Middle East1 80,000=COACH 120,000=BC 160,000=FC
Central Africa1 or South Africa1 80,000=COACH 120,000=BC 160,000=FC
Australia3, New Zealand3, South Pacific, or the Indian Ocean 100,000=COACH 150,000=BC 200,000=FC
1Awards between North/Central/South America and Europe, the Middle East and Africa are via the Atlantic.
2Awards between North/Central/South America and Asia are via the Pacific.
3Awards to/from Australia/New Zealand are via Seoul, (Korean Air).

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Sure, there are flights available for 50,000 skymiles...but not for Continental US/ALASKA or CANADA. Sorry you find it impossible. I have always flown from LAX to MCO using skymiles, and never experienced any problems. I have even been waitlisted, and always receive the call for the flight as soon as it's available. I have not had any problems with our flights this year either. We have connecting flights, (Direct route) but they have the shortest stop-overs I've ever seen! I still find it much more convenient than any other method, as most of the discount options (priceline, etc.) all have "two or three" connections (and they do not offer First class)! Good luck with your flight plans. We enjoy DELTA, (16 years now...) and it WORKS for us. *NOTE: 15,000 skymiles offer is for the PLATINUM card.

 

[justhat]

I'm not disputing that Delta claims to have flights for 25,000 miles, like I said I have seen them, just that they all have 2 connections, or one connection but leave at 5:30am or arrive at 1am. Not something I'm willing to do just to get to Orlando. Our friends aren't even trying to get to Orlando, just back home to Salt Lake and they have been waitlisted since the 330 mark, and their plans are for December. Maybe it's harder from teh East coast, not sure, but it seems to be the case with us and anyone we talk to.

 

[dreamflight99]

justhat~I know a LOT has changed since 911. This summer is the FIRST time we've had to take a "connecting" flight to MCO. We could have booked on SONG, (all coach) for $210 round trip. The flight leaves @ 10:30 and arrives about 5:30 pm. There were always alternative non-stop flights to MCOin the past (especially since DELTA is the official carrier for WDW), but not anymore.

It also used to be much easier to reserve the flights, and there seemed to be MORE availability. I checked a return flight last week, called DELTA, and was told there were only TWO seats available *(FC). We need three. I checked again, and only one seat was reserved in the first class section! So, I'll call again and see if I can get a different answer from another associate. Things change with every call.

Congratulations on your new baby! (Madison...is a beautiful name). Hope you are able to find inexpensive & direct airfare for your next visit to the Magic. We are routed from LAX through Atlanta, then a quick hop (1 hour) to MCO. It's something we can handle, as DD is 16. The time between flights is less than one hour. I would much rather fly non-stop...but if I must connect, I definitely do NOT want a lengthy lay-over!

 

[justhat]

We were able to book using our Skymiles on Continental flights. The times aren't the best, but at least we don't have to stop. Now we just need to find someone to drive us to the airport very early in the morning! The only problem was that since we didn't use Skymiles for our daughter's ticket we had to pay much more than we expected to since the Continental flight cost so much more than the Delta flights.

If I had known it was easier to use Skymiles other than in the East (as we've had the most trouble with Orlando, but getting to the in-laws in New Orleans isn't easy either) I would have used them for flying to a wedding in California this July instead of our Disney trip in June. The funny thing is that the fare to CA is actually cheaper from DC than our flights to Orlando and New Orleans from NJ!! And the distance is uncomparable! I think what you said about Delta being the WDW carrier makes it even harder to get a flight thre with Skymiles.

If only we had the option to book 330 days out we'd probably have better luck, but with my fiancé in his 3rd year of med school we never know when he'll be on call and what days of the week he'll have off so we have to wait till it's much closer to the date.

Oh and thanks for the congrats about Madison and that you like her name! We made the mistake of telling our families her name before she was born so we heard lots of 'oh, are you serious about naming her that!?!' and 'it has 'son' in it and she's a girl'. We know to just surprise everyone with the next baby's name!