Flight Planning Help Needed

[goaliewife]

Sure could use some help here, as I have never planned or booked flights before.

I guess my first question is..how soon do you book your flights? Our trip starts the first week of October 2007 and what little checking I have done is not very helpful at this point.

Second question.......when do the airlines start lowering prices to compete with the other airlines, if this is even done. We are flying from California to MSO, so I understand that this will not be a cheap endeavor, but I also don't want to book so early that I may lose out on something better. We are bringing our DGC and it will be their first time flying, so I want an airline that offers movies or inflight TV or something to keep them occupied. Games and books and coloring on such a long trip will only stretch so far.

Do you go through TA's or do it yourself online?

This is going to be our first trip to WDW since becoming DVC members, so we really want this experience to be wonderful and magical for all of us, which I'm sure can be done

I'm sure that there is a lot of wisdom out there on the DIS boards for us to use, Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

 

[cmp1111]

I don't know how much help I'll be on the schedule, but here are my flight booking tips (and I do it quite often.)

I always check Expedia or Travelocity for at least a list of the major airlines and their flights, because you can get a lot of ideas at once. However, ALWAYS book through the individual airline's site. There is usually a savings on a "processing" fee, and if there are problems, you are much better off if you've booked directly through the company.

With that idea, though, you have to also know that the "discount" airlines such as Southwest or Jet Blue do NOT allow the travel sites to display their flights. You'll need to check those sites individually.

Southwest is currently only booking through 5/10/07, as I know because I check obsessively every day for our 5/27 trip.

Southwest doesn't usually have a movie.

You can get deals at about any time. I booked a trip to a wedding that I'm in in about 2 weeks, about 2 weeks ago. Now, of course, there are cheaper flights on Southwest, go figure. The "non-discount" airlines will generally penalize you if you book within 2 weeks of your trip, or if you don't have a Saturday stayover. The discounts don't seem to do that so much.

I would NOT book now for October. See how the summer goes. I wouldn't, however, wait much longer than September 1st.

Travel agents can certainly be a help if you are new to the game. I have a fast internet connection and a pretty good working knowledge, so I do it myself. But, I am sure that I miss some deals and so forth.

This is just an amateur's take - if anyone in the travel industry has better thoughts, listen to them over me.

 

[dopeyfanatic]

However, ALWAYS book through the individual airline's site. There is usually a savings on a "processing" fee, and if there are problems, you are much better off if you've booked directly through the company.

I live in CA, and I have NEVER gotten a better price at the airlines site. My dad has once, and he flies regularly for work. I think being from CA the problem is that a lot of the flights actually use more than one airline in your trip to save money. If you try to book with just one of them you pay more.....

 

[kaytieeldr]

You can try kayak.com and bookingbuddy.com for airfares (they're search engines, not travel agencies - so you link through to the vendor and buy your tickets from (usually) the airline directly. Also try sites like airfarewatcher.com for projections. I know Kayak does display JetBlue fares - but for Southwest yes, you need to check that site directly.

IF an airline has a sale, other airlines will generally match the fares on identical routes.

Do it yourself, no matter how you end up buying your tickets. Travel Agencies charge a fee per ticket, and even the online travel sites add a service charge per ticket. Online is better, as most airlines charge extra for booking by phone.

You could get a portable DVD player that handles two sets of headphones (or maybe more players if you're bringing more grandchildren).

And MOST important if you're buying your tickets online - the three letter code for Orlando is MCO (not MSO)

 

[goaliewife]

Thanks to you all for your help. I think that the MSO was a typo, however, I will be more careful about that when I check the web sites for the fares. I am laughing at myself for the typos since I make my living typing.

Thanks for the web site info and links. I had not heard of the sites of then travelocity or Orbitz, etc. I will check those out right away to get my feet wet.

Wish me luck and thanks again for your help.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Vickie: From what airport are you likely to be flying? I have flown to WDW from SMA (Santa Maria), SFO or LAX in Oct or Nov, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. The prices have ranged from about $117 to $300. I have found the best prices for that period in August, but I think that has also coincided with SW release of travel dates (tho we have never flown on SW).

I like the farecompare. com website. It lets you know what has historically been typical for a particular routing. Then is subscribe to low fare alerts on both travelocity and orbitz. Then I keep checking back with each of these sites over and over, even after I book. I got the $117 fare 3 weeks after I booked at $195, so I had to pay an atypical $25 change fee, bringing the total cost to $142.

We usually book directly with the airline because we collect FF miles and are particular about equipment and routing. Also, my husband suffers from FOC (fear of coach), so I need to find a way to upgrade to FC before I book.

Best of luck -- Suzanne

 

[goaliewife]

Suzanne - thanks for your advice.

We are in the central valley and can fly out of Sacto, SFO, Oakland, San Jose, whichever offers the best times and price. Sometimes Sacto is higher but it is closer to us obviously, but we don't mind driving to the Bay Area and doing a park and fly deal either.

Wow, 115.00 was a great price. I have been looking since I booked our stay at SSR and prices have ranged from 252.00 to 302.00, so I will keep checking and I will definitely put your web site in my favorites and check their compare fares also.

I think that I am going to develop the FOC syndrome also, would love an upgrade to FC some time. Have never flown FC, but that would be the best ever upgrade.

Thanks again for your help.