Flights from BC/Seattle to Orlando-best airlines to look at?

[visitingapril09]

Can anyone recommend the best airlines to look at for good prices from either Vancouver BC or Seattle Wa. To Orlando?

 

[c&m]

We love Alaska Air. We flew SEA-MCO for $139 each way last August. A very pleasant flight.

 

[aristocat65]

I agree with c&m. We usually fly Alaska out or Seattle. They are the only airline with a non-stop to Orlando. You can also fly them out of Vancouver and connect in Seattle or Portland (no airlines fly a nonstop from YVR to MCO) The prices out of Vancouver are occasionally not too much higher than from Seattle. Just depends if there is a seat sale or not. I would check both options.

 

[Sue M]

I've flown from Seattle-Orlando on United, Continental, Delta, AA, and SW. Fares from $250 - $300 RT, incl taxes. I have fare alerts for SW, and on Kayak.com so when I see a fare in this price range I grab it. Now airlines are charging for luggage, except SW.
Way cheaper flying out of Seattle. We drive down the day before and over-night at either a Marriott Springhill or Towne Place Suites in Renton/Kent. They let you leave your car parked for free, and take/pick you up from airport. If you have entertainment book you can get really good rates.

 

[bbangel]

Surprisingly for my upcoming trip in June the best price was Air Canada connecting through Montreal so don't limit your options. I have flown Alaska and United through Seattle. The flights that connect twice tend to be cheaper so watch what connections and airports they have you going through sometimes they are really tight connections and sometimes the airports are known for delays.

 

[aristocat65]

Surprisingly for my upcoming trip in June the best price was Air Canada connecting through Montreal so don't limit your options. I have flown Alaska and United through Seattle. The flights that connect twice tend to be cheaper so watch what connections and airports they have you going through sometimes they are really tight connections and sometimes the airports are known for delays.

Air Canada has some really great prices lately. We tend to avoid connecting in Toronto or Montreal because it makes the journey so much longer. If you collect miles though, you'll get more this way

I agree to watch out for connecting in the US. Allow at least 1.5 to 2 yours to connect (airlines will auto-book itineraries with as little as 45 minutes). The big hub airports (Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, etc) are HUGE. We connected in Dallas on AA and had 1 hour and 20 minutes and still had to RUN to catch the connection as we were delayed landing, and they changed the gate of the connecting flight to the other side of the airport. It also gives you a chance to get a snack as you probably won't get fed on the plane

If we have to connect somewhere (unavoidable out of Vancouver) we like Seattle best.

Good Luck

 

[squirrel]

The past two trips we flew with Air Tran to Orlando. We drove down to Seattle the night before in 2008 and stayed at a motel and did the Park n Fly. Then in 2009 we drove down the night before and did a late night flight to MCO. We had a layover in Atlanta and arrived at Orlando early in the morning. In 2009 we flew home with Southwest Airlines.

This year Air Tran did not have a red-eye flight. They also didn't have a great fare. I ended up booking with Delta return as it was cheaper than the non-direct flights.

We found the red-eye flights worked better for us.

 

[Craigdarroch]

Alaska is awesome! We fly with them pretty much exclusively. YVR/SEA/MCO.

We used to go out of SEA to save $$'s, but the convenience of flying out of YVR has just become worth the extra money.
The one tip here is, be sure to book your trip to Orlando out of YVR as soon as you have your dates picked, the earlier the better to get the best deals.

The other tip.... get an Alaska Airlines Mastercard. It's mile for dollar with their program and it adds up fast, plus you get one companion fare a year. Often times they have an initial sign-up bonus of 20,000 miles.

 

[aristocat65]

Alaska is awesome! We fly with them pretty much exclusively. YVR/SEA/MCO.

We used to go out of SEA to save $$'s, but the convenience of flying out of YVR has just become worth the extra money.
The one tip here is, be sure to book your trip to Orlando out of YVR as soon as you have your dates picked, the earlier the better to get the best deals.

The other tip.... get an Alaska Airlines Mastercard. It's mile for dollar with their program and it adds up fast, plus you get one companion fare a year. Often times they have an initial sign-up bonus of 20,000 miles.

I agree. The Alaska Airlines MC is great. The 20,000 sign up bonus is on again too.

 

[Demi_8]

Alaska Air sounds good and we will give it a try on our next trip. Went on a red-eye Westjet flight last time with a stopover in TO, and everything went smooth but it was a long drawn out trip not to mention exhausted by the time we got to DW (first trip and didn't know all our options at the time). Re the Alaska Air M/C, is it is the Platinum Plus or Preferred? Notice the Platinum Plus has a $75.00 annual fee with 25,000 bonus miles but the preferred has $45.00 annual fee with 3,000 bonus miles. If it is the Platinum Plus, is what you get worth the $75.00 annual fee?

 

[GrtWtNorth]

Alaska has the best schedule, and almost always the best rates. There are a couple Seattle-Orlando direct flights each day, as well as connecting flights to Vancouver and Kelowna.

Two notes of caution:
* Alaska Airlines staff do not see Magical Express luggage tags frequently enough to know what they are for. They have tried to cut ours off as we checked in.
* Earlier posts caution against connections in US airports. I'm the opposite and caution against connections in Canada. IMO, the hassle of claiming all your bags and going through the US luggage security screening in the connection airport is not worth the hassle, especially at YYZ, where US and domestic flights are in different terminals. At least by connecting in the US, you only have to look after your kids and your carry-on.

 

[visitingapril09]

Thanks everyone. We are a security nightmare! So going through security at the beginning of our trip and that is it would be optimal. Our son has a lot of medical equipment and medications etc that take us a long time to get through. We flew from Seattle to LA last April and did ok but security on the way home made us nearly miss our flight.

I will look into the mastercard option! Thanks!

 

[aristocat65]

Alaska Air sounds good and we will give it a try on our next trip. Went on a red-eye Westjet flight last time with a stopover in TO, and everything went smooth but it was a long drawn out trip not to mention exhausted by the time we got to DW (first trip and didn't know all our options at the time). Re the Alaska Air M/C, is it is the Platinum Plus or Preferred? Notice the Platinum Plus has a $75.00 annual fee with 25,000 bonus miles but the preferred has $45.00 annual fee with 3,000 bonus miles. If it is the Platinum Plus, is what you get worth the $75.00 annual fee?

It is the Platinum Plus that we have had. Before this card I didn't believe in paying a fee for one, but you absolutely get your $75 back in value. You get a companion ticket for $100 with the purchase of any other fare (used to be $50, but still it is a good deal). The 25,000 miles also is enough to get to Orlando on certain dates. Usually, it is 40,000 to Orlando now though, but you can use miles to get a reduced fare or book a one way with the miles and pay the return fare.

 

[GrtWtNorth]

Like all airline points programs, you have to pay taxes and fees for booking Alaska Airlines points flights. However, these fees are very low compared to Air Canada or AirMiles.

We're paying $75 in airport fees and taxes for my wife and I to use points for return flights between Kelowna and Orlando during food and wine festival. (The fees were nearly double that to book an Airmiles flight for one person between Kelowna and Vancouver.)

 

[crosscan]

Hi, first timer on the boards.

We go annually from Victoria. Agree with others about Alaska through Seattle. It is the shortest route. I've also flown thourgh Toronto on Air Canada when using points. It makes for a very long day that way although we sometimes stay over at the in-laws.

Returning through Seattle is way easier as you don't go through customs until Victoria so you don't have to do the get bags/give back bags/go through security routine en route.

 

[c&m]

Yeah, you really can't beat Alaska Air's non-stop flight from Seattle to Orlando. The travelling time is a little over half a day, and you can spend the next half at WDW!

We've done the other flights where we had to stop over. Those make for really long flight times and wasting hours sitting around at airports. We'd land in Orlando tired and exhausted from a full day of travelling. We'd rather spend our time at WDW!

 

[visitingapril09]

Hi, first timer on the boards.

We go annually from Victoria. Agree with others about Alaska through Seattle. It is the shortest route. I've also flown thourgh Toronto on Air Canada when using points. It makes for a very long day that way although we sometimes stay over at the in-laws.

Returning through Seattle is way easier as you don't go through customs until Victoria so you don't have to do the get bags/give back bags/go through security routine en route.

Welcome to the Disboards! I haven't posted around here a ton but do read a TON plus!!