Flights & theme park timing

[EsmeraldaX]

I'm just wondering how far in advance do you all make your flight arrangements and how important the hours are to you at the parks on your arrival/departure days.

I'm looking for a non stop Boston MA or Manchester NH flight to Florida, preferably arriving in FL before noon on Thursday Dec 2 and leaving FL Sunday Dec 5th , preferably after 7 (can be non stop but doesn't have to be on the way back).

I guess I am just a little stunned that there is only one flight I have found that fits this. I think it was on American Airlines. It leaves Boston at 7:48 AM and leaves FL at 7:30 PM. $203 (I think) for round trip per person. This is a lot more than I had planned on spending since 2 or 4 people told me, assured me we'd be able to find $99 - $150 flights, no problem.

We'd be willing to pay the $200 if we had no other choice (although if we have to pay more than that, we've decided it's not really worth the $$ for the short amount of time we'd be getting). The only problem with this 7:48 AM flight is my boyfriend does not want to leave for Boston (we live an hour away from Boston) so early unless we stay Weds night in the airport hotel & pay to leave our car there , which I'm expected to pay for, since he'd actually prefer we just fly out later on Thurs and lose a day of our vacation. He's getting annoyed with me because he hates being part of the planning and rather left it at "Do whatever you want and just tell me what I owe". I don't really mind paying for the airport hotel since he'll be paying for the rental car and the costs for both will be around $150. I've decided I'm just not even going to discuss the plans with him anymore since he apparently does not care one way or the other.

The way I see it, we're paying for 3 nights / 4 days and I want to get as much out of it as possible. But he is insisting if we wait a few months more flights will open up. Problem is, if they don't , or if they do and they are ridiculously expensive then waiting may make me lose out on THIS flight which has perfect timing and isn't too much $$ (Is it?)

So , if it were you, would you take the $200 7:48 AM / 7:30 PM return flight & deal with paying $150 or so to stay at the airport the night before?

OR would you wait in hopes of finding a cheaper nonstop flight a little bit later?

OR lastly, would you just lose the entire day of Thursday and arrive later on whatever you could get?

 

[arizonacolbys]

We usually get an AP, so we love to go to the parks the minute after we check into the resort. We also usually head to a park on our departure day, too. Some of this depends on what type of park tickets you'll have.

We fly out of Cleveland (once a year for the last 4 years) - always non-stop. My tickets have ranged from $185 - $230. I've never found a non-stop flight for less than $150 out of my area. I always target $200 for our flights. I'd rather pay an extra $20 for a non-stop & get there hours earlier. We like to get an early morning flight to MCO & then a later afternoon flight home from MCO. HTH!

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I really, really want to get there early. My gut instinct is to say the $$ doesn't matter. But I know it should. The whole point of a quick weekend trip was to have 2 days. But it seems so silly because we're paying for the UPH 4 days/3 nights. We opted for that because we want to pop into PI each night for the Adventurers Club and check out Disney Quest.

Originally we were going to work a 1/2 day on Thursday and leave in the afternoon, but all the afternoon flights get us there so late there doesn't even seem to be a point in going on Thurs. We might as well wait for Fri morning if we're going to do that.

I'm just shocked there are not more flights. I feel like we have one choice and if we don't grab it now we'll be stuck with bad flights

Is it really just too early?

 

[goofy4tink]

I would be overjoyed with that flight time out and the fare!! We aren't leaving until 8:45 am and we're paying $215 r/t pp. I have never been able to book a flight for any closer to $200 than what I am paying now. So, that being said....we'll check in around noon and off to the parks we go. Then for our flight home, it's at 8:10 pm. So, we'll stay at the parks until after lunch on our last day. We also will have APs so that helps.

 

[DizBelle]

Ok, my option isn't really one of the choices you gave. I would rather not leave so early and check-in at the hotel isn't officially until 3pm and I like to get my bags settled before I head to the park. So, I like to leave a little later so that my arrival at the hotel is around 1pm (I've never had a problem checking in at this time). This means a flight out of Houston around 9 am which is reasonable. BUT, if that were not available and I had a choice of 7am flight or 1 pm flight, I'd take the 7 am. I don't want to lose time at WDW.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Originally posted by goofy4tink
I would be overjoyed with that flight time out and the fare!! We aren't leaving until 8:45 am and we're paying $215 r/t pp. I have never been able to book a flight for any closer to $200 than what I am paying now. So, that being said....we'll check in around noon and off to the parks we go. Then for our flight home, it's at 8:10 pm. So, we'll stay at the parks until after lunch on our last day. We also will have APs so that helps.

Those sound like great flights you got! How far in advance did you book?

My BF keeps telling me in a few months there will be more flights but maybe because I like to plan way ahead that just seems odd to me. I'd think the best flights would be out now.

 

[tjmw2727]

If you only have that amount of time then in my experience the AA flight for just about $200 is a good deal. We fly from Logan to MCO and until Jet Blue started that was our flight of choice.

We just started flying Jet Blue and its a bit cheaper and offers 3 choices of non-stop flights daily (out and back). Unfortunately they are only booking through October right now. The have a daily flight out at 6:30 am and a return flight at 5:25 pm. You book one way similar to Southwest and the one way fares range, 79, 94, and 114 so if your willing to wait you could get a better deal than AA. Its a risk though!

We loved the leather seats, extra leg room and tv's. I also found the staff much more accomodating than AA staff. AA seemed to always change equipment and our seats - a pain when traveling alone with two young children.

Anyway - if I only had the 4 days I would definately try for the earliest/latest flight.

Since I travel alone with my girls, I always opt for an extra night on each end - even if it means the value resorts. I like the mid afternoon flight out - relax and check-in with no parks the first day - 4 or 5 days at the parks and then a mid morning flight out on the last day - again no parks. If your pressed for time then this may work but if you can get cheaper flights and 1-2 extra days it may be a $$ wash.

TJ

 

[Chicago526]

I'm a travel agent and fly for free

Really, I get $1000 of free travel a year, so I have to make every dollar count, and still need to find cheap flights. I'm in Chicago, and the lowest I've paid is about $150 (about 4 years ago), the highest around $250 (last May).

The thing everyone needs to understand about airline tickets is that the fares fluctuate all the time. One year you may get a ticket for $175, the next year it can be $325, there is no way to predict what a fare for a particular city will be at any given time.

For the OP, if I had to guess, I'd say book it NOW. Fuel prices are supossed to skyrocket, and if they do, the airlines will have to raise their prices. It's not going to get any better, and the fare you found really is about average for that market. Spend the money, and get the most out of the parks. Remember, "cheap" and "value" do not mean the same thing! It's a value to get the most out of the money you spend. It's cheap to miss half your vacation to save $50 a person. Unless you seriously do not HAVE the money, just go for it and have a great time!

Good Luck!

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Originally posted by Chicago526
For the OP, if I had to guess, I'd say book it NOW. Fuel prices are supossed to skyrocket, and if they do, the airlines will have to raise their prices. It's not going to get any better, and the fare you found really is about average for that market. Spend the money, and get the most out of the parks. Remember, "cheap" and "value" do not mean the same thing! It's a value to get the most out of the money you spend. It's cheap to miss half your vacation to save $50 a person. Unless you seriously do not HAVE the money, just go for it and have a great time!

Good Luck!

You know, thats a great point. I'd never even considered the gas prices, but that is a great point to keep in mind. I really think I'll feel better if I just book these flights.

I will have to wait a week or two until my next payday (or I could just put the tickets on a credit card). Do you think waiting a week or two will make a difference on this particular flight?

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

Did you check Southwest? I usually fly out of Manchester and Southwest is the only airline at that airport that does non-stop to Orlando. You have to go straight to the airlines website to find fares though. I heard Delta Song is great. One thing to keep in mind: the longer the stay, the less you pay.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Originally posted by DisneyAddict_M
Did you check Southwest? I usually fly out of Manchester and Southwest is the only airline at that airport that does non-stop to Orlando. You have to go straight to the airlines website to find fares though. I heard Delta Song is great. One thing to keep in mind: the longer the stay, the less you pay.

I know. Unfortunately my BF has very little vacation time at our job. We just got back from a 10 day trip offsite a few weeks ago. I have a week more vcation than he does, so I have to keep that in perspective. To me , spending extra days at WDW is great, to him, it's the end of his vacation and he thinks its very early in the year to have his 2004 vacation spent.

I checked Southwest & Song but Song didnt have any good return flights and Southwest didnt have Dec flights listed yet. Do they typically have early departures and late returns?

 

[IndyDisneyFan]

I guess I am lucky because we usually fly ATA non-stop for around $150 or less with two flights daily to choose from. Here is what I do when I have specific dates in mind, I log onto Travelocity a couple of times a day and check the rates. Like for us right now it is cheap through September 30. We are going in November, so I just keep waiting for them to drop. The moment that they do, I go onto the ATA website($5 cheaper per ticket) and book my flights. I keep checking the flights to make sure they aren't getting too full. This has always worked for me.

Laura

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Originally posted by IndyDisneyFan
I guess I am lucky because we usually fly ATA non-stop for around $150 or less with two flights daily to choose from. Here is what I do when I have specific dates in mind, I log onto Travelocity a couple of times a day and check the rates. Like for us right now it is cheap through September 30. We are going in November, so I just keep waiting for them to drop. The moment that they do, I go onto the ATA website($5 cheaper per ticket) and book my flights. I keep checking the flights to make sure they aren't getting too full. This has always worked for me.

Laura

What is the ATA website? I'll definately check it out.

Sheri

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

About Southwest's early departures and late returns:

I never flew Southwest to Orlando, but I'm flying to Baltimore next month on Southwest and the earliest flight they had was around 7 a.m. Or are you looking for earlier? I'm not sure about their return flights. Unfortunately, they only book about 4 months in advance.

 

[cindy21494]

I usually pay around $200.00 pp out of the Philadelphia airport. We try to grab the 8:10 am flight, its a two hour drive just to get to the airport. I read somewhere that the best prices are around 4 to 7 months out. I keep checking almost daily. For our next trip in May, I kept checking and the flight I wanted went from $320.00 pp to $178.00 pp (not including their fees).

Good Luck.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I just had another idea. What do you all think of this?

I found that there are more late evning flights on the Wednesday night. We'd get to Orlando around 11 PM or so. We won't have any checked bags so it isn't a long time at the airport. We will however need to rent a car. Can you even pick up a rental car that late?

Then we'd stay in a cheap motel (I've seen them as low as $40) in Orlando that night and have the whole day Thursday...

I just found a good flight on Delta Song that leaves Boston at 8:10 pm and comes back from FL at 8:10 also...

I won't have the $$ to book anything for a few weeks though, but it seems like the flights on Weds night are better.

hmmmm....something to think about. I will just feel so much better when this part is over and done with.

 

[PatriciaH]

The air this year stinks. I am a travel agent too and there is not a lot of choice and the prices are much higher than in past years. I have people coming in looking for scheduled air packages leaving in a few days. I feel like saying are you kidding? Flights are gone for October already. I grabbed Jet Blue a few weeks ago- we had a $50 credit each from a delayed flight in February so it came to $165 each. Your flights and price are good.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Originally posted by PatriciaH
The air this year stinks. I am a travel agent too and there is not a lot of choice and the prices are much higher than in past years. I have people coming in looking for scheduled air packages leaving in a few days. I feel like saying are you kidding? Flights are gone for October already. I grabbed Jet Blue a few weeks ago- we had a $50 credit each from a delayed flight in February so it came to $165 each. Your flights and price are good.

Thanks. I am just hoping that these flights will still be available in a few weeks when I have the $$ to pay for them.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I was just going to suggest that you go the evening before and stay in a cheap hotel in Orlando. Doesn't make sense to spend a lot to stay near the airport back home when Orlando is waiting for you.

T&B

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Originally posted by Tigger&Belle
I was just going to suggest that you go the evening before and stay in a cheap hotel in Orlando. Doesn't make sense to spend a lot to stay near the airport back home when Orlando is waiting for you.

T&B

I can't belive I didn't think of it before. I told my BF and he was like...wow...why did we not even think of that?

There are so many more flight options the night before, and it doesn't feel like we're losing any time because all we're doing that night is checking in somewhere and sleeping.

Do you know if we would be able to pick up our car rental that late?