Flights to WDW in Feb out of DTW?

[Dawson's Mom]

Has anyone been able to get a good deal out of Detroit to WDW for Feb. 2013? I keep lurking, but the flights are still in the $300 range, ouch! It seems like there are no deals from Detroit, they seem to know that we so need to get away from the snow! Does anyone have ideas on how to save $, thought about driving, but with a 2 and 4 year old I really don't want too Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[Sandi]

If you're trying to go around Presidents' Weekend, the fares will be higher because that's when everyone wants to travel. The old law of supply and demand.

If you have flexibility with your dates in February, I just did a quick Orbitz search and found flights in early to mid February at under $200.

 

[scbelleatheart]

I found early Feb for $188 to $224 on ITA.

 

[bear_mom]

I don't know if alternate airports are an option for you, but I just checked Airtran out of Flint and there were flights $110/each way in early Feb, depending on the day. Detroit was $170/each way for the same days.

Emily

 

[MommaSnowwhite]

I'm sorry to say that $300 out of DTW isn't a bad price. It depends on when you are looking, but airfare is expensive. Sometimes deals come along, but not as often as the past.

 

[Dawson's Mom]

Thanks for the feedback, we are planning to go early Feb. We may look into flying out of Flint, its about the same distance to DTW. I will also look into ITA too. Thanks again!

 

[bearloch]

I used to fly out of flint al the time SOOOOOO nice and quiet there very clean, friendly!!! good luck

 

[HoosierDaddy71]

If you are planning on renting a car, you may want to look at flying into Tampa. I found tickets for about $100 per person cheaper from Indy to Tampa than Orlando and they were mid-mourning nonstop flights too. Tampa to WDW is about 1 1/2 hours drive time, so about an extra hour compared to MCO to WDW, depending on traffic.

 

[adventure_woman]

We are in Kzoo and are flying out of Midway (which I know is a drive for you). Southwest has their direct flights for about $116 each way.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Has anyone been able to get a good deal out of Detroit to WDW for Feb. 2013? I keep lurking, but the flights are still in the $300 range, ouch! It seems like there are no deals from Detroit, they seem to know that we so need to get away from the snow! Does anyone have ideas on how to save $, thought about driving, but with a 2 and 4 year old I really don't want too Thanks for any suggestions!

My mom flies out of DTW and for our dates in March she is also getting 300-400 depending on the airline. I am getting 232 for March dates flying out of Chicago Midway which is our home airport.

 

[mjlewis23]

As a frequent traveler between DTW and MCO or DTW and TPA, I can tell you that right now is wayyyyyy too early to be looking at February. The prices right now are still very hiked up. My sister lives in Tampa, so I book trips to or from Florida every couple months. I *refuse* to pay more than $220 round trip. Here are some tips on getting the best fare out of DTW:

1) Look for flights on a Tuesday or Wednesday. The prices are cheaper those days, and that's the days the sales come out usually. By the time Friday rolls around, prices are typically $30-$50 more expensive.

2) Book direct with the airlines and stalk their websites. Sign up for emails. Delta, Airtran, and Spirit fly direct out of DTW to MCO. Only Delta and Spirit fly direct out of DTW to TPA. I don't like connections, but Southwest offers a fairly cheap option that stops in BNA (Nashville).

3) Flint is a very good alternative if you are close.

4) Wait until a couple months out to book, the prices are usually lower.

5) Consider booking one-ways. Sometimes you will save $ that way.

Hope this helps!

 

[Colleen27]

I'm sorry to say that $300 out of DTW isn't a bad price. It depends on when you are looking, but airfare is expensive. Sometimes deals come along, but not as often as the past.

Wow, I couldn't disagree more. The most I've ever paid for DTW to MCO is $220, and that was for inflexible dates around a holiday weekend (Memorial Day of this year). I'm still seeing under $200 fares on a regular basis if you can be flexible enough to travel mid-week.

Detroit is a market where the old 6-8 week rule of thumb holds pretty well. All but one of the trips in my sig have been out of Detroit Metro and even when I start stalking airfares 6+ months in advance I find the best prices around that 6-8 week mark. If you want to try Flint, on the other hand, you're better off booking further in advance because of the limited number of flights. By 6 weeks out you're already seeing "last minute" rates there and might not find any non-stop availability at all. We're roughly the same distance from both airports and have only gone out of Flint once, either because of higher fares there or lousy flight times.

ETA: I wouldn't even think about driving in Feb with two young kids. I did MLK weekend and Presidents Day weekend roadtrips in college and it can be quite an adventure... icy roads, snow so thick you decide to hang out at the rest stop for a few hours, etc. You could get lucky with decent weather the whole way but you could also find yourself having to roll with a bunch of unexpected stops and schedule changes, which would be much much harder with young children excited about their destination. I love road trips with my kids, even as babies/toddlers, but I plan those for times when we can be reasonably confident of good weather!