Flying from Michigan - some questions

[lillykat]

I'm new to the Lansing, MI area (from NY) we are getting married in NY but will be leaving for the honeymoon from MI -

Ok - I have been looking for airfare - but I really don't know where to find the best deals - Since this is our honeymoon we want to get down there as early as possible and take a night flight back home at the end to allow for the most time in the parks. Most of the flights I see want to get us to orlando late in the afternoon/early evening and then return us to MI early in the morning!

I am not locked into flying from Lansing - In fact I often go from DTW since it is often much cheaper.

Can anyone tell me where we can get the best deals on airfare - is it true that Sprit is the ONLY airline that has direct flights to MCO?

What should I expect to spend per person (in other words what amount should I consider a good deal)?

Also - In addition to what airline I should check out - what airports are my best bet - DTW is only 1hr 20 mins - so I would like to stay to that distance or less if possible.

Can anyone help me?

 

[WDWBOB1]

Congratulations on your upcoming marriage, Lillykat! Having done a lot of searching for myself recently I found an economical flight that may work for you...a couple of things though. First this is a charter airline plus you'd have to drive down to Toledo to catch it. The airline is Transmeridian Air and the last time I looked at their internet rates, they were only in the $160s. That compares to Spirit's $400 range. I should mention this is for the 3rd week in March. Plus you could check airlines that fly out of Flint. Good Luck!!!

 

[bcvprincesses]

Good luck on your wedding

We are flying out of DTW on Spirit leaving in the AM and returning at night. I agree that you want to have the most time in the parks. We did this last year too. I checked the rates every day on Spirit and ATA and finally got a rate of $69 each way on Spirit (non-stop)

I have heard others that got great deals on ATA out of Flint but there were no deals when we are going. ATA did have one flight a day non-stop but I am not sure if they will still have it when you are going.

I hope you find a good rate I think you just have to check the websites every day to get the best rates

 

[lillykat]

Thank you I will keep my eye on spirt - they want 107 one way and 111 the other last I checked. So I will keep up with them.

Have people used them and had good experiences?

 

[WDWBOB1]

I've used Spirit many times and would not hesitate to use them again.

 

[gunthner]

We are flying out of Detroit on NWA and they fly direct and offer good deals. Sign up for Spirit email alerts and they will email you deals that they are offering.

 

[Beast fan]

I've flown out of DTW, FNT, and TOL. The only loyalties I have are to my flight schedule (when I want to go, how many/if any plane changes) and my wallet.

Personally, I like smaller airports, such as FNT and TOL. Long-term parking is MUCH closer at those than it is at DTW. With all of the luggage we bring (myself, DW, DS3 and DS5), I glady take a flight from either of those airports, if all it means is I have 1 silly plane-change.

Congratulations!

Dave

 

[Pinnie]

Congrats on your upcoming marriage.

Flying out of DTW is much easier than it used to be when they added the new NWA terminal and the new runway.

NWA flies non stop to MCO and offers flights in the morning, afternoon and evening.

Spirit and SWA also serve DTW, but fly out of the OLD terminal. SWA is usually the cheapest, but they offer NO direct flights. You may have a stopover at Midway (and not have to get off the plane) or you may have to change flights in St. Louis or Nashville.

Spirit offers a couple of non stops a day, but it is not as extensive a choice as NWA!

Best wishes
pin

 

[linny172]

Air Tran out of Flint has a daily non stop leaving Flint at 7:30 am and the non stop leaving MCO leaves at 7:30 pm they usually have pretty good prices too, There are lots of other flights too but they connect in Atlanta

 

[Ducky4Disney]

Hey, I'm from Lansing! I shouldn't be surprised with 55,000 DISers out there that one is in my hometown

When I was recently looking for flights for my grandma, I found out that flying out of Grand Rapids or Flint was cheaper. Most flights from LAN connect in DTW - so I thought that flying directly from DTW would be cheaper - not so. It was cheapest to drive to Grand Rapids and connect to DTW - go figure.

Also, I use orbitz.com to check for most of my flights. They have a comprehensive database that is supposed to be the most accurate and up to date.

Good luck with the longdistance wedding - I lived in Philly and got married in Lansing!

D4D

 

[tmeyer]

Try Flint Airtran has daily nonstop flights, and Northwest also just added nonstop flights. I am flying northwest in 2 weeks because it was cheaper 166RT I flew Airtran last June just so I could fly nonstop. tickets were about 180 but they have great times you leave flint early in the morning, and you fly back later in the evening. Hope this helps. Also Flint is only about 45 minutes away.

 

[Curly Q]

Hey I'm in Lansing too!!! We just flew non-stop out of Flint on AirTran and loved it!! Flint airport is only about 40 min. from here the airport is easy to get in and out and AirTran was wonderful. Non-stop should be around $400 total. We have flown Spirit out of DTW also, but Flint was much nicer. Also NWA has just added non-stop from Flint and Grand Rapids. Good Luck and CONGRATULATIONS!!

 

[lillykat]

Well after all of that we decided to go with Spirit because they had the best schedule and prices. 163$ before tax- total about $185pp and we get into MCO at 950am and leave MCO at 730pm so we get FULL FIRST AND LAST DAY YEAH!!!

Thank you for all of your help - We will have to fly to FLL in August so I will keep all of these rec's in mind for that trip! Your suggestions were SOOOOO helpful!

Thank you!

And wow it is great to see there are those here from lansing!

Now I can stop worrying about airfare and go back to worrying about finding a job

 

[Robinette]

lillycat, I've flown those same flight times with Spirit. We rent a car and after landing, getting our luggage, and picking out a car from the Emerald Isle, were at the resort checking in at about 11:15 am! Then off to the parks.
You have to get up early for that morning flight but you don't sleep anyway the night before you leave for Disney World!!!

Have a wonderful and relaxing honeymoon.

 

[wdisneelvr]

Just a note...please be careful with Spirit. I have read on prior posts (did a search on Spirit) that if there is a problem with the plane or weather related problems and your flight is delayed or cancelled you may have to wait for the next flight out and sometimes that is the only flight for the day. It could take a whole day for another flight out or to get back to your original destination. I have thought of flying out of Myrtle Beach to Detroit to see family in Mi but they only have one flight out daily and I needed to be sure to get there and back on the dates I wanted to travel.

Congrats on your upcoming wedding!

 

[bcvprincesses]

Last year when we flew Spirit we had a 3 hour snow delay. We were one of the first flights to leave once it was all cleared. I have never heard of any problems with delays. We have flown Spirit many times with no problems