Flying from New Orleans to Orlando

[Kallie724]

This is my first time flying to the World. We aren't driving because it's a 12 hour drive with 3 ladies and 1 child...yeah it won't work...lol

Anyway I was checking into flights and OMG I couldn't believe how expensive they were. To fly from New Orleans to Orlando roundtrip for one person is $300! I guess I wasn't expecting it to be that high. That's what I paid for my flight round trip to Chicago.

Is a normal price or should I expect it to go down some? I need help

 

[mrsdrake625]

Try the bing.com flights predictor, and look at kayak and southwest. Just keep checking back. Bing has a thing that at least tellsyou that the price may go up or down, and it's not guaranteed but it is at least helpful.

Southwest will also refund the difference if the price goes down, you can call them. They give it to you in the form of credit towards a future flight within a year.

Hope this helps! Btw that's not a horrible price. Did you try looking at nearby airports, or Jax? Jax has direct flights to MCO.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

That seems about right to me. I rarely find flights less than $300pp these days, and I often find them much higher.

 

[wdwjeffc37]

We flew from New Orleans in May 2013 and the flights on Southwest were $137.00 each way($247 round trip per person). About $500 dollars for two of us. It was about the same in Dec. 2011($1000.00 for four of us). I just started looking for flights in 2014 and Southwest is higher than that now. I would say that $300.00 is about the best you are going to find. Keep checking. The other airlines can come close to Southwest but if you have to pay bag fees it pushes the price higher. If you can pack in just carry-ons it works. Southwest also has non-stop flights. Other airlines with flights around that price go to Houston, Atlanta, or ever Miami! If I can keep airfare around $250.00 per person I'm good. If it goes much higher we will think about driving. 12-13 hours with a stop in Gainesville, FL. But flying and the Magical Express are so nice. It may be worth a little more. Whatever works for you!

 

[Nanny2004]

We flew out of New Orleans in February 2013, and our tickets were $262 round trip per person. We had purchased these tickets 3 months in advance. When we had looked about 6 months out they were closer to $300 but we didn't know if my DD would be able to take vacation time yet, so we held off. It worked out well, but it sure was nerve racking waiting those three months.

We purchased tickets out of New Orleans for our May 2014 trip just last month and got them for $242 per person round trip. (I told my family that if i found tickets anywhere near the $250 mark, I was jumping on it.) The next week they had already gone up $93 per person. They do tend to fluctuate up and down.

 

[wysteria]

Its about 9 hours from NO->Orlando, and about 12 hours NO->Chicago

If the flights are too much, you could always stop halfway, spend the night and do something fun, like stop at Florida Caverns State Park and see the caves (Marianna, FL is about halfway).

 

[nedac]

I am paying $210 per person. Still beats driving... Ive done it many times, flying is a small price to pay.

 

[Kallie724]

Yeah we are going to fly but I was hoping we could get by a little bit cheaper. We've always drove and broke it up in two days on our way there but on our way back we just drive straight through.

I'm excited about flying and when you ask my daughter if she wants to go back to Disney she'll tell you "Only if we fly" She's not a fan of the long drive.

 

[nedac]

We usually break it up, drive to Lake City on Friday night, stop at the Cabot Lodge Hotel for a low rate and a decent breakfast, then drive to Orlando in the morning. We are usually in the parks by noon.

When we had our little girl, we decided to fly for her first trip in February. 12 hours in the car with a 5 month old wasnt my idea of vacation. We are flying again in October... now my wife and my boys dont want to drive again. Really, neither do I, but 5 plane tickets are going to be expensive once she turns 2, so looks like we might start driving again next year.

 

[Kallie724]

Lake City is where we stopped in March and it was great. Like you said in the parks by noon.

I think we are going to fly. I want nonstop and Southwest is the only airline that does it, so our options are limited. We are going to book today.

 

[Southernswthrt]

We fly NOLA to MCO all the time. The absolute cheapest you will see is $198 pp RT (and that was with a sale they had a month or so ago). I have paid as high as $320 pp RT for times like Mardi Gras. $230-$260 is about the average price for NOLA to MCO. You have to check rates constantly because they fluctuate all the time.

Lately, we have been flying in to Tampa to save some $$$/points. Flights can be as much as half the price of a RT to MCO. I paid $98 pp RT for December! The drive time is really only about 45 min to an hour difference. I would drive from NOLA to Baton Rouge in a heartbeat to save hundreds of dollars.

If you do book at a higher rate and the fare drops, rebook and get a credit. This is really only useful if you fly more than once a year. Otherwise wait until it drops to the $250 range to book.

There is also the option of taking advantage of the SW VISA card - 50K points will get you several free round trip fares to MCO.

I will never drive it...not a fan of being in a car that long. Good luck and have fun!

 

[nedac]

We fly into Tampa in Feb from BTR and rented an SUV for $238. I booked southwest this time, NO to Tampa with plans to rent a car again. After a couple of really good sales, I was able to accrue a credit of $324. Knowing I might not use it, I looked up the cost to fly into MCO instead and not rent a car.... coincidentally, the cost difference to fly into MCO was exactly $324! So I switched, and guaranteed myself the savings (by not spending $200+ on a car).

Quick question for anyone familiar with Southwest... we book my daughter as a lap child. I was told by more than one person at southwest that if the plane isnt full, we can put her in her carseat... I dont want to drag the car seat with us if I dont need to, but if there is an opening on the plane, I will. Is it possible to call the day of and see if the plane is full or really close to it? I have a feeling it will be, but, just in case.

 

[purplekicks]

Quick question for anyone familiar with Southwest... we book my daughter as a lap child. I was told by more than one person at southwest that if the plane isnt full, we can put her in her carseat... I dont want to drag the car seat with us if I dont need to, but if there is an opening on the plane, I will. Is it possible to call the day of and see if the plane is full or really close to it? I have a feeling it will be, but, just in case.

I have flown alone with my infant twins on SW a few times and I always call the morning of and ask. If its more than 10 seats open I bring both car seats and they have always allowed me to put both in seats. Worse case scenario is that they have more standbys and have to gate check the second seat but that hasn't happened so far.

 

[Southernswthrt]

What we usually do is book Tampa for around $180 pp or less, then when the fares drop to MCO to something within reason, we change the flights to MCO. I would expect another really good sale in the fall.

Either way, it works. The drive from Tampa to Orlando is not bad at all - interstate all the way. If you are accustomed to a long commute for work or frequently travel between NOLA and BTR, it shouldn't bother you much.

Just a suggestion for those of you looking to save some $$$!

We usually stay offsite so we will rent a car anyways. Once I had my own car the first time on a Disney trip, I swore I would never ride a DT bus again! But each person has their own preference, which is cool