Flying on the east coast... is this possible?

[mshanson3121]

We drove to FL this past summer because DH is scared of flying, but also because flying was much cheaper than driving for our family of 4. However, the children desperately want to fly, and I certainly am all in favor of arriving in Orlando after a few hours, instead of 28 hours (3 days) of driving. However, in order for it to be affordable, we can't pay any more than $200 round trip, per person.

Is this possible flying from ME, NH or MA in mid-June? If so, what airline would offer the best deal, and when would I want to book it? (thinking ahead to June 2017). Is it better to wait for last minute sales? Or are seats cheapest when they first open up?

 

[DisCatGirl]

I have seen southwest flights in the area of $200 rt to MCO out of both Portland, ME and Manchester, NH. Usually not peak times (very late in the evening or very early in the morning). Keep checking. Good luck.

 

[Joan S.]

Hi, If you would consider flying out of Rhode Island,PVD to MCO is around 200$. (off peak times) But late day to fly into Orlando and early day flight back to Providence may work for you since you will have to drive some too. I would say check as soon as flights come out for June that MAY be your best price,since many families wait for school to be done to take vacation. Joan

 

[Yellowjj]

Boston will be your option here. Multiple carriers fighting for market share = cheap prices. I'm seeing $157 up to June on Jetblue, so just wait a few months. You should be able to get a ticket with enough leftover for one bag free. (If not on Southwest).

 

[alliecat523]

Like many said, the cheapest flights will typically be late night or early morning. It's worth it though!!

 

[klmrph]

Also check Frontier and Allegiant (flys to Sanford though) or sometimes it's cheaper to fly into Tampa.

 

[strat68]

You can see all the airfares (but Southwest and Jet Blue, might be a few more) here: hipmunk.com or expedia.com. That way you don't have to surf all the airline sites. Then book directly with an airline.

 

[JessM]

I think in June you'll have to look at BOS, PVD or MHT. Rates out of PWM (Portland, ME) seem to go up sharply over the summer (it's my home airport). I would try looking at JetBlue or SW out of Boston. Just keep in mind that the parking rates are higher in Boston than MHT or PWM. I've also found some good deals on Delta and United.

Check the SW website and Hipmunk to compare the other airlines. Hipmunk is great because you can search for multiple airports and airlines at once.

 

[JBeaty0507]

Allegiant flies from Portsmouth, NH to Orlando (Sanford), which is not the airport that Disney will pick you up at. Therefore, you would need to rent a car. That being said, we've made the flight from Chattanooga to Sanford many times and never been disappointed. You have to know what you're getting into (note: you will pay for any extra you could ever want), yet we still usually come out cheaper even after paying to pick our seat and check one bag (even though we get free checked bags on Delta). You may have to fly on odd days, but we've had it work for us in the past. It may be worth looking into! Chattanooga doesn't have Southwest flights and that's our closest airport and is much easier on us than driving to Atlanta for a flight. Also, we enjoy the fact that there is no layover. It's a direct flight there and therefore, our bags have never gotten lost! Good luck!

 

[mshanson3121]

Allegiant flies from Portsmouth, NH to Orlando (Sanford), which is not the airport that Disney will pick you up at. Therefore, you would need to rent a car. That being said, we've made the flight from Chattanooga to Sanford many times and never been disappointed. You have to know what you're getting into (note: you will pay for any extra you could ever want), yet we still usually come out cheaper even after paying to pick our seat and check one bag (even though we get free checked bags on Delta). You may have to fly on odd days, but we've had it work for us in the past. It may be worth looking into! Chattanooga doesn't have Southwest flights and that's our closest airport and is much easier on us than driving to Atlanta for a flight. Also, we enjoy the fact that there is no layover. It's a direct flight there and therefore, our bags have never gotten lost! Good luck!

This isn't such a big deal, we stay off site anyways, so we'd be renting a car. But car rentals are a LOT more expensive at Sanford than Orlando, almost double the price in summer On the plus side, if we flew Allegiant, they fly from Bangor, ME which would be much closer for us.

 

[mshanson3121]

The nice thing about Portsmouth is they have free parking, which saves $100+ easily.

 

[JBeaty0507]

This isn't such a big deal, we stay off site anyways, so we'd be renting a car. But car rentals are a LOT more expensive at Sanford than Orlando, almost double the price in summer On the plus side, if we flew Allegiant, they fly from Bangor, ME which would be much closer for us.

I always check hotwire periodically for deals on rental cars. Lots of times they'll tell you what company they got the quote from and you can still rent directly through the car rental company, it just compiles all the rates for you. One time, we flew into Tampa and flew out of Sanford based solely on the fact that we could get a rental mini van for 8 days for $100....but if we picked it up in Sanford and dropped it off at Sanford it was $1200!!!! From the same company!! It's not that much longer of a drive from Tampa, so we've actually flew in there twice, but we almost always leave out of Sanford. This trip we're actually flying Delta into Orlando International because we just happened upon a good deal. We feel so fancy!