Flying to WDW

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Trying to decide when to book our flights, and with which airline.... so

1) How much do you pay per person to fly round trip to WDW?

2) What airline do you prefer?

3) What time do you prefer to land in Orlando?

4) If you found a good rate with airtran ($200 round trip inc. taxes), non stop, but it didnt land till 3:45pm would you still book it?

5) How far do you travel to get to your airport?

6) Would you travel 50 minutes to a smaller airport (closest airport is large and 20 min away) if you could get flights for $35 cheaper per person (4 people traveling)

7) If you have any experience with Airtrain into MCO I would love to hear about it!

THANKS

 

[mkladycasey]

Hi Allison,

Airline doesn't matter so much to me as price and time of day. For our upcoming trip I think I paid about $220 per person.

I prefer to land as early as possible. So for us, flying out at 6am gets us to Orlando about 11:30. It takes us about an hour to get to get to the airport from where we live, so we'll hit the road about 3am.

I did originally find a flight about $20 per person cheaper, but it didn't land until 5pm.

To decide which airport, I would also look at cost of parking. We could fly out of Boston (about 3 hours away) and save $50-$75 per person, but the cost of parking, tolls and transportation is a lot higher. I also like a shorter drive home when we get back!!

I started looking online for tickets about 6 months before we left, and bought them about 3 months ahead. I'm always nervous the prices will jump if I wait too long, and I like knowing they are paid for!!

The last time we went we flew airtran to MCO and it was fine. I've also used them a number of other times and never had any problems. This time around we got a good price with Delta.

One other thing - usually when I fly I find better prices online at websites like orbitz and travelocity. I changed banks this year and the total price for 5 tickets was over the transaction limit for my debit card, to my surprise a local travel agent was able to match the online price for me.

Good Luck! You're going to have a great time!

- Casey

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Thanks so much Casey!

 

[ollyg]

]

Trying to decide when to book our flights, and with which airline.... so

1) How much do you pay per person to fly round trip to WDW?
My upcoming trip was $92 R/T including taxes
2) What airline do you prefer?
Southwest
3) What time do you prefer to land in Orlando?early as possible. we are landing at 8:45 am

4) If you found a good rate with airtran ($200 round trip inc. taxes), non stop, but it didnt land till 3:45pm would you still book it? no

5) How far do you travel to get to your airport? about an hour

6) Would you travel 50 minutes to a smaller airport (closest airport is large and 20 min away) if you could get flights for $35 cheaper per person (4 people traveling) yes

7) If you have any experience with Airtrain into MCO I would love to hear about it!

THANKS

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

Trying to decide when to book our flights, and with which airline.... so

1) How much do you pay per person to fly round trip to WDW?

2) What airline do you prefer?

3) What time do you prefer to land in Orlando?

4) If you found a good rate with airtran ($200 round trip inc. taxes), non stop, but it didnt land till 3:45pm would you still book it?

5) How far do you travel to get to your airport?

6) Would you travel 50 minutes to a smaller airport (closest airport is large and 20 min away) if you could get flights for $35 cheaper per person (4 people traveling)

7) If you have any experience with Airtrain into MCO I would love to hear about it!

THANKS

We are a rare example and I'm a bargain shopper for airline tickets so don't expect to get deals like this everywhere. Also we are in Tennessee, no major airports nearby have a decent sized regional and 2 hour drive to a bigger regional.

1. We have paid anywhere from $41 RT w/ taxes and fees included to $120 RT w/ taxes and fees.

2. We prefer allegiant air. Business class seating for all, cheap fairs. Cust service is crap but I really don't need somone to be nice to me when I call, I just want a good deal.

3. I would prefer to arrive at noon or before but most of the time we fly in the evening and land between 7-10pm. I go for the cheapest flights.

4. If that's a good deal for you I probably would. We used to fly airtran and they are fine but we now know we can get better deals w/ allegiant. Airtran here (well 2 hour drive away) runs around $160-190 RT w/ taxes. 345 pm to me is a great arrival time.

5. Up to 2 hour car trip away. Our 'local' airport is about 30 min away. We prefer that one, but about 50%of the time we drive 2 hours to get better flight times or rates. They also offer daily flights to MCO where our local only offers 3 times a week.

6. Depends. Will you be paying to park at that other airport? That could negate any savings you are getting. If someone is dropping you off or you are parking for free I would drive that far to save $35 each.

7. We have flown airtran a few times to MCO, I don't think they are spectacular but they weren't awful. All I really look for is someone to fly the plane and land us safely. We don't fool with eating/drinking much on the plane and I'm not looking for customer service to coddle me in line to check in or boarding. I like allegiant better but my cheap flights could be skewing my view.

 

[dburg30]

Trying to decide when to book our flights, and with which airline.... so

1) How much do you pay per person to fly round trip to WDW? $100 pp one way is about the max, normally I get closer to $79-$89

2) What airline do you prefer? Southwest

3) What time do you prefer to land in Orlando? as early as possible

4) If you found a good rate with airtran ($200 round trip inc. taxes), non stop, but it didnt land till 3:45pm would you still book it? i wouldnt like it, but if that was the only way, i'd do it.

5) How far do you travel to get to your airport? 20 miles? maybe not that far

6) Would you travel 50 minutes to a smaller airport (closest airport is large and 20 min away) if you could get flights for $35 cheaper per person (4 people traveling) 50 minutes more or 50 minutes? would depend on the time of year, for $140, meh.. dont think I'd do it.

7) If you have any experience with Airtrain into MCO I would love to hear about it! I believe the most common thing would be 'expect flight time changes, dont be surprised if they change a non stop to a layover in atlanta' Those are the most common complaints I read on the transportation board.

THANKS

 

[Lillian Gracey]

1. This is my second time flying to DW, but I was only 9 the first time so I didn't do the buying. It's costing me and my boyfriend $219 each (including taxes). I can't find anything cheaper. :'(


2. I try to choose an airline at O'Hare because it's only 20 minutes from my house, but the prices are more expensive right now and some don't have that many flights. So, I have to deal with Midway, which is only about 40 minutes to an hour away on a good day. I'll be flying Southwest. I could fly Southwest there and another flight back, but it would be about $30 or so more expensive. My mom will be driving me and my boyfriend to Midway and she may pick us up so we don't have to worry about parking, but we have the option of taking the orange line to the blue line to the Rosemont stop (right by O'Hare) and she could pick us up from there.


3. I want to land as early as possible, so I want to take the earliest flight. The earliest flight is at 6:25 and we will be landing at 10:00am.


4. No, I wouldn't book that flight. I would much rather spend the extra 20 dollars to get there as early as possible.


5. If I go to O'hare, about 20 minutes. If I go to Midway, it's about 40 minutes to an hour.


6. That's what I'm doing. I'm traveling 20+ minutes further because the flights are cheaper.


7. Sorry, I don't.

 

[verlee]

We prefer to arrive early as possible but the non-stop and cost are the ultimate determining factors. Our last trip we did not arrive until 9:30pm. So 3:45 pm would be fine with us. We have flown with SW and Airtran. They were similar and woud take either again. The lowest cost we found was $63 each way. But I noticed that this Jan/ Feb 2011 they have flights of $57 each way. Too bad we are not headed back until Aug.
We travel 50 miles to get to a bigger airport with cheaper flights. We have an airport in our town but it is always way more expensive. If a flight savings was more then the $56 we pay for parking we would stay in town. It is all about the $$ We do not have any trouble driving an hour to get to the airport.

We used Airtran for our first flight, we had no idea where we were going at MCO. We had no problems what so ever. Dh and I were fist bumping because we were so suprised that everything went so smooth.

 

[LilRonGal]

1) How much do you pay per person to fly round trip to WDW?
Typically around the $210 mark.

2) What airline do you prefer?
Southwest.

3) What time do you prefer to land in Orlando?
As early as possible. I always book the first flight out.

4) If you found a good rate with airtran ($200 round trip inc. taxes), non stop, but it didnt land till 3:45pm would you still book it?
No. I hate Airtran.

5) How far do you travel to get to your airport?
I think about 18 miles, but time varies depending on mode and traffic. (Train vs. driving vs. cab, etc.)

6) Would you travel 50 minutes to a smaller airport (closest airport is large and 20 min away) if you could get flights for $35 cheaper per person (4 people traveling)
I have done it before, but for a larger savings.

7) If you have any experience with Airtrain into MCO I would love to hear about it!
N/A. I've only flown them to Atlanta and every time's been not so great.

Have fun and good luck!

 

[JMCDisneyBound]

Just booked our flights for end of April/first of May yesterday with Southwest from Louisville, nonstop ,$89 one way per person!!!

 

[MrsJD]

You People have it GOOD!!!

1) How much do you pay per person to fly round trip to WDW?

My flight this trip was $400.80 (my 5 nights/5day w? dining plan was only $436!)

2) What airline do you prefer?

The only one that will get me to MCO...Delta

3) What time do you prefer to land in Orlando?

I take the 6 am flight to get there at 12:40

4) If you found a good rate with airtran ($200 round trip inc. taxes), non stop, but it didnt land till 3:45pm would you still book it?

Probably

5) How far do you travel to get to your airport?

An hour and 15 minutes...to get there for a 6am flight...I leave at 4:00am!

6) Would you travel 50 minutes to a smaller airport (closest airport is large and 20 min away) if you could get flights for $35 cheaper per person (4 people traveling)

I have driven 3.5 hours to a larger airport to save money. It pays when you can save $150 per person for 3 people!

 

[danceintherain]

Cost and time first. Usually cost then time with no airline preference. I actually just booked airtran for November, because it was the cheapest. I could have gotten potentially "better" times through Southwest, but I would have paid almost $200 more (2 people), which is not worth it IMO. Both flights were nonstop, which would be the only thing I would pay a lot extra for.

Also, the way our trip is scheduled between other "events" we can't leave home until afternoon, and have to return fairly early in the day. It was either a shorter trip to disney or no disney at all.

 

[jettyspagetti]

For my two cents, if you are booking a package through disney check to see what their airfare deal is currently. It's usually pretty expensive but on occaison you can steal a deal. In sept 2007 we booked a package (free dining) and managed to get airfare for 3 and an infant in arms for $300 total. It was almost cheaper than driving for us. It turned out to take 8 hours with airline delays vs a 6 hour drive for us, unfortunately, but was still a great deal!

 

[SDSorority]

Trying to decide when to book our flights, and with which airline.... so

1) How much do you pay per person to fly round trip to WDW? We have averaged $120 per person

2) What airline do you prefer? Southwest!!! Hands down!

3) What time do you prefer to land in Orlando? As early as possible. Get me to those parks!!

4) If you found a good rate with airtran ($200 round trip inc. taxes), non stop, but it didnt land till 3:45pm would you still book it? I don't LOVE airtran, especially because they charge you to check bags and there's not a lot of room in the seating area... but that's not a bad deal. I'd still try southwest, though

5) How far do you travel to get to your airport? Down the street

6) Would you travel 50 minutes to a smaller airport (closest airport is large and 20 min away) if you could get flights for $35 cheaper per person (4 people traveling) Nope. I wouldn't see the value in going out of my way to drive (factor in gas money, parking money, gas for getting home... plus travel time

7) If you have any experience with Airtrain into MCO I would love to hear about it! ...blah Airtran. If I had to fly them, I would. I love southwest though, and since they're taking them over, they might get better. Customer service was fine...

THANKS

Hope that helps! My answers are in bold.

 

[Jaime4004]

Trying to decide when to book our flights, and with which airline.... so

1) How much do you pay per person to fly round trip to WDW?

2) What airline do you prefer?

3) What time do you prefer to land in Orlando?

4) If you found a good rate with airtran ($200 round trip inc. taxes), non stop, but it didnt land till 3:45pm would you still book it?

5) How far do you travel to get to your airport?

6) Would you travel 50 minutes to a smaller airport (closest airport is large and 20 min away) if you could get flights for $35 cheaper per person (4 people traveling)

7) If you have any experience with Airtrain into MCO I would love to hear about it!

THANKS

We generally pay about $200/pp including fees/taxes roundtrip. I book our vacation weeks around cheap flights.
So far, we have only flown SW for the past 6 or so years.
Seems like I'm the odd one out on this, but I prefer a late flight, after work, so we have the entire following day in FL. There is always a 5:30pm or 6:30pm, and it is usually the cheapest! We always go non-stop and it's about a 3 hr flight.
Our airport (Manchester, NH) is about 10mins away. I would fly out of Boston (about 50 mins away) for cheaper flights, but only if we were getting a ride there, otherwise it is not worth it to park.

 

[sam_gordon]

Trying to decide when to book our flights, and with which airline.... so

1) How much do you pay per person to fly round trip to WDW?

2) What airline do you prefer?

3) What time do you prefer to land in Orlando?

4) If you found a good rate with airtran ($200 round trip inc. taxes), non stop, but it didnt land till 3:45pm would you still book it?

5) How far do you travel to get to your airport?

6) Would you travel 50 minutes to a smaller airport (closest airport is large and 20 min away) if you could get flights for $35 cheaper per person (4 people traveling)

7) If you have any experience with Airtrain into MCO I would love to hear about it!

THANKS

1) $144-$225 RT
2) Delta
3) As early as possible, but price is a factor. The flight we're on for next year lands @ 10pm. BUT, we're staying with my parents for 3 days before heading to WDW, AND tickets were ~ $50/person cheaper (5 people)
4) If that's a good price (which is subjective), sure.
5) About 35 minute minutes
6) An extra 30 minutes to save $35/person? Depends on timing and parking fees
7) Can't help you.

 

[kristen584]

My trip in June was an airline disaster. I've flown USAir my entire life and have accumulated more than enough FF Miles to travel around the world a couple of times. Of course I'm never ever able to use those miles; no matter what dates I attempt to book they are ALWAYS "blackout" or "sold out".

I paid, get ready, $342 for RT airfare in June. My toddler's ticket was the same price as well, grand total: $684. I have never ever paid that much for a single ticket before and was sickened over the amount once I did purchase the tickets. In September 2008 I paid $138 for the same RT ticket.

I live in a small city and our "international" airport only operates "puddle jumpers" to a dozen larger cities, and the fact that I had to switch planes had a lot to do with the cost. I could definitely reduce the cost if I drove to the Philadelphia airport but a) I hate that airport with a passion and always connect through a different one if there's availability and b) The thought of long-term parking in Philly doesn't make me happy.

As I said before, I've always flown USAir but I'll be changing that with my next vacation. Never being able to use my FF Miles has definitely turned me off of them. Also, our flight from Scranton to Charlotte was delayed then canceled this past June. Things happen, I understand. They didn't have a pilot or crew available. The same exact thing happened on our return trip and I wound up spending the night at the airport with my 15-month-old because they refused to put us in a hotel.

All of that said, *phew*, I would definitely consider a later flight for the price you were quoted. I've never gone to a park on our arrival day and usually just head to DD for a nice dinner at Fulton's so flight times don't matter all that much to me.

Trying to decide when to book our flights, and with which airline.... so

1) How much do you pay per person to fly round trip to WDW?

2) What airline do you prefer?

3) What time do you prefer to land in Orlando?

4) If you found a good rate with airtran ($200 round trip inc. taxes), non stop, but it didnt land till 3:45pm would you still book it?

5) How far do you travel to get to your airport?

6) Would you travel 50 minutes to a smaller airport (closest airport is large and 20 min away) if you could get flights for $35 cheaper per person (4 people traveling)

7) If you have any experience with Airtrain into MCO I would love to hear about it!

THANKS

 

[TLinden16]

I'm going to move this to our transportation board.

 

[pigletto]

Trying to decide when to book our flights, and with which airline.... so

1) How much do you pay per person to fly round trip to WDW?
This trip was approximately 180 pp return.

2) What airline do you prefer?
jetblue or Southwest

3) What time do you prefer to land in Orlando?
As early as possible, though we had to get up at 3:30 am for our 6:45 flight and it kind of ruined us for the rest of the day. I'd prefer 8:30 or so next time

4) If you found a good rate with airtran ($200 round trip inc. taxes), non stop, but it didnt land till 3:45pm would you still book it?
Yes, but I might stay in a value my first night if the rest of my trip was at a mod or deluxe to save money on that first day.

5) How far do you travel to get to your airport?
About an hour.

6) Would you travel 50 minutes to a smaller airport (closest airport is large and 20 min away) if you could get flights for $35 cheaper per person (4 people traveling)

In a heartbeat. Smaller airport is a bonus too.

7) If you have any experience with Airtrain into MCO I would love to hear about it!
Can't help you there.
THANKS

 

[PSUGuy]

The focus is geting to MCO, capturing the first and last day, and not paying a lot. The last few trips we've driven to Philly, 2hr 10 mins away, in the dead of the night, parking at a service that drops you at the terminal, in order to catch a 7 am Airtran flight. We're on the ground by 9 - 9:30 am, Tiffany picks us right up, we do a grocery stop then on the the Boardwalk. I'm as you see me in the pic below when WS opens. We've been averaging under $200 per person, but I buy airfare as soon as a good rate is released.

Next March we've got a direct out of Allentown, Pa for $215 each at 5:43 pm, landing at 8:19. The advantage here is that I'll put in a half day at work, do a leisurely drive to ABE and I'll pick up a 4 star hotel in or near MCO for less than $50 on Priceline, did this twice, once I got the MCO Hyatt Regency for $38. Next morning we'll have an early pick up by Tiffany and drop our stuff at BoardWalk early enough to hit any park at rope drop, I'm thinking DHS as it will probably be ESPN Weekend then. It's all about not losing Disney Time to travel and not getting gouged. I've had nothing but good experiences with AT but I could say the same about JetBlue, USAir, Delta and Continental also.

Bill From PA

In the pat I've paid as much as $284 and as little as $135, I'd cringe at anything over $300 but I'd probably pony up.