Having a GRAND time - The Official GF Chat Thread PART 2

[tinklvr64]

Hey Gals...catching up while watching AI

Kristin~ glad you are back..cant wait to hear all the details

Kelly~ we MISSED you last night! Thought it might be the Celtics

Chan and Vanessa~boy are you right about AA....their flights are way more expensive than anyone else...Ohare or Midway?? and now they are going to charge for bags I know where they can shove their $15 and its not pretty.

Leslie~I can say anything about AA i used to work for them at O'hare!

That cake looks like our Jewel made it...not very special

 

[vbarry]

I am going to wait until SWA comes out in June. We usually fly Airtran out of Bloomington and I have enough points to get one round trip ticket with them but may save it for our next trip.

I am spoiled with my resort airline check-in. I do not think the participate but for a large savings I will carry my own dang bags

I was expecting $300 but nothing like $500-1000 per ticket.


All I know that a Xmas trip is pretty expensive. Good thing I do not do this every year

 

[vbarry]

Welcome back Kristan!

 

[tinklvr64]

Vanessa~I keep checking everyday to see when SW will release their fares...DH said he will not fly airtran..cause they used to be valuejet..but they actually got a really good rating and newer planes. Still not biting though!!!!
I really like the resort checkin but not for $350 extra I sooo agree!

 

[Lives4Disney]

i never had resort check in so I don't know what i;m missing but honestly I don't think i care. I am fine. the bags go down with bell services, then in the limo, get out on the curb, sky cabs take them - we;re checked in and done & headed for security. Not ever a hassle.

I don't like the sound of Airtran.

I used to fly AA exclusively, but then discovered how easy Midway is and the great rates and service of SWA so they are my faves.

Today I was messing around with my flights AGAIN and I now have a $130 credit for later use. The flight costs dropped!! Out of the blue and I got lucky. Still waiting for more price decreases. I love that also about SWA...you can switch your flight times/dates around so easily without any penalties of fees. I have moved mine around about 4 times so far. Right now I have us flying into MCO on July 2 and home July 12. I think I am set with that unless I get a great Ding and move dates up or back.

AI was great! I missed the first hour because I forgot. I am glad David C won.

 

[vbarry]

Channing~ I did not know about SWA and the change deal. I think I have had to change almost every flight we have taken for some reason or another.

I need to look into this. If the price goes down you also get a credit???

 

[vbarry]

Channing~ I got my outfits from Scraps from heaven or whatever it is called. Very cute!!

 

[Alicnwondrln]

Good Morning ladies!

 

[lovemy2boys]

How does that work? We booked our flights with Southwest and now the flights have decreased in price significantly. How can I change it?

 

[Lives4Disney]

Channing~ I did not know about SWA and the change deal. I think I have had to change almost every flight we have taken for some reason or another.

I need to look into this. If the price goes down you also get a credit???

YES! You get a credit you can use within a year. SUPER DEAL and super easy!! No fees or penalties.

Channing~ I got my outfits from Scraps from heaven or whatever it is called. Very cute!!

Great! What did you order?? I hd some issues with her thin elastic, but over all I liked the look of the outfits.

Good Morning ladies!

Hey, Kel!

How does that work? We booked our flights with Southwest and now the flights have decreased in price significantly. How can I change it?

I go to "Travel Tools" and click "Change flight" or something like that that says CHANGE....You have to make SURE before you hit CHANGE that the flight you do want is open or you might be SOL. Then you choose your NEW flight - and it takes the money from the old flight and uses that and then you're left w/a credit. You have one year to use that credit. It can be applied to any future travel within one year.

Now, if you want to take the exact same flight time/date etc but the rate has changed, I always use two screens. I have my NEW flight almost booked...then I cancel the old flight and go through with the rest of the booking of the new one.(just to make sure you don't miss out on the filght...I never cancel until I have the new flight selected and SWA has let me choose that new flight/rate) At the names/payment page it will let you apply travel credits - use the credits from the fight you just cancelled on the other screen. And the leftovers will remain in your account and you will use them the same way (apply travel funds/credits whatever it says) on booking a new flight.

It is SUPER EASY and I've done it almost every trip, haha, because I am so wishy washy about dates/times etc.

 

[arbonnette]

I am going to wait until SWA comes out in June. We usually fly Airtran out of Bloomington and I have enough points to get one round trip ticket with them but may save it for our next trip.

I am spoiled with my resort airline check-in. I do not think the participate but for a large savings I will carry my own dang bags

I was expecting $300 but nothing like $500-1000 per ticket.


All I know that a Xmas trip is pretty expensive. Good thing I do not do this every year

SWA does not participate in the resort airline check-in, but for us, it is the only airline with a direct flight from New Orleans to MCO, so we deal with it. Plus, it's the cheapest.

Channing, by the way, I had NO IDEA it was so easy to change your SWA flights. I always thought I would have to call, deal with someone, blah, blah, blah ... This is very good to know!!!

 

[Lives4Disney]

Andrea, I always book SWA online and it makes changing anything super easy online with their Travel Tools. Usually I do the two screen thing, but for the past two changes I've made (lol) on this trip, I used the Change Flight option and then all the names etc are automatically filled in and they just automatically take/use the money from the flight you are modifying.

It is a breeze! The first time I did it I was nervous...what if I totally messed up etc??@?!?! I have changed almost all my flights and it's been so convenient. I almost always have to call SE and change my dates with them.

Channing

 

[irisbud]

I just checked SWA for flights (of course they aren't out to our Jan dates yet, but just wanted to get an idea). Wow, they were way cheaper than AA on the dates I checked. Odd, because our last two trips (STL to MCO) they were way higher and I had just sort of discounted them.

Vanessa, we were looking at $154 each way PP on AA for direct STL to MCO in mid-late January. Did you search by price and schedule? Or are they just charging that much more over X-mas. I know at one point our flight for the two of us RT would have been (hold onto something) $3200 in coach! This year, at almost the same time, we paid $400 all together for the SAME THING!!!

 

[Alicnwondrln]

I dont know if anyone books AIRTRAN but they had a good sale going on yesterday.

 

[arbonnette]

I will never understand the pricing in the airline industry.
We would probably fly Delta (although not our fav. airline due to bad experiences with European flights), but here's the catch. They only offer a one way from New Orleans to Orlando every day, BUT there is only a return flight from MCO to New Orleans on Sundays. Weird. Usually, we like to do 10 days, so that would not work for us. The resort airline check-in would be nice though. Esp. since we use the Magical Express bus ... I love how my family agrees to stay at the most expensive resort, but my dad has to take advantage of the free transportation.

 

[Tinkaroo]

Hey girls! I'm back! Fun trip, but exhausting! I think it will take days to get caught up!!

Kristin

PS: I just read above about American... WTH is wrong with the airlines??? AA's airfare is so much higher than everyone elses and now they are doing this?? I smell a bankruptcy....

Welcome home, Kristin!

Kristin, welcome back! Glad it was a fun trip!!! Can't wait to hear more.


Hey...guys...OK I jsut got an email that somebody posted on the cake thread.... Here is the cake...done by the GF Bakery and deliverd to Citricos.... OK....I hope they liked it and were happy with it but if it were me I'd be disappointed. That looks like a regular old grocery store cake, doesn't it? Not even as nice as some. What is UP with that GF Bakery?!??!? I bet they hired a bunch of nobodys to fill all these cake orders ...just generic people with no training to do basic cakes and just FILL THE ORDERS... I haven't attempted to get anywhere with my cool Mad Hatter cake request. I just am not in the mood for dealing with it.

Yes, it's sad what the GF bakery is putting out as of late. If I hadn't been extra specific with my requests for my mom's cake, I'm sure this is what I would have received (and even with all my suggestions, it's not like it was a cake that would blow anything out of the water).

I won't be ordering specialty cakes at WDW any more, that's for sure.

Hey ladies, don't be dissing American! DH is a pilot for AA!

I live in the DFW area, and know so many people that work for American in various capacities. My dad is also a 20-million+ mile passenger of theirs, and I've been flying them for years, too.

Needless to say, no one I know is happy with them right now. Their hometown news certainly isn't being kind to them, and IMO, they deserve what they sow.

i never had resort check in so I don't know what i;m missing but honestly I don't think i care. I am fine. the bags go down with bell services, then in the limo, get out on the curb, sky cabs take them - we;re checked in and done & headed for security. Not ever a hassle.

I don't like the sound of Airtran.

I used to fly AA exclusively, but then discovered how easy Midway is and the great rates and service of SWA so they are my faves.

Today I was messing around with my flights AGAIN and I now have a $130 credit for later use. The flight costs dropped!! Out of the blue and I got lucky. Still waiting for more price decreases. I love that also about SWA...you can switch your flight times/dates around so easily without any penalties of fees. I have moved mine around about 4 times so far. Right now I have us flying into MCO on July 2 and home July 12. I think I am set with that unless I get a great Ding and move dates up or back.

AI was great! I missed the first hour because I forgot. I am glad David C won.

Channing - you and I are alike in the airline game. Was a total AA loyalist, but once I started flying SWA, they sold me. They're so far above American and other legacy carriers iin so many ways, it's not even funny. We still have some restrictions on getting more non-stop flights out of Dallas (again, due to American crying their eyes out about "competition" back in the '70's - but that ban will be lifted in the next couple of years!), but to me, it's worth making that quick connection or stop, just not to have to put up with AA, and get treated better to boot.

We always have a rental car, but we just pull up to curbside check-in at MCO, give our bags to the skycap, and then one of us returns the car and the other waits in the terminal. Easy peasy. I would never wait in that line inside - it's insane!

 

[mandymommy4]

I am so glad we don't plan on flying anywhere anytime soon..... I could not imagine what it would cost for the 6 of us to fly. We are lucky that there is so much in FL to do like beaches and such that we can get away and feel like we have been on vacation without getting on a plane.

 

[johnsonet]

I hope the person who ordered that cake doesn't see it on this thread

It's almost like Disney is trying to get people to give up on the special order cakes. Maybe with all their wedding business they have more than they can handle and can't afford to spend hours on the phone and in the kitchen creating elaborate cakes for guests

 

[triplefigs]

Kelly, you around? I sent you an urgent PM.

 

[arbonnette]

We always have a rental car, but we just pull up to curbside check-in at MCO, give our bags to the skycap, and then one of us returns the car and the other waits in the terminal. Easy peasy. I would never wait in that line inside - it's insane!

Does SWA have curside check-in at MCO? We always use a skycap when we get off the ME bus at the airport, but they only bring our bags to the line and then we are left there to drag them through the line until we check in ...... It is always a big hassle to drag the bags through the line (I overpack) and it takes FOREVER. It seems like I am missing something here ...


I am anxious to hear how Kristin felt about POP!!!

It is raining here and DD is inside and driving me nuts.

- Andrea