Having an Airfare problem...

[Wendy5055]

I can't seem to find any dates in which airfare (from CT) won't cost as much or more than the stay at Disney WITH tickets & Meals!!!!!!!!!! I want to go sooooooo badly, but the airfare is killing me. Any suggestions anyone?

 

[katied]

It really depends on dates, etc. If you're too far out, then the airlines have not released their sale tickets yet. If you're too close to the trip, then the sale tickets have all been bought. I started watching airfare in Jan for our May trip. I was concerned because it starts over Memorial Day weekend. Prices were really high in Jan, but by late Feb, the airlines started having sale tickets - so original prices were about $280/person, and acutal price I paid was about $160/person.

I ended up booking on Southwest, because once I could get the tickets for $180/person, I bought them, and then when there was a better sale, I exchanged them for the lower cost tickets. I now have a credit on Southwest, which I know I'll use in the future (only good for 12 months).

So, if you have time, watch airfares and wait for some sales. If you watch a couple times a week, you should be able to catch a sale (normally released on Wednesdays, I think, so at least check every Wednesday).

 

[Matt'nMeg'sMom]

Try booking two different airline flights. For example --

First buy rRound trip tickets from La Guardia to DC/Atlanta/Charlotte or wherever.

Then buy round trip tickets on a different airline from DC/Atlanta/Charlotte/Pittsburg/whatever to Orlando or Tampa

We've had good luck doing that. The only downside: sometimes you cannot check luggage when you change airlines in that manner (meaning - you didn't book the flights within the same itinerary)

 

[MichelleinMaine]

Be as flexible as you can with dates (fly midweek or off season) or alternate airports (not knowing where in CT you are, but Boston, NYC, or Providence?)

It would be $700pp for us to fly. (Our dates are unfortuantely not flexibe.) We're going to drive. It's cheaper, not much more I can say but that, lol.

 

[Wendy5055]

We live in the North West corner of CT. Bradley Intl Airport would be our best option. We flew out of NY a couple of years ago, but for a 5 day/4 night trip it doesn't seem worth it.

I keep checking dates with SouthWest and I have been getting the airfare around $780. I am super flexible with dates, but nothing seems to help much.

 

[heartbeeps]

use www.kayak.com and/or www.mobissimo.com to compare multiple airlines. Also search Expedia.com, travelocity.com, and orbitz.com that might combine different carriers for each leg of your trip.

I also concur with the PP who said to expand your search zone from CT to include more airports even if it's more of a drive to get there. Sometimes, you can combine a hotel at the airport with parking. We did that on our last trip and the cost of the Holiday Inn Express WITH FREE PARKING AND FREE AIRPORT SHUTTLE was only $9 more than if we had gotten up at 4 in the morning and driven directly to the airport and parked at the economy lot.

And, of course, expand your dates to try all combinations (leave -1 day; return +1 day; leave 0day; return +1 day and so on). It takes time but it can be done; just leave no rock unturned.
Good luck.

 

[MichelleinMaine]

You can sign up on travelocity, etc for farewatcher alerts. I keep getting all sorts of them (most recently today on Expedia) for BOS-MCO under $200.

What are you looking at for a time to go?

 

[Aliceacc]

We're going from August 13-19th.

Jetblue has flights from JFK at $99 per person each way.

How does that work for you?

 

[luvmy3]

Are you close to White Plains NY, or Stewart(Newburgh NY)? We are flying out of Stewart in September fro $84 to Orlando, $79 back to Newburgh.

 

[Goofygirl17]

We also live in CT and are flying Southwest out of Islip Long Island. It saved us about $1000 from flying on Southwest out of Providence or Hartford. It will take us about 1 1/2 hours to get there but that's worth it to me! I got flights for $99 down and $134 back. I actually paid $143 for the flight down but kept checking and got a credit by rebooking when it went down. It is now up to $164 or something.

Hope you find something reasonable.
Goofygirl17

 

[mybabesuz]

Sign up for Southwest DING...
They had $53 one way tickets Hartford to Orlando
last week. I think they were just for May though...
I have also seen $68 flights Tuesday - Thursday.
Just not far enough out for me.
We haven't booked yet but REALLY want to go in Sept.
Hoping for FREE DINING TOO.
Not sure if we want to go SW. Because they are not
a participating ME airline. Would have to take luggage with us
on the bus with two toddlers and two strollers.
Still hoping for Delta reduced flights. Paid $136 RT each last Sept.
Waited until July to Buy.
Left on a Sat. afternoon came home Thurs. night.
Southwest's new schedule comes out April 17th from
what others have said.

 

[SoonipiLady]

We live in the North West corner of CT. Bradley Intl Airport would be our best option. We flew out of NY a couple of years ago, but for a 5 day/4 night trip it doesn't seem worth it.

I keep checking dates with SouthWest and I have been getting the airfare around $780. I am super flexible with dates, but nothing seems to help much.

Two years ago we flew out of Albany, because their school vacation breaks are different from ours. The difference in airfare from MHT and ALB was over $1000.00 for the four of us. The way I look at it, the shorter the trip, the MORE worth it is to travel a bit for a flight. We've also flown out of BDL, which is a few hours away from us for the same reason.

 

[mickeyluvr004]

check USAIR we live in ct also my son and his friends are going to travel out of laquardia in sept and they got tickets i beleive on Smartfares.com and got them for 137 each round trip I am not thrilled about the hour and a half 2 hour trip but for 4 of them they are saving over 500 dollars so can't beat that we are driving Good luck try all the airlines in bradley and check smartfares usair advertised on their website for 284 each r/t

 

[so_are_you]

run your through here but hit to search the whole month http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/prego;jsessionid=4BC13CA63EE2F6CEDE1D1A881A9B210B

 

[collcass]

Also try searching other airports. there are so many to choose from. If you are in the litchfield area, what about newburg or even Newark. we are flying from Newark in July. we paid $960 for 6 of us.To me it is worth the drive.

I have NEVER gotten good rates out of BDL.

 

[LoveMyDisneyCats]

So if I book southwest and then rebook when a better fare becomes available, I do that how? Do I cancel my ressie online and then just rebook online using that credit or do I call them and just have them do it. I would hate to lose a good price if I screwed it up. It'd be my luck that then I'd end up with a new fare that is three times as much!

I have two SW free tickets for our June trip but would like to not spend as much on the other two as I would have in the past for all four (and currently that it how it's looking!). Currently, two tickets from chicago on our dates are $700 roughly and I usually spend $700-$800 for four!

 

[Sheaboys]

Download DING from the Southwest website. They have offers all the time from Bradley to Orlando or Tampa, approx. prices range $49 each way to $89 each way. Also, look into Providence, course that maybe a haul, but the flight times are different and the prices are little lower too.

 

[mikehn]

Generally, if you fly on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, outbound and inbound, you'll get the lowest fares. If you fly any other days, you will be paying higher fares. However, there may be tradeoffs to flying midweek, so you'll have to work the variables and see what works best for you as a package.

 

[vcunning]

There is a new no-frills airline flying out of Chicopee, MA (Westover AFB). It's called Skybus. My brother has taken them a number of times. They don't fly to Orlando, but they do fly to St. Augustine (about a 2 hour drive to Disney). It looks like they're starting this route up in the summer. It's non-stop. I saw a bunch of $45 one-way fares. They do offer 10 $10 fares on every flight, but you have to snag them when they first become available.

Check out the details on their website or Wikipedia. They do have a different business model (for example, they charge for the first bag).

I've also had more luck with fares from Bradley to Tampa, instead of Orlando. If you're renting a car, I don't find the driving distance much more on a long trip, especially if I can grab a non-stop flight directly to Tampa. I'd rather drive an extra 40 minutes or so than connect planes.

 

[Aliceacc]

I was talking to someone the other day at the Dentist's office.

She ended up booking a flight out of DC-- she'll make the 4 hour drive and fly the rest of the way.

For her dates it seemed to make the best sense.

There's also the Autotrain if you're willing to drive to the DC area.