Help Me Think Straight! Re: Flight planning

[kristenrice]

Oy! I am having serious trouble wrapping my head around my best plan of attack for our WDW trip next year. Right now, we are booked at AKV for April 30-May 5 because we are hoping to do the Expedition Everest Challenge. Originally, the plan was for the whole family to participate (me, DH, DD11 and DD9), but now DD11 says she doesn't want to do the race. So, since we were going to take her out of school specifically for the race, and since DH was really only going along because I was "forcing" him, it may end up being just DD9 and myself.

...but if DD11 changes her mind...

Getting to my question...we have about 25K SWA points and three possible airports available. I know that if all four of us go, I will only have points for (hopefully) 4 one-way tickets (or 2 R/T) on SWA. I know that name changes are not allowed so I need to be careful with my booking. Here are the things I have to consider...

1) Outbound airport: We are about 10 minutes from GRR, 1.5 hours from FNT and 2 hours from DTW. If we fly out of DTW or FNT, we will book a hotel in the area the night before. We have only flown out of GRR once so the park and fly option is not a hassle for us. It really depends on the prices, which are usually about double out of GRR.

2) Return airport: This is where we may have an issue. We are returning on Tuesday and the kids will need to be in school on Wednesday. This means that we can either a) take an early flight into FNT or DTW and have another 2 hours to drive home, or b) fly into GRR as long as the flight arrives before 9pm. The issue with option B is that there are generally no afternoon flights. They are either 8am departures or 11pm arrivals

3) If I book myself and DD9 round-trip tickets on points with SWA, then if it ends up being just the two of us, I won't be out any cash expense. OTOH, if I book DH and DD11 on points, then I can cancel theirs without a problem if they decide not to come along. In addition, I am the only one with a RR account (obviously I can change that) so I am the only one that will accrue points if I buy my ticket with cash.

4) I've also looked at Delta out of DTW for either leg. They have non-stop flights that are around $130 which is within my budget, but since they are non-refundable, I have to be sure of my plans.

Right now, I am about 99% certain that I will buy at least MY ticket on SWA with cash. That way, if everything falls through, I could still have a credit which I could use for a birthday trip next October. I am also leaning towards using points for DH because he is the least likely person to use a credit if this trip falls through. Is that a good idea?

We usually have at least 11 months in between trips and since we just returned from our 2014 trip, I am scrambling to save up for another trip in less than 6 months. Our next planned family trip isn't until June 2016 so any airfare credits that we may end up with would expire before we could use them.

Any and all suggestions are welcome. SWA opens their schedule for me on Monday and I have found that the tickets have always been the cheapest (out of GRR and FNT) on the day they open. They have NEVER gone down...usually they go up within a few days and never drop back to their original price.

 

[sam_gordon]

Oy! I am having serious trouble wrapping my head around my best plan of attack for our WDW trip next year. Right now, we are booked at AKV for April 30-May 5 because we are hoping to do the Expedition Everest Challenge. Originally, the plan was for the whole family to participate (me, DH, DD11 and DD9), but now DD11 says she doesn't want to do the race. So, since we were going to take her out of school specifically for the race, and since DH was really only going along because I was "forcing" him, it may end up being just DD9 and myself.

...but if DD11 changes her mind...

Getting to my question...we have about 25K SWA points and three possible airports available. I know that if all four of us go, I will only have points for (hopefully) 4 one-way tickets (or 2 R/T) on SWA. I know that name changes are not allowed so I need to be careful with my booking. Here are the things I have to consider...

1) Outbound airport: We are about 10 minutes from GRR, 1.5 hours from FNT and 2 hours from DTW. If we fly out of DTW or FNT, we will book a hotel in the area the night before. We have only flown out of GRR once so the park and fly option is not a hassle for us. It really depends on the prices, which are usually about double out of GRR.

2) Return airport: This is where we may have an issue. We are returning on Tuesday and the kids will need to be in school on Wednesday. This means that we can either a) take an early flight into FNT or DTW and have another 2 hours to drive home, or b) fly into GRR as long as the flight arrives before 9pm. The issue with option B is that there are generally no afternoon flights. They are either 8am departures or 11pm arrivals

3) If I book myself and DD9 round-trip tickets on points with SWA, then if it ends up being just the two of us, I won't be out any cash expense. OTOH, if I book DH and DD11 on points, then I can cancel theirs without a problem if they decide not to come along. In addition, I am the only one with a RR account (obviously I can change that) so I am the only one that will accrue points if I buy my ticket with cash.

4) I've also looked at Delta out of DTW for either leg. They have non-stop flights that are around $130 which is within my budget, but since they are non-refundable, I have to be sure of my plans.

Right now, I am about 99% certain that I will buy at least MY ticket on SWA with cash. That way, if everything falls through, I could still have a credit which I could use for a birthday trip next October. I am also leaning towards using points for DH because he is the least likely person to use a credit if this trip falls through. Is that a good idea?

We usually have at least 11 months in between trips and since we just returned from our 2014 trip, I am scrambling to save up for another trip in less than 6 months. Our next planned family trip isn't until June 2016 so any airfare credits that we may end up with would expire before we could use them.

Any and all suggestions are welcome. SWA opens their schedule for me on Monday and I have found that the tickets have always been the cheapest (out of GRR and FNT) on the day they open. They have NEVER gone down...usually they go up within a few days and never drop back to their original price.

I think you're making this more complicated then what it needs to be. Here's what I'd do...

1) Tell DD11 she has a week to decide if she wants to go or not. You're fine either way, but when she makes her choice, that's it. DH knows if she doesn't go, he stays home.

2) Once DD makes her decision, get airfare that
A) Works on the time frame you need
B) Is the lowest cost (whether in points or $$)

If you don't DD11 to have that control, then you tell her you're all going and get tickets based on #2. She doesn't have to run, right?

Or, leave both kids home with DH (so they don't miss school) and you go run the race.