How much did you pay for airfare?

[fourthirty]

Booked WestJet at ~$350 CAD pp for this coming December from YVR to MCO roundtrip.

My tip would be to use google.com/flights/explore and set the length of trip, location on the left. After that, you can use the bar graph on the right to get an idea of when the lower prices of flights are in the for the length of your trip. Keep in mind that the prices on the "Explore" site are in USD. From there, go to google.ca/flights (this is in CAD) and search using the dates you found on the Explore site. Of course, tweak as needed to make it work best for you!

Sidenote: the Explore site only works for up to 6 months in advance, though you are able to change the in the URL (example: https://www.google.com/flights/explore/#explore;f=YVR;t=MCO;li=3;lx=5;d=2017-03-17). This worked for me to find my tickets for this December, but, keep in mind that YMMV.

Good luck!

 

[jadephoenixx]

Going to Disney early April (YAY!) and we're flying out of Buffalo instead of Toronto Pearson. When researching flights, cheapest we found for 2 from Toronto was on AC Rouge for about $725-750. Southwest was $471, with the exchange $635, so we were going to just fly from Toronto. However, as I started the online booking, I was reminded about the fees...we've flown Rouge before and would never fly it without preferred seating so that's extra $$ plus $$ for checked luggage. When I added it up, I was paying an extra $300 or so in fees! Forget that! I booked Southwest with free checked bags. Bonus is that I booked our 3rd choice flight time originally and when the price for our preferred flight went down, I was able to switch without change fees. We have to pay for parking but we would have done that at Pearson too and I'll fill up on cheap U.S. gas before we head home.

ETA: We booked mid-Feb because we decided to change our vacation plans to get away to somewhere warm sooner. We typically book 8-10 months out so this was last minute for us

 

[hdrolfe]

We are going from Ottawa direct via Air Canada for $940 Aug 27 to Sep 3. It is now up to $1286. The day after I booked it went up to $1040. I know it's more than many people pay but kiddo will only fly direct now. We flew with one stop last year and it was $797 (flew United down and Air Canada home).

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

Just over $400 r/t pp last trip, October 2014
Our upcoming trip it is too much. It is $640 r/t per person. However, we had westjet $$ to use, so we decided that since the flights are so much $$$$ we just picked the flights we wanted.
We are doing direct YOW MCO Air Canada, returning MCO to YOW (yep. another Ottawa Dis'er!) on WestJet, direct at night. We are travelling over the Holidays at New Year's, so we expected a higher rate.

We found that WestJet round trip was more than the split fare. So while we didn't use all our westjet $$$, (can't redeem on taxes or seat selection) we paid about the same if we had used all the $$$ per person by splitting it...since...again, WestJet (outbound) was significantly more than Air Canada (about $120 more one way per person) . And got the flights we wanted. (I hope that makes sense. I don't think it does, it's Friday and I am tired. LOL

 

[Sailormoon2]

I hope that makes sense.

It actually does, and it's really good to know, since Westjet has the flight I want going down but not coming back, so I may definitely do two-1way tickets instead, and like you, pay for my one with WestJet $$.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

We paid 350 pp from Thunder Bay Ontario Jan 1 to 11 this year with AC. Which is a great price from here. All other times we drove to the US to fly out but this was significantly cheaper.

 

[Sailormoon2]

I'm going to throw this totally paranoid question here:

Since I have been stalking airline prices for my trip in January (2018) I have noticed Westjet listing the number of seats left. My ideal flight only has 2 seats left.
I'm wondering if this is literally 2 seats, or just 2 seats at that current price?

Since the typical advice is to wait to purchase airfare (which I have never done), do airlines add more flights? If this is actually 2 seats, by waiting I would lose out on the direct flight that I want.

 

[AngelDisney]

I'm going to throw this totally paranoid question here:

Since I have been stalking airline prices for my trip in January (2018) I have noticed Westjet listing the number of seats left. My ideal flight only has 2 seats left.
I'm wondering if this is literally 2 seats, or just 2 seats at that current price?

Since the typical advice is to wait to purchase airfare (which I have never done), do airlines add more flights? If this is actually 2 seats, by waiting I would lose out on the direct flight that I want.

It's the last two seats at the price shown. I grabbed two of the last four and the price has since been up by $122 pp.

I have been stalking my August flight since September. Westjet has not added any flight on the days of my interest while Air Canada has removed one.

 

[ccudmore]

Flew from Plattsburgh NY a few weeks ago for $USD74/person return taxes in on Spirit. Then had to pay another $50/person in baggage fees but it was still VERY cheap. Three hour drive from Ottawa was worth it for those prices. Flying again in May for about $85/person.

 

[James Yang]

Would you care to share?

Also, what time of the year did you travel to DW?

I'm looking at tickets for end of August and I have no idea what a good price is. I'll be flying from Ottawa.

Thanks!

I'm going at the end of August. Paid $1238 total for 4 people including tax with Delta. One layover.

I used Google flights to find and keep track prices for a few days and then pulled the trigger when I felt the price was low enough.

 

[jar311]

We paid $303 each for two people (including taxes and fees!) for round trip tickets from YVR (vancouver) to MCO on American Airlines from April 20th-30th. We have a brief 1 hour layover in Phoenix in both directions but it was by far the cheapest fares I found. In fact I was actually trying to book online for $399 but I kept getting "these seats are no longer available" even though I would redo the search over and over again and they kept coming up.

I ended up calling American Airlines and complaining and they found me an even better price. The taxes and fees ended up being almost exactly the same cost as the tickets themselves, I was pretty happy with that! Especially since when we worked out our budget for the trip we budgeted for $1200 in airfare for 2 people. Coming 50% under budget for airline tickets was amazing! We put that money towards a higher dining plan.

 

[morrik5]

It is nerve wracking indeed. Airfares also depend on which day of the week is the flight day. I will fly out of Toronto on a Saturday and return on a Sunday before Labour Day. Initially I am flying out on a Sunday as well but the airfare is high. So I decided to fly out late on a Saturday. Staying one more night at Royal Pacific Resort qualifies my hotel booking with more discount. So I actually save more money by flying in a day earlier with a late arrival and an extra night at RPR. My travel dates are fixed. If your dates are flexible, there may be seat sales from Air Canada on certain weekdays like Wednesdays and Thursdays.

I actually booked my flight separately this time, departure with Westjet and return with Air Canada. Westjet has only one flight returning to Toronto in the afternoon on the Sunday and it's expensive. I prefer the evening return flight from Air Canada so I can stay longer at the park on departure day. I had been checking since September and it had been at the same price. One day it shot up by $60 per person and back down the next day. I could not endure it anymore and thinking it's the last flight on the Sunday before Labour Day, many Torontonians will be flying back for school and late flights can be in high demand. So I bit the bullet and booked it. Since my bookings, Westjet has gone up by $121 pp and Air Canada has gone up by $70 pp. My dates are fixed and my flights are on the weekend, as a result I paid $575 pp return trip. However, comparing to what I paid in 2014 (late August to Labour Day weekend), it's about $150 pp cheaper. I booked during March Break at that time. This time I booked in January for Westjet and February for Air Canada. I only fly direct flights.

Have fun planning!

I too see direct flights from Toronto for the times I want in the $500's return. When young kids are involved 7 hours or so between layovers etc. are too long for them so we're only interested in direct flights that don't leave Toronto before 7 am or leave Orlando before 9 am.

 

[first time in forever]

Wow, thanks so much for the replies. I think I'll keep on watching for a better deal. My trip planning is going so well, finding a reasonable deal on flights would be awesome. That, and an ADR Sa'tuli canteen

 

[OhKenada]

We paid $303 each for two people (including taxes and fees!) for round trip tickets from YVR (vancouver) to MCO on American Airlines. We have a brief 1 hour layover in Phoenix in both directions but it was by far the cheapest fares I found. In fact I was actually trying to book online for $399 but I kept getting "these seats are no longer available" even though I would redo the search over and over again and they kept coming up.

I ended up calling American Airlines and complaining and they found me an even better price. The taxes and fees ended up being almost exactly the same cost as the tickets themselves, I was pretty happy with that! Especially since when we worked out our budget for the trip we budgeted for $1200 in airfare for 2 people. Coming 50% under budget for airline tickets was amazing! We put that money towards a higher dining plan.

The prices I've seen have been over $500 from YVR When are you flying if you don't mind me asking? We're planning to go in Oct.

 

[jar311]

The prices I've seen have been over $500 from YVR When are you flying if you don't mind me asking? We're planning to go in Oct.

We bought our tickets back in late January for our trip April 20th-30th when there were lots of tropical destination seat sales going on with various airlines. I've checked recently just to see and yeah I'm seeing all 5-600 dollar seats. Hopefully you'll get lucky and find a better deal!

 

[klk77]

I'm also feeling a bit freaked out over flights. We've flown out of Buffalo for past 5 years, as it's always been much cheaper than Pearson. I prefer to fly JetBlue, but we've also flown southwest. Nonstop flights, except for one trip. I've been tracking my preferred flights on google and every time I get an alert, it's because the price has climbed! Right now the one-way flights are more than I've ever paid for a return trip. I'm trying to remain calm, as I usually buy in Narch or April, but I'm getting worried. If I'd bought in December, it would have been at roughly half of what I'd pay today. Worried I've screwed up.... At these prices, my preferred flights may be out of the question. We're going August 18th to September 1.

 

[MegEliz]

The prices I've seen have been over $500 from YVR When are you flying if you don't mind me asking? We're planning to go in Oct.

Oh my goodness I know!! We are flying out of YVR the end of September and the tickets are way more that usual. Normally we pay about $350 pp and right now all decent flights (only 1 stop and short layovers) are $600+ we are going to wait another month or 2 to book. I've also been checking flights of Seattle. Normally they are a lot cheaper but for our dates it's only about $70 cheaper per ticket. Which isn't a big enough savings to warrant a 2.5 hour drive

 

[dakotix]

We usually fly Southwest. The past few years we have been lucky and haven't paid a dime. Southwest runs promotions offering 25,000 and sometimes 50,000 bonus points for signing up for their credit card. We also always book our arrival/ departure days to be mid-week (Tues-Thursday) which is the cheapest days to fly. Weekend travel rates can be twice that compared to mid-week.

 

[Sue M]

Oh my goodness I know!! We are flying out of YVR the end of September and the tickets are way more that usual. Normally we pay about $350 pp and right now all decent flights (only 1 stop and short layovers) are $600+ we are going to wait another month or 2 to book. I've also been checking flights of Seattle. Normally they are a lot cheaper but for our dates it's only about $70 cheaper per ticket. Which isn't a big enough savings to warrant a 2.5 hour drive

I am checking flights from YVR - MCO for late Nov. I prefer to fly Alaska for their direct from Seattle flights, and times. Early morning flight arrives late afternoon. And they have a 6:00ish flight home, so can still enjoy some park time our leaving day! Only have to fly Horizon to Seattle to get flight. Fares sure are up!!!
We used to drive to Seattle for cheaper fares, but as you noticed, it's not enough of a savings currently. We need an over night hotel that has park/fly rate and hotel rates have gone up too. So flying from YVR.

I've downloaded the Hopper App that tracks fares. This is my first time using so I'll see how it works.

 

[cdndisneymum]

We are Canadian and we fly out of Detroit, Michigan; with exchange, we are looking at just over 1000.00$ (CDN). Did I mention that is for two people?
I shop in the states on a weekly basis, so it is second nature to add 30-35% to everything.