How to get good deals on airfair? Dinning plan at disney ??

[nathaliabrown]

We are going to Disney next Thanksgiving...YAY!! Havnt been in a while. This might be our last big trip with the whole family for awhile. There will be 6 of us going. Me, DH , DD15 , DD 6 , DS 8 , and grandma. We want to fly because we drove last time with the 6 of us in the car from San Antonio Tx...and we were miserable. We are planning on leaving either Fri-Fri or Sat-Sat. I can only go during this time as I work for family and do not get much vacation and we will be closed for 3 days because of Thanksgiving so we are able to go and spend a week there.

How do we get the best air fair deals? I priced it out for this thanksgiving and it looks like it would be around $2500. IS there anyway to get it cheaper?

We are staying on site on the family All stars and doing dinning. Debating on doing delux dinning..is it worth it? Or should we just stick with Dinning Plus?

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

We personally think the regular dining plan is plenty of food. If however you plan to do signature dining it may be better to do deluxe since they use 2 credits.


In regards to airfare, southwest doesn't have rates out yet for your dates so definitely check those when they release. They have free bags and no charge for changes to your flights. I also read another person suggest buying tickets individually is cheaper than buying as a group. I have never tried this but it could be worth checking into. (Also may only be applicable to south west).

 

[Marionnette]

We are going to Disney next Thanksgiving...YAY!! Havnt been in a while. This might be our last big trip with the whole family for awhile. There will be 6 of us going. Me, DH , DD15 , DD 6 , DS 8 , and grandma. We want to fly because we drove last time with the 6 of us in the car from San Antonio Tx...and we were miserable. We are planning on leaving either Fri-Fri or Sat-Sat. I can only go during this time as I work for family and do not get much vacation and we will be closed for 3 days because of Thanksgiving so we are able to go and spend a week there.

How do we get the best air fair deals? I priced it out for this thanksgiving and it looks like it would be around $2500. IS there anyway to get it cheaper?

We are staying on site on the family All stars and doing dinning. Debating on doing delux dinning..is it worth it? Or should we just stick with Dinning Plus?

Cheap holiday airfare is an oxymoron. Thanksgiving is the most-traveled holiday in the United States. The airlines know this and know that they can fill planes without having to discount their prices too much.

When you search for airfare, look for 1 or 2 people at a time. Sometimes there may only be one cheap seat left on a flight and if you're searching for 6 people, it's not even going to appear in your search.

Choose off hours, flying either very early in the morning or very late at night.

Use award travel to cover some of your flights, if at all possible.

Be prepared to pull the trigger as soon as an acceptable price comes up. If you wait, someone else is going to get it.

As far as the dining plans are concerned, I don't feel that they are a cost-saver unless you are getting it for free and are filling that rack-rate Disney room with adults and "juniors". You're better off paying OOP for your meals in most instances.

 

[johde]

I also read another person suggest buying tickets individually is cheaper than buying as a group. I have never tried this but it could be worth checking into. (Also may only be applicable to south west).

I have seen that happen before on Southwest and AirTran, even before they merged with Southwest. It seems to happen because there are a limited number of tickets at a given price. If there are 4 tickets left at that price and you ask for 6 tickets, they all get charged the higher price.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I agree that for Thanksgiving 2014 travel, you aren't getting any airfare bargains. The legacy airlines will release their fares for that time period in late December/early January. Start checking then and jump if you see a good price. You'll be waiting quite a long time for the discount carriers to release fares for next Thanksgiving.

I think any of the dining plans are a waste of money.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

Thanksgiving airfare is going to be a challenge. Troll all the websites...and often. Right now, at least for United, 2014 dates are only up to September right now. Sign up for travel alerts. A rule of thumb my friend has, if she finds airfare ever in the $300 range, she buys it. Know what you're comfortable spending so when a rate comes up you can jump on it. I just saw on the news last night that airlines are now going to add MORE seating on the planes. Unbelievable. We'll be packed in like sardines. But, of course, no word that fares would go down.
As far as Disney Dining Plan, we don't do it. I know some people swear about the savings, but I don't see it. My husband can't be bothered with it, always says he wants to eat where, when and what he wants to.

 

[ljhmom]

We went last Thanksgiving, I bought our tickets from Southwest the day fares were released we paid around $200 each for a round trip ticket.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

You've gotten some good info on air fares, so I'll weigh in on the dining plan part. The regular DDP (one TS, one CS, one snack) is enough unless you want to do a lot of signature meals, plus a breakfast buffet every day. As far as the DDP being a good value, it depends on who is in your party. If you have 2 kids under 9, that can help make it at least break even, but if your kids don't want to eat off the kids' menu (and my oldest did not by age 8) it's not worth it. I think you'd come out ahead by paying OOP for food, but if you just want the convenience of having it pre-paid, just accept that it won't necessarily be a "good deal" to do so. Menus with pricing are available online (I use AllEars.net) and you can do the math to see what you think you'd pay OOP as opposed to getting the DDP.

 

[mm1971]

We are going to Disney next Thanksgiving...YAY!! Havnt been in a while. This might be our last big trip with the whole family for awhile. There will be 6 of us going. Me, DH , DD15 , DD 6 , DS 8 , and grandma. We want to fly because we drove last time with the 6 of us in the car from San Antonio Tx...and we were miserable. We are planning on leaving either Fri-Fri or Sat-Sat. I can only go during this time as I work for family and do not get much vacation and we will be closed for 3 days because of Thanksgiving so we are able to go and spend a week there.

How do we get the best air fair deals? I priced it out for this thanksgiving and it looks like it would be around $2500. IS there anyway to get it cheaper?

We are staying on site on the family All stars and doing dinning. Debating on doing delux dinning..is it worth it? Or should we just stick with Dinning Plus?

It will be difficult to get any deals on flights around Thanksgiving. The planes are all full and everyone is scrambling to get somewhere. The only suggestion would be to keep an eye on the airlines and try to book as soon as they open up. Other than that, try the old standby.....Book on a Tuesday or Wednesday. The theory is that those are the days prices are lowest. You may also want to check Sun-Sun if that is a possibility.

The regular DP should be OK, there is a lot of food and we actually shared some meals. The only exception as others have said is if you do a lot of signature/character meals. If that's the case, I would price them out and see if paying for 1 or 2 OOP is less expensive than upgrading.

Holiday travel really is the most expensive time and deals are hard to find. Good luck!

 

[Fortune1211]

You need to wait until everyone has their fares released. We actually leave ON thanksgiving and get great rates AND enjoy short lines at the airport! We're flying into MCO from PIT and ours were right around $200 and I booked them the day they came out and just check weekly for lower. That hasn't happened