IND to MCO

[enzy65]

I checked SW and they want over 800.00 rt for flights end of March, Frontier is about the same. Spirit flights aren’t available yet.
United and Delta are cheaper but not nonstop, I’ve only flown nonstop on SW and in the good old days, air Tran and delta express.
Do I just play the waiting game for SW to see if prices go down. I’m used to paying 300-600, I know prices have gone up but over 800.00 rt seems crazy high.
So what do all of you Hoosiers do to get to MCO??

 

[Eeyore daily]

My sister and her family mainly fly Southwest to go to MCO or TPA (Tampa). The good thing is if you book now you can "rebook" for the lower price and get the flight credit/refund. But yes they usually go down.

 

[Jasper&Bowie]

I just signed up for a price drop notification from my Capital One card for January flights from PHL to MCO. They had a notice on their page to not buy yet that they expect the price to drop.

 

[mickeybaby]

Flights have been so expensive and often canceled and delayed. We have driven the last two trips from Indy to Orlando. (The first time, not by choice as we were stranded due to an airline issue after a cruise).

It’s a long drive but we find it doable.

 

[sam_gordon]

I checked SW and they want over 800.00 rt for flights end of March, Frontier is about the same. Spirit flights aren’t available yet.
United and Delta are cheaper but not nonstop, I’ve only flown nonstop on SW and in the good old days, air Tran and delta express.
Do I just play the waiting game for SW to see if prices go down. I’m used to paying 300-600, I know prices have gone up but over 800.00 rt seems crazy high.
So what do all of you Hoosiers do to get to MCO??

The end of March is right at the mix of College and HS spring breaks. March 28-30 is also the regional weekend for March Madness and Indianapolis is one of the sites. I'm not surprised prices are high.

I would suggest also looking at Dayton, Fort Wayne, and Cincinnati, depending on what part of Indy you're on.

Also, you can use https://www.google.com/travel/flights/ and set up a "watch" for the days you want to travel.

FWIW, Delta also has "no change fees", so if the price drops, you can get e-credit for the difference.

 

[Ross Kratter]

You are WAY too early to be booking flights for March. Wait until January or so and you’ll start seeing more reasonable prices.

 

[sam_gordon]

You are WAY too early to be booking flights for March. Wait until January or so and you’ll start seeing more reasonable prices.

It's NEVER too early to start looking. ESPECIALLY for "busy" times (spring break, holidays, special events, etc).

ETA: If you're between 11-12 months from your trip, yea, too early, but even a year out, you can look for the comparable time for the current year and get an idea of how much tickets are going for.

 

[fly girl]

@sam_gordon pretty much nailed it. You are going at a very high peak time (spring break and March Madness in Indy). Like he said, keep tracking the flights and you can see how they are trending. He is also spot on with looking at nearby cities and they have nonstop out of CVG on Delta and Frontier.

Never too early to look, especially in high travel periods. I booked my Thanksgiving flights in April when I saw the rate go way down after watching. That was the lowest I have seen it since too.

Keep checking!

 

[JoJoGirl]

I would suggest also looking at Dayton, Fort Wayne, and Cincinnati, depending on what part of Indy you're on.

This is great advice.

Delta offers a number of reasonable nonstops between Cincinnati to Orlando, if you’re willing to make the drive. That airport has super easy access from the 275 South bypass as well. We live north of Dayton but frequently fly out of CVG for those reasons.

 

[mickeybaby]

Oh yes! This is great advice. I would also add to look at flights from Louisville in addition to what sam_gordon recommended.

 

[sam_gordon]

Oh yes! This is great advice. I would also add to look at flights from Louisville in addition to what sam_gordon recommended.

Ooh, forgot SDF! How did I do that?

 

[enzy65]

So I have my exact dates and started looking on SW this morning and boy are the prices sky high. Frontier is also very pricey. Not much choice for nonstop.
Waiting for my husband to get home to discuss, but thought I would ask you all your opinions on what I should do. I will say this is my first time ever having a problem with SW prices.
1. Book IND to MCO one way for 301. Wait to see if prices come down for
return trip. RT price as of today is almost 950 pp.
2. Drive to SDF to MCO RT 426 pp NS. This will be a 3 hour drive to airport.
3. Don’t do anything right now and just wait it out.

April 4-12 2025 going on a DCL cruise, flying in day before. Nonstop going because I don’t want the chance of the airline losing my luggage. Coming home I don’t care if there is a stop. Any other suggestions?? No I am not driving. Thanks for listening!!

 

[Rm4OneMore]

Earlier this morning we booked IND to MCO for the end of May. I think the tickets were $240/person with a departure time of 5:30ish. We could have waited for a flight at 8 or 9 AM, but the ticket prices were over $300. I have never done so myself before, but I know of one person who fly's Spirit or Frontier out of Evansville. They have one or two direct flights per day. I have also heard of people getting better discounts flying to Tampa, then driving to WDW or Port Canaveral. My mother has flown into SFB before and I think that was a direct flight. It was a couple of years ago but I can't recall which airline provided the direct flight.

 

[jimmymc]

Southwest flies nonstop from Louisville, Delta flies nonstop from Detroit, American, United, and Southwest all go from Chicago, depending on where in the state you are.

 

[enzy65]

Southwest flies nonstop from Louisville, Delta flies nonstop from Detroit, American, United, and Southwest all go from Chicago, depending on where in the state you are.

I checked midway(NS) this morning and it is pricier than going to Louisville, plus it’s straight down 65S so easier. We are in West Lafayette, Purdue area.

 

[Jasper&Bowie]

I have the Capital One Venture card and put my January flight dates in their flight checker. It notifies me every time the price changes and so far keeps telling me not to book yet because they expect the prices to drop.

 

[enzy65]

Earlier this morning we booked IND to MCO for the end of May. I think the tickets were $240/person with a departure time of 5:30ish. We could have waited for a flight at 8 or 9 AM, but the ticket prices were over $300. I have never done so myself before, but I know of one person who fly's Spirit or Frontier out of Evansville. They have one or two direct flights per day. I have also heard of people getting better discounts flying to Tampa, then driving to WDW or Port Canaveral. My mother has flown into SFB before and I think that was a direct flight. It was a couple of years ago but I can't recall which airline provided the direct flight.

Thanks I will check on this.

 

[enzy65]

I have the Capital One Venture card and put my January flight dates in their flight checker. It notifies me every time the price changes and so far keeps telling me not to book yet because they expect the prices to drop.

Thanks for that info.

 

[sam_gordon]

Did you look at other airlines from the various cities?

 

[enzy65]

Did you look at other airlines from the various cities?

Yes I did, I decided to book SDF to MCO because of price. I am still actively looking for flights from IND though. I wanted to play it safe and at least have something set.