Is there any hope???

[disneysnob]

Well, here we are, a bit over 2 weeks til WDW....and haven't booked our flight yet..... We've been searching diligently every day (almost every hour), and the prices are sooo high that it's looking hopeless. When we finialize our dates - I belive back in Jan/Feb- we started our search. There never seemed to be anything under 280/rt, for 5 ppl. Its up over 400 this morning

Oh well, I guess I'll begin searching for hotels along 95......

Maybe, just maybe, a last minute summer sale is in the works !?!?!?

 

[goofy4tink]

Probably not much chance of cheaper flights at this juncture, but keep checking. You can never tell. I found a great deal with SW a few years ago that 'forced' me to go to WDW on the spur of the moment...I think it was about $125 pp, r/t, from Providence, in early August. I booked it and my dd and I were on a plane 6 days later.

 

[Tara]

Probably not much hope for savings at this point. What you might do is really broaden your search - look at airports within a 200-mile radius, for instance. Also, consider Priceline. Where are you flying from now and what are your dates? If you are going in 17 days, that should be the 24th - the real challenge might be your return flight - what day are you going home? If you're staying a week, that puts you right in the July 4th weekend flying window. Another idea might be to shorten your vacation a day, depending on when you are currently scheduled to leave. I still see $130 each way for some flights on Southwest out of ALB on 6/24 and 6/29 - that's of course a short trip, maybe shorter than you had planned. You can get even cheaper out of Philadelphia - a couple of $99 options are available coming back on 6/29, or $118 and $131 options for 6/30 and 7/1 return flights.

You only have 2 more days to get something even semi-reasonable because you'll likely see those prices go even higher once you hit the 14 days out mark. Good luck!

 

[disneysnob]

Ideally we would like to from Boston-Logan (within 10 min.) We're also looking at Manchester and Providence flying to Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Ft Lauderdale....Our dates are 6/27-7/8. The departure date can be flexible, so we are checking from the June 24-27th. In the beginning we were only looking at nonstops (I don't really enjoy flying...) now even the 1 stops are ridiculous! We have driven many times before, but with the kids getting older, (and bigger) the space in the van seems to be limited. Although, this year my DS can be a third driver if needed. I just keep hoping for that "last minute get-away" sale........

 

[Tara]

If you are willing to drive to Philadelphia, there are still a lot of options at $99-$130 each way on Southwest, many of which are non-stop. I searched departures out of PHL on 6/28 and 6/29 and got lots of options and 7/8 looks pretty good, too - a lot of $100 options. You can have airfare for 5 people for around $1300 from there.

 

[HeatherC]

Also check Hartford (BDL) and White Plains NY (HPN).

White Plains is very easy to get to. You would take the Pike to 84 to 684 and get off right at the airport. Very easy.
Last year we saved a ton by driving a little further. You can park at a LaQuinta there for $10 a day.

What I also do too is price each leg separately like a one way. We have actually flown into one airport and home from another and saved a lot.
One year we flew in to West Palm Beach, rented a car and then returned it in Orlando and flew home from there. Saved about $800 doing that, so it's definitely worth checking...even after renting the car.

I feel your pain in flying 5 people!

Oh yeah...you could also check visitdirectair.com out of Worcester. They fly into Sanford.

Good luck and have a great trip!

 

[HeatherC]

Forgot to mention....did you sign up for Southwest's Ding Fares? Might be worth a shot too.

 

[emmabelle]

Ideally we would like to from Boston-Logan (within 10 min.) We're also looking at Manchester and Providence flying to Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Ft Lauderdale....Our dates are 6/27-7/8. The departure date can be flexible, so we are checking from the June 24-27th. In the beginning we were only looking at nonstops (I don't really enjoy flying...) now even the 1 stops are ridiculous! We have driven many times before, but with the kids getting older, (and bigger) the space in the van seems to be limited. Although, this year my DS can be a third driver if needed. I just keep hoping for that "last minute get-away" sale........

Maybe the auto train? That's how my parents get to Florida every year. You still have to drive to Lorton, Virginia though, but you'd have a car and the train drops you off in Sanford.


I have to laugh, when I looked at your signature, I thought, they actually have four kids, but then I realized, it's the dog that's five.


Edited to add:
Nevermind, the auto train would be like $1900, so no savings there, probably because it's so close now to the trip.

 

[Tara]

Forgot to mention....did you sign up for Southwest's Ding Fares? Might be worth a shot too.

Ding fares for June are long gone - too late for that now.

 

[My 2 princesses]

I firmed up flights just this week, as soon as I noticed they dropped a bit. You have to keep checking constanltyfor SWA. Like this a.m when I left home, the flights were 139, and hour and a half later, I checked from the office and they were back to 164.

Good luck.

 

[stacieps]

Right now you can book SWA from PVD to MCO 6/26-7/8 non-stop each way (3:40pm going down, 8:25pm coming back) for $312.40 for the first 4 people (rates go up when entering 5, so the 5th would be priced higher than the 4).

You can also get the $312.40 for 6/27-7/8 (5:15pm going down, 8:25pm coming back).

Not cheap, but better than the $400 you said you were seeing.

 

[mytripsandraces]

Have you tried using farecast? They offer predictions of fares and will send you notifications when the fare changes.

 

[MrMarv]

I also wish you the best of luck, but being flexible when choosing which airline to use where to fly to and where to fly back from can frequently save you tons of $$$$.

Also Southwest's one-stops (aka 'puddle jumpers' from days gone by), are rarely on the ground for over 25-30 minutes, even though summertime thunderstorms are a given throughout the Deep South, and might result in flight delays.

Those fares from Philly are quite good, all things considered.

Good luck, and have a fabulous time.

 

[TaraPA]

I booked 18 days out just this past Feb. It was a huge risk but it paid off for me - got $19.99 one way down to MCO, $89 one way coming home. Fares had been as high as $179 one-way prior to that. That being said, I did notice in my daily (ok, HOURLY) fare checks, once you get to day 14 & under nothing drops, it just goes up. So plan to mak your move before you get to the 14-day window!

Would I wait that long again? Probably not. I have an Oct. trip planned to WDW & got my flight down at $59 months ago, just waiting for a decent deal on the return, but not getting anything that works for me under $138. But I have time to wait, and know full well I might get screwed in the end.

It's good that you're looking for a Plan B, there are some good options being posted here, be flexible & have a great trip! And good luck that your fares magically drop when you need them to!

 

[pat fan]

We'll be there almost the same dates! I booked quite a while ago at a horrific rate, but the price has just gone up since then, so I guess I'm glad I jumped when I did. We fly out of Hartford, and there aren't any good prices there. I booked SW because it included bags and was about $150 cheaper for RT than any other airline. I can't believe the cost of air this year Good luck!

 

[JB2K]

OP - there's a lot of information, here...to break it down as simply as possible:

• Forget Logan (BOS), instead, focus on the smaller airports in your region such as Manchester, NH, Providence, RI, and Hartford, CT.
  
• Be flexible - Tampa is a good alternate (and a heckuva lot less congested than the mammoth MCO).
  
• Forget the "legacy" carriers (AA, Delta, etc.) and stick with Southwest.
  
• Speaking of Southwest, if you haven't downloaded "Ding!" yet, you may want to do so ASAP (for deeply-discounted, unpublished fares).

 

[jldunbar]

Look at Airtran, seeing rates from 113-132 out od BOS

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Look at Airtran, seeing rates from 113-132 out od BOS

Good job!!!! Hope OP sees this before the rates change! There are quite a few flight options, too, for OP's dates.

 

[disneysnob]

Thanks so much for all of the suggestions....I just checked airtran, and the cheapest out of Bos for any of my dates is 229, and 113 return. Still holding out hope, though,....trying to convince DH to do a sidetrip on the way to either Phil or DC, very cheap from there.........

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Thanks so much for all of the suggestions....I just checked airtran, and the cheapest out of Bos for any of my dates is 229, and 113 return. Still holding out hope, though,....trying to convince DH to do a sidetrip on the way to either Phil or DC, very cheap from there.........

I just looked: on June 27:
272/836 6:57 AM 3:30 PM 1 stop $169*

Even if you can't make a 6:57 am flight, I would book the return flight now, for $113. You're not going to get better than that, and once you hit 14 days, it'll probably go up a lot.

If your flight out winds up being from a different airport, you could do a 1 way car rental, for probably around $50-$60, to go to your departure airport.