JetBlue Boston/PVD to MCO

[Vasiliki76]

So I've been checking non-stop fares since September for a late April trip and no luck. They keep going up. A few flights are almost completely filled.
The second best ones for our family are now $557 round trip.
Would you book before they go up more or wait? Thanks!

 

[ljpisme]

Have you considered flying Southwest? A major advantage to flying with them (besides bags fly free) is that if the flights go down in price after you book them, you can re-book and get a credit for the difference.

 

[Vasiliki76]

Thank you! I want to go SWA, but my husband is really against it because our kids are young (5 and almost 2 at the time) He thinks we will be in for a nightmare.

 

[ljpisme]

Sure We have had really good luck with SWA over the years. We will actually be using them to fly from PVD to MCO next Saturday.

I believe the rule is now that families with children under 4 board right after the A group (unless that's changed recently) which usually isn't too bad if your DH is concerned about finding seats together without hassle. I also love that they don't charge a fee if you want/need to change flights.

Have you tried flights out of Manchester? NH has a later April vacation so depending on the dates of your trip, it might be cheaper.

 

[goofy4tink]

Try SW and see what their fares are like. I actually like the way SW boards. With your family, you should be able to board between the A and B groups, especially at PVD. Love that airport by the way. Any time you fly during spring break time, March and April, you should book as soon as you see a fare you can live with. JB may go down, but I wouldn't count on it. Especially with flights filling up!!

 

[Vasiliki76]

Thank you! Do you think SW would split us up if they pre-board families with ages 4 and under? i.e. make me go on w/ my two year old son and then make my husband board later w/ our 5 year old?

 

[ljpisme]

In our experience, they never split us up. We probably took 5 or 6 SWA flights when our girls were 4 and under. They took pretty good care of us. It was as "hassle-free" as possible traveling with young kids.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

With Southwest, you could also pay for the Early Bird Check In if even the family boarding is a concern. Yes, it costs extra, but would probably still be cheaper than Jet Blue if you're flying out of PVD. Not sure about the rates from Logan. We always fly SW out of PVD and check the JetBlue prices too. They're not even in the ballpark. Even if we paid EBCI for all four members of my family, we'd be a lot less than JetBlue. We've done the trip out of PVD 5 times now and never had a single issue with SW at all!

 

[Vasiliki76]

Thanks so much everyone! I booked southwest.

 

[ljpisme]

Have a great trip!!

 

[goofy4tink]

Thank you! Do you think SW would split us up if they pre-board families with ages 4 and under? i.e. make me go on w/ my two year old son and then make my husband board later w/ our 5 year old?

It's not truly a 'preboard' since you'll be boarding after the A group. But, I haven't seen many incidences where they didn't allow mom and dad to board with all the kids at the same time, in this 'family boarding' group. It's only when grannie and grandpa, and aunts and uncles all want to board then as well! The four of you should be fine!

 

[Groomer Gal]

Another thing is that SWA flight attendants are WONDERFUL (in my experience) trying to help families sit together if at all possible.
A couple years ago we were flying back to PVD....snow storm coming...we had to change flights ....long story short one of our daughters was very sick...she was 8 at the time and the flight attendant was SO nice and bribed pretty much everyone on the plane with drinks etc to move around so that I could sit with her.
That was BEFORE she knew my daughter was sick.

So they really will try as hard as they can to keep you together.

We now really only fly SWA because of that one (hugely important) flight.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Thank you! Do you think SW would split us up if they pre-board families with ages 4 and under? i.e. make me go on w/ my two year old son and then make my husband board later w/ our 5 year old?

Southwest's rule is one adult boarding with the 4 year old or younger child. This may or may not be enforced.

I would chose JetBlue over Southwest any day. You get a free checked bag, assigned seating, and seat back entertainment (non existent on Southwest).

 

[goofy4tink]

Southwest's rule is one adult boarding with the 4 year old or younger child. This may or may not be enforced.

I would chose JetBlue over Southwest any day. You get a free checked bag, assigned seating, and seat back entertainment (non existent on Southwest).

Yes, that's the 'rule'...but in all my trips on SW, I have never, ever seen a gate agent split a family up...as long as it was just mom and dad with the kids. Can it happen? Probably. Will it happen? Probably not.

 

[BigTigger]

I see you've aleady booked SWA, but in the future consider alternative airports too for cheaper fares. Hartford (BDL) has JB and SWA and is 90 minutes from most of metro Boston. Worcester (ORH) also has JB flights to MCO. Manchester also has SWA.

On the Florida end, always try Tampa (TPA) as a destination. It doesn't have Magical Express, but if you're renting a car they are often cheaper than MCO. There are no tolls from TPA to Disney. It takes about an hour and twenty minutes in average traffic versus 25 minutes from MCO to DW. It is 99% interstate highway driving too.

Enjoy your trip!!

 

[RejoyceoverDisney]

The past two years we have used JetBlue. Initially because we are 20 minutes from ORH (Worcester) but this last flight out of PVD (Providence) because the prices there were less than Worcester and time of flights better.

Advantage of flying from Worcester was that once everyone is at the airport they leave because they are the only flight leaving. But there has been problems with flights coming home and instead people being routed to Boston instead.

I went off track........
It was my understanding that with JetBlue if the flight prices went down you could get a credit. Of course that is only helpful if you will be flying again in the next year.

I've never flown SWA but husband has and he now insists JetBlue.
But now you have me curious about SWA prices, and since we fly just us two and no kids (our sons are grown and have no interest to vacation with us) I might revisit the idea if the price is that much of a savings.

I hope the SWA decision works for your family. Happy Vacation!

 

[goofy4tink]

The past two years we have used JetBlue. Initially because we are 20 minutes from ORH (Worcester) but this last flight out of PVD (Providence) because the prices there were less than Worcester and time of flights better.

Advantage of flying from Worcester was that once everyone is at the airport they leave because they are the only flight leaving. But there has been problems with flights coming home and instead people being routed to Boston instead.

I went off track........
It was my understanding that with JetBlue if the flight prices went down you could get a credit. Of course that is only helpful if you will be flying again in the next year.

I've never flown SWA but husband has and he now insists JetBlue.
But now you have me curious about SWA prices, and since we fly just us two and no kids (our sons are grown and have no interest to vacation with us) I might revisit the idea if the price is that much of a savings.

I hope the SWA decision works for your family. Happy Vacation!

Some corrections. You no longer can truly get a credit if your fare goes down. You have to pay a change fee first, then any difference will be put into a credit.

As far as flights being diverted to Boston, believe me....they can be diverted to Boston for departing flights! It's an issue with the airport systems. It is being addressed, but will be several years before it is 100% rectified. I love flying in and out of Worcester. Hopefully, JB will add more flights there as soon as technology issues have been fixed.

I have no problem flying SW. I actually like them a lot. I prefer JB, but that's only due to the entertainment options and the extra legroom. But if I get a good fare on SW, I'm flying with them. With all the changes the airlines are making, I have very little loyalty to any one airline anymore.

 

[ImprovGal]

Some corrections. You no longer can truly get a credit if your fare goes down. You have to pay a change fee first, then any difference will be put into a credit.

Actually, the new JetBlue change fee policy only applies after 14 days from date of initial ticket purchase. They'll refare with no change fees applied for those initial 14 days after purchase and put the credits in your TrueBlue Travel Bank. The only hitch is you won't be able to see itinerary details under your TrueBlue account, nor make any seat changes (like purchase EMS seats) until the reservation gets released at the T-24hr mark for web check-in. I also had to call and have them manually post the TrueBlue points (and in my case it was a cusp flight that earned me the Go Long point bonus for last year.

 

[goofy4tink]

Actually, the new JetBlue change fee policy only applies after 14 days from date of initial ticket purchase. They'll refare with no change fees applied for those initial 14 days after purchase and put the credits in your TrueBlue Travel Bank. The only hitch is you won't be able to see itinerary details under your TrueBlue account, nor make any seat changes (like purchase EMS seats) until the reservation gets released at the T-24hr mark for web check-in. I also had to call and have them manually post the TrueBlue points (and in my case it was a cusp flight that earned me the Go Long point bonus for last year.

I thought that was back when they first made the fare credit change. Had no idea that was the case still. Then again, my fares seldom go down less than two weeks after I book!