Marathon Weekend 2025

[Blue Caterpillar]

Also booked my tickets on southwest! right now I am flying on Friday, which makes me a bit nervous as if I am delayed I won't have much time to still make the Expo before the half. I may switch it to Thursday, as it will also mean I would miss the HH meetup.

 

[AJollyHoliday]

We booked our flights on SW. I had enough points for 1 leg, then we paid the other leg. DH had credits to spend so his RT was free. We have a 1-bedroom at the VGF for 1/9-1/13, but the flights were cheaper for 1/8-1/13 so we added a night. Oh darn! Well I had to waitlist for the 1/8-1/13 1-bedroom, but booked a studio at VGF for 1/8 just in case. I love the little bump of joy I get from booking flights and hotels.

 

[Disneyhanna]

If you have a points credit card like Chase, then one not-so-secret thing is to look for Delta availability via Virgin Atlantic or Flying Blue (Air France/KLM). Delta doesn't give them great inventory (and no First/Business), but you can often find flights for much better redemptions--especially to Europe. Couple that with the occasional transfer bonus and it can really work in your favor.

I actually do check VA award rates, as of recently! With the 15% Delta CC discount it's about the same though, and since I'm prone to changing flights, it's nice to avoid the $50 VA change fee when booking direct. Though with all the VA transfer bonuses right now I'm considering parking some points there for the future since I'm a Delta hub. One thing I'm wondering is if you book through VA on a Delta flight, do you still get Sky Club access with the Amex plat? I'm not sure if you get a Delta or VA boarding pass, which is probably what makes the difference. And I need my free mimosas on the way to runD races, I don't make the rules

 

[The Expert]

One thing I'm wondering is if you book through VA on a Delta flight, do you still get Sky Club access with the Amex plat?

The Platinum Amex no longer gets you in, but if you have another form of access or are flying in first, possibly? They changed everything for next year and even as a 1MM Diamond I'm super confused. https://www.delta.com/us/en/delta-s...lub Members* can,to flight delays or layovers).

 

[RunWI1265]

I actually do check VA award rates, as of recently! With the 15% Delta CC discount it's about the same though, and since I'm prone to changing flights, it's nice to avoid the $50 VA change fee when booking direct. Though with all the VA transfer bonuses right now I'm considering parking some points there for the future since I'm a Delta hub. One thing I'm wondering is if you book through VA on a Delta flight, do you still get Sky Club access with the Amex plat? I'm not sure if you get a Delta or VA boarding pass, which is probably what makes the difference. And I need my free mimosas on the way to runD races, I don't make the rules

Do you have the co-branded amex plat? That's the one I have and we can no longer get into sky club even paying. Which is mostly fine by me since my layover offerings never really allow for me to stop.

 

[Disneyhanna]

Do you have the co-branded amex plat? That's the one I have and we can no longer get into sky club even paying. Which is mostly fine by me since my layover offerings never really allow for me to stop.

No, just the regular Amex plat! Which I think still provides access going forward, I think in 2025 (?) the visits get limited but I'm not a frequent flyer nor do I always get to the airport early enough to enjoy the lounge so that's not a huge deal though definitely annoying. The $50 guest pass goes away in 2025 I'm pretty sure, which is the bigger bummer.

 

[RunWI1265]

No, just the regular Amex plat! Which I think still provides access going forward, I think in 2025 (?) the visits get limited but I'm not a frequent flyer nor do I always get to the airport early enough to enjoy the lounge so that's not a huge deal though definitely annoying. The $50 guest pass goes away in 2025 I'm pretty sure, which is the bigger bummer.

Yeah - It always sucks when a perk is taken away. Something we've all grown accustomed to the last few years.

even as a 1MM Diamond I'm super confused.

You'd think being a 1MM would get you lifetime sky club access! It doesn't work that way?

I booked my MW flights back when I rented my DVC for the weekend. I was lucky and got a rt for $350 which is now $588 if booked today. I dream of the days I used to be able to fly my family of four for around $800 rt.

 

[AJollyHoliday]

Yeah - It always sucks when a perk is taken away. Something we've all grown accustomed to the last few years.

You'd think being a 1MM would get you lifetime sky club access! It doesn't work that way?

I booked my MW flights back when I rented my DVC for the weekend. I was lucky and got a rt for $350 which is now $588 if booked today. I dream of the days I used to be able to fly my family of four for around $800 rt.

We were lucky today to get RT for $376 with direct flights on SW. What I love about SW is that if the price drops, I can just easily rebook for that amount and save the $ or points.

 

[The Expert]

You'd think being a 1MM would get you lifetime sky club access! It doesn't work that way?

It does not work that way, sadly. It used to be an option with your choice benefits each year at Platinum of Diamond, and now it is only Diamond. DH is a 3MM and lifetime Diamond so he'll always get it if he chooses that benefit each year.

The club is a nice-to-have for a longer layover or coming off an international flight, but not worth jumping through a bunch of hoops for. I usually use points to fly up front or get the upgrade, so that gets me into the club anyway if I'm not with DH.

 

[sandam1]

I kind of lost my faith in Southwest coming back from DL/California in January. Right before check-in (so about 24.5 hours in advance), they canceled my flight home and told us that the next flight that they had for us was 2 days later. Oh, and since it was because of "weather," any additional costs were on us. We wound up paying double our original flight cost to fly home on Jet Blue.

Between this and seeing a bunch of other people's experiences, it seems like Southwest has resorted to proactively canceling flights at the slightest sign of weather disruptions rather than making their system more resilient and flexible to cope with them. For something as important as Marathon Weekend, I'm struggling with trusting their ability to get me where I need to go. I hate paying bag fees, but I am leaning towards Jet Blue for MW.

 

[Disneyhanna]

I kind of lost my faith in Southwest coming back from DL/California in January. Right before check-in (so about 24.5 hours in advance), they canceled my flight home and told us that the next flight that they had for us was 2 days later. Oh, and since it was because of "weather," any additional costs were on us. We wound up paying double our original flight cost to fly home on Jet Blue.

Between this and seeing a bunch of other people's experiences, it seems like Southwest has resorted to proactively canceling flights at the slightest sign of weather disruptions rather than making their system more resilient and flexible to cope with them. For something as important as Marathon Weekend, I'm struggling with trusting their ability to get me where I need to go. I hate paying bag fees, but I am leaning towards Jet Blue for MW.

Those January flight issues were something else. None of that for 2025 please

 

[prncssjas]

And I need my free mimosas on the way to runD races, I don't make the rules

LOL! I am really glad to see I am not the only one that flies Delta. I never use SW (they just aren't a hub for us in Michigan, at DTW). Thankfully, Delta has been great and we usually have good choices for direct flights to MCO. We just purchased our airfare for Marathon weekend and it was high but not horrible.

 

[nancipants]

Got my charity link for runDisney and registered, so now I’m officially official for the marathon!!!

 

[camaker]

Got my charity link for runDisney and registered, so now I’m officially official for the marathon!!!

No link for me yet. Hopefully soon!

 

[GuinnessRunner]

Got my charity link for runDisney and registered, so now I’m officially official for the marathon!!!

Got mine as well. Nice to be officially in.

 

[hauntedcity]

Got my flights yesterday with SW too! I hadn't realized how many airlines have stopped direct flights from Indianapolis to Orlando. We only have nonstop for the low-cost airlines. Allegiant hasn't released those dates yet, but their normal weekly schedule wouldn't have matched our needs, anyway. Frontier LOOKED cheaper, but after all the extra fees would have come in 150-200 more than Southwest for 2 people. I've only flown once since 2019, and it feels like a whole different playing field for flying these days.

 

[MissLiss279]

Got my charity link for runDisney and registered, so now I’m officially official for the marathon!!!

Got mine too! Thanks for the heads up.

 

[GuinnessRunner]

So now that I registered through my charity link, when I go to sign my waiver it's giving me an error saying that the signature name must match the registrant's name (which they do, even trying with middle initial) Has anyone gotten that error before? Not real worrried about it as I know I can just wait and sign the waiver at the expo if needed.

EDIT: Never mind, it seems to work now so must have been user error.

 

[pinkxray]

I probably asked this before but now that flights are open, I am trying to get everything booked.

I am looking at resorts and usually prefer MK resorts. However, we will be heading home Sun. morning. That means we will need to get to the airport during the marathon. I have looked at the course map but I’m really unfamiliar with the roads leading in and out of resorts. I want to make sure that we will be able to have an open road to get out. I have done the 1/2 before and remember the mess between GF and Poly so I know those are out. Thinking about BLT, maybe a crescent lake but not again maybe Rivera, WL, FW or maybe AKL.

 

[nancipants]

AKL should be fine since Osceola Parkway isn't blocked off, so should Fort Wilderness since you can go down Vista Drive to Bonnet Creek Parkway. With Riviera you could go right toward Disney Springs and get on I-4 that way. The Epcot Resorts might run into issues with World Drive closures, but you should be able to go left on Buena Vista Drive and get on I-4 that way.