Maritimes + New England best fares to Orlando (Post em)

[IndianSummer]

I got what I think are good prices, (posted above) and I think it was because I waited until almost the last minute to book. (risky advice, I know). I think it was around the 5-6 week mark where I saw the best deals. I also played around with my dates a bit, since we were able to be flexible in that way. I mean, I knew the two week date range that we wanted but I didn't care what day of the week we flew on.

I'd say keep watching WestJet and Air Canada (especially out of Moncton) Keeping in mind that the sales fares might not come up until next month for your dates. But check daily anyway. Also, if the price to fly out is right, but not the price to fly back, we booked the way out anyway, knowing that the price to come back wasn't likely to go up at it's high price, so we waited about a week and a half to book the flight back (again, being a bit flexible with dates helps) and we got another seat sale.

 

[FreddyDiser]

Hi All !

we are going to orlando September 24th to October 1st ... so far the best price is the expedia bargain fare out of portland (223 round trip each ) .....but i'm going to wait till at least june to book ... seeing as most likely the fares will go down (i hope)

i've saved the bargain fare in an itinerary in expedia ....

we live in Fredericton, so we are up for flying from anywhere from halifax to portland ...but in portland or bangor we will require a hotel stay most likely and a place to park for the week ...

any advice or reports would be greatly appreciated

 

[Ted in Halifax]

hhmmmm I figure 200 is your best fare out of PWM, but everyone is saying that fares are up because of fuel. Also, you are travelling Saturday to Saturday which is more expensive.

223 might be worth grabbing it.

 

[vikkii19]

Booked SW in MHT for Sept 28th to Oct 6th for a total of $340.80 with taxes and fees for 2 of us roundtrip. With direct flights and free checked bags the extra 1.5 hours from Portland was worth it.

 

[FreddyDiser]

Thanks!.. i will definitely check into MHT .. never even looked there yet ...
i wouldn't mind 1.5 hours more of driving .. since we're going down the day before anyway ..

 

[Ted in Halifax]

Let us know when you need to talk Park and Fly

 

[Honeystar120608]

Hey all! Just wanted to add that end of sept beginning of Oct Air Canada has fares (out of moncton for sure) at $149 one way. Sale ends tonight. We will need to do a Tues-Tues trip, but will give us more time in DW as we only have a week of vacation.
We are debating it right now, usually we go out of POrtland.
We did MHT last year, and the 2 hours of extra driving just wasn't worth the direct flight in my opinion. We have 2 kids now 5 and 6. Just too much driving. There is a park and fly there in MHT we used that was good. If you want I can try to find out what it was. We love the HoJos in South Portland I think it is for their park and fly (PORTLAND that is).

Anyway, off to discuss flying out on a Tuesday with Air Canada.

 

[Ted in Halifax]

Halifax to Orlando ... on continentals site ...

May 3 or 4th, with return one week later ... works out to less than 350 with taxes and fees in ...

 

[webworm]

I thought I would pass this along for my east coast friends in case anyone is interested in a last minute trip. AirTransat has flights leaving March 25th or 26th and returning April 1 for $69.00 each way + taxes = $343.16.

Fri, March 25, 2011 8:30 AM Depart from Halifax (YHZ)
11:25 AM Arrive in Orlando (MCO)
Travel time 3h55 min
TS 786
Operated by
CANJET

Fri, April 01, 2011 12:25 PM Depart from Orlando (MCO)
4:55 PM Arrive in Halifax (YHZ)
Travel time 3h30 min
TS 787
Operated by
CANJET

1 adult(s) $69.00 tax + fees $274.16 Total $343.16

Got a love those CAN taxes and surcharges when they are 198.7% of the airfare!!OUCH!!

 

[RainbowsMist]

Hello!

We just returned today from Florida. Drove 11 hours and flew out of Boston with Air Tran (flights were $84 each way = $96 with seat fees and taxes). Last year we snagged a great deal on flights out of Halifax however it was for April ($442 everything incl.). I work for the school board so March Break is really the only time we can travel (summer isn't an option). Last year I was granted a "once in a lifetime exception" when we went end of April, first week of May.

DH and I had lots of talk time today and we both thought it would be less tiring if we flew a little closer to home... but being a family of 5 flying is expensive so we wouldn't rule out Boston again. I kept track of all our travel expenses to Boston and back:

Gas - $295
Hotels - $394
Food - $143
Totals = $832

Add $1000 on for our flights and it's $1832 or $366 per person.
Keep in mind we stayed in a hotel in Kittery (wanted to do some shopping beforehand..wouldn't stay there again, maybe Bangor) & then Boston (Park, Sleep & Fly) on our way down, and overnighted in Bangor on our way back (we had a later flight so driving straight wasn't an option).

My question is...does anyone know off the top of their head what a flight out of Bangor or Moncton normally is for that time of year? We really don't mind driving...but out of Bangor would save us another 4 hours drive (vs out of Boston). We live in Central NS (Halifax would be PERFECT but I've all but given up on that for March Break).

Also, is Boston the only place you can get non stop to MCO? I absolutely HATE flying so the less I have to go up and down the better.

We found ourselves asking each other at what "savings price" do we say it was worth driving? We haven't come up with that figure yet

 

[Honeystar120608]

RainbowsMist, we were in DW in October. Flew out of Manchester, which is pretty close to the same distance as Boston. They have direct flights there. I've never been to Boston but thought that maybe we should avoid the bigger city of Boston.
Generally we have flewn out of Portland. It is possible to snag a direct flight (only know of Air Tran) but unfortunately it's touch and go with them. They have every right to change a booked direct flight to a non direct one at their leisure. Boo!
Right now, for End of Sept dates (which is when we are going back) out of Moncton we can get flights for 4 at $1630 I believe with Air Canada. I am hoping SO much these won't magically disappear as I can get them in a week and a half!! Stressing me out. lol
I generally figure $1000 for the Maine portion as well, by the time you get the kids toys, or clothes or whatever spending on top of everything else. Then flights. So to fly out of Moncton would be AWESOME since we live 2 mins away from the airport.
DS does not like flying either, switching flights are not fun, but we manage. Gravol has become our friend, and I get to read while he snuggles with me the whole flight. While DH sits with DD who loves to fly, miss chatterbox.
How do you fing the weather during March? This year what I would have given to be down in Florida with October weather for March Break. It's been a long winter up here!

 

[RainbowsMist]

RainbowsMist, we were in DW in October. Flew out of Manchester, which is pretty close to the same distance as Boston. They have direct flights there. I've never been to Boston but thought that maybe we should avoid the bigger city of Boston.
Generally we have flewn out of Portland. It is possible to snag a direct flight (only know of Air Tran) but unfortunately it's touch and go with them. They have every right to change a booked direct flight to a non direct one at their leisure. Boo!
Right now, for End of Sept dates (which is when we are going back) out of Moncton we can get flights for 4 at $1630 I believe with Air Canada. I am hoping SO much these won't magically disappear as I can get them in a week and a half!! Stressing me out. lol
I generally figure $1000 for the Maine portion as well, by the time you get the kids toys, or clothes or whatever spending on top of everything else. Then flights. So to fly out of Moncton would be AWESOME since we live 2 mins away from the airport.
DS does not like flying either, switching flights are not fun, but we manage. Gravol has become our friend, and I get to read while he snuggles with me the whole flight. While DH sits with DD who loves to fly, miss chatterbox.
How do you fing the weather during March? This year what I would have given to be down in Florida with October weather for March Break. It's been a long winter up here!

The sun gods were defintiely VERY kind to us We were there 12 days and EVERY day was over 85 and sunny! We never saw as much as a sprinkle of rain. Humidity was low too which made it even better. Last year we were there end of April...first of May at it was mid 90's - 100 with high humidity.....not pleasant at all.

Halifax Airport is 45 minutes from us but they never seem to have good March Break deal (which is understandable). March is so iffy with weather and DH is worried if we do a flight with a stop we may get stuck somewhere. Does Moncton offer non stops? We had a great first experience with Air Tran..would definitely use them again. Planes are nothing fancy but comfortable enough and got us there and back safely

Almost forgot, Boston was a piece of cake. We stayed at the Comfort Inn Suites Logan Airport Hotel...it's before the "city" and they offered a 24 free airport shuttle. We did their Park, Sleep and Fly package. The hotel was GREAT!

 

[mom4463]

We drove down to Portland and flew with Jetblue for the first time. We would defintely do this again and Jetblue has direct flights to MCO. We booked our flights for February in January (very last minute) and for four of us we paid $1000. If we had booked in early January when we first started looking, we would have paid even less. We did the park n' fly at Holiday Inn Express.

 

[Tinkershelly]

I just stumbled on some great fares from Halifax to Orlando with Air Canada. The dates I was checking out were in late September, $129 each way for a round trip fare of $373.39. Some travel days were on the weekend, too. I hope someone on here can use them. I can't book now but I hope to be able to soon. Good luck.

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

Well, as much as can be confirmed this far out, I believe our next trip will occur:

Feb 28/29 - March 8/9, 2012

We'll be flying out of Halifax or Moncton (preferred).

So far, the cheapest flights are Delta out of Halifax (connecting at JFK) for approx $1600 for family of 4.

If any of my fellow DIS'ers find anything lower, please post it here .

Given the time of year, we would prefer a direct flight to reduce the likelihood of weather related delays, but right now, the direct flights are approx $2400-$2600 . With those prices being so much higher we will probably have to consider at least 1 connecting flight.

 

[AddictedtoMickey]

Well, as much as can be confirmed this far out, I believe our next trip will occur:

Feb 28/29 - March 8/9, 2012

We'll be flying out of Halifax or Moncton (preferred).

So far, the cheapest flights are Delta out of Halifax (connecting at JFK) for approx $1600 for family of 4.

If any of my fellow DIS'ers find anything lower, please post it here .

Given the time of year, we would prefer a direct flight to reduce the likelihood of weather related delays, but right now, the direct flights are approx $2400-$2600 . With those prices being so much higher we will probably have to consider at least 1 connecting flight.

Hi DisneyRookie2007,

Do you use a particular search engine to scan flight prices or just hit individual airlines?

Thanks,

Frank

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

Hi DisneyRookie2007,

Do you use a particular search engine to scan flight prices or just hit individual airlines?

Thanks,

Frank

I try looking at all the sites I can think of.....travelocity, expedia, cheap flight network, priceline, etc and all the airlines sites as well

 

[Ted in Halifax]

Ok ... my strategy for March 2012 is slightly different than in the past. Previously I booked a return ticket and then built my vacation within those dates. However for March 2012, I booked a cruise within the March Break. Hence, a change in strategy was necessary.

Since, I need to start the Cruise on March 13th, I know that I didn't want to fly anytime near the 13th ... so I selected Sat March 10th (first day of March break and yes, I know that this day is very expensive to depart from YHZ). Thus, New England was what I watched for airfares.

I noticed back a few months ago as Continental release fares, they do so in one day increments. So every day a new date appeared with a very high price. Yet the next day the price dropped in line with other dates. I also notice the typical Tues, Wed or Thursday price drop often took place. What I mean here is not that these dates were lower, but that all pricing was dropping for a while in mid week. Clearly, I was looking to pick up a one way fare on Day 2 of availability.

So, I ended up with 4 one-way tickets on March 10 2012 from MHT to MCO. It arrives after 11pm which is a negative, but we don't need to be in MHT until 2pm or so (post 4pm departure).

Fare: 73.49 USD
Equiv. Fare: 72.00 CAD
Combined Tax: 26.20 CAD
Per Person Total: 98.20 CAD
Total: 392.80 CAD

So now, I'm hunting for a Sunday March 18th, or Monday 19th or Tuesday 20th from MCO ( or SFB, DAB, MLB, TPA, PIE, GNV) to MHT.

I got a deal on the first way .... just waiting and waiting for the return. I may have to wait until Southwest opens its schedule!

 

[bluenosemickey]

Any guess when the SWA dates for Mar 12 will be released? I know last year the dates for Feb break were released in August, but I don't remember if they extended into March to cover the dates needed. Something tells me that they went to the first week of march only. This means that maybe it might take until oct to get the return flights?

 

[Ted in Halifax]

bluenosemickey, I understand the SW releases 3 months at a time, so they run til Nov 4th now, so next release will take them to Feb ... so we may need to wait until their 2nd release.

here's a thread that shows that March 13, 2010 fares were available on October 13th .... see ->
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2296225

How did my world become so complicated?