Maryland

[tomandrobin]

When I looked into taking the auto train it was close to $2K for 2A, 2C and our car. Flying was only about $700. It wasn't worth the cost to us to take the train.

I see you are taking the Dream on the 29th, we are on the Dream the 26th to the 29th. We'll be passing you at the terminal!

I would love to hear your feed back on actually celebrating NYE at sea. We always do the parks on NYE.

 

[edk35]

I don't know what has happened to Airtran/SW. They have horrible times out of BWI now. Airtrain barely has any non stop flights. The good times on SW are a lot more expensive. Gone are the days of 69 each way. I am happy with 94 but the times I need/want are with ONE STOP. grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[tomandrobin]

I don't know what has happened to Airtran/SW. They have horrible times out of BWI now. Airtrain barely has any non stop flights. The good times on SW are a lot more expensive. Gone are the days of 69 each way. I am happy with 94 but the times I need/want are with ONE STOP. grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

We miss those $59 and $69 fees too.

We have noticed that the prices are initially higher, then drop later. Which always leaves us with SW credits, since we are always adjusting our ticket prices.

Lately, every SW flight we have been on has been overbooked. Which makes getting the EB almost a must now. I just wish I could take advantage of being bumped to get the $300 credit + cost of the airfare.

 

[work2play]

I don't know what has happened to Airtran/SW. They have horrible times out of BWI now. Airtrain barely has any non stop flights. The good times on SW are a lot more expensive. Gone are the days of 69 each way. I am happy with 94 but the times I need/want are with ONE STOP. grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Hi! JoAnne here in Clarksville (29 at 32). I totally agree! It does look like it gets better in January. SW used to have soo many direct flights out of BWI that it was easy and cheap to fly down. I still look for the SW flights and will pay more for them because you can change with no fee and go for a lower fare if it drops and still use the leftover on the next trip! (although I had to book an Airtran flight in December because the flight schedule on SW was so bad and I refuse to take a connection!!) I can't imagine driving, my son is at Georgia Tech and I drove that once, never again! With the price of gas and the time it takes it is not worth it for us.

We are thinking of the member cruise too! It probably depends on what day they take the reservations since it looks like an all day event just to try to get a reservation!

We have points at BLT, BCV and BWV. I am about to sell the BWV contract, I have gotten such poor location rooms at BWV that you feel like your room is in the parking lot of DHS! We love BLT the most (I started the BLT views thread), but like BCV for EPCOT events (including the big pin event!!)

 

[BigDogHU75]

I was just wondering what modes of transportation everyone uses from Baltimore to Orlando.

When I was a kid we used to drive. I've flown twice now with AirTran and SouthWest.

We have driven from Southern MD to FL every since 2009. For us, it is about a 14 hour trip and we enjoy it.

 

[Doug7856]

I don't know what has happened to Airtran/SW. They have horrible times out of BWI now. Airtrain barely has any non stop flights. The good times on SW are a lot more expensive. Gone are the days of 69 each way. I am happy with 94 but the times I need/want are with ONE STOP. grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I recently read a newspaper article that between SW and Airtran , SW was reducing a few flights per day from Baltimore to Orlando (based on the combined SW and Airtran flights). For our December trip our non stop options are either early morning or late afternoon/evening -- NOTHING NS mid day! Very frustrating.

Hopefully this is a blip during slow season and not a trend.

____

Edited to add, got an email yesterday and there is a December flight sale. Our flights are now $71 from BWI to MCO. Our family of 4 saves $65. Not too bad!

 

[maciec]

Do you guys know if they have suspended family boarding? My dh will be getting on the plane with our infant son who will be in a car seat. I didn't get him EBCI because of the Family boarding and now I am wondering if that was a mistake.

Oh and I got lucky when the flights came out for October and we got our flight for $112 I think and it has just gone progressively up since then. I kept seeing all of these great sales that encompassed our dates, but none of those rates ever showed up for our dates. I hate that!

 

[Doug7856]

Do you guys know if they have suspended family boarding? My dh will be getting on the plane with our infant son who will be in a car seat. I didn't get him EBCI because of the Family boarding and now I am wondering if that was a mistake.

Family boarding is between A and B boarding. We just do the EB, it take away my stress!

 

[maciec]

Gald to hear that they are still doing it. I paid for EBCI for myself and my 2 big kids. I figure when we get on the plane we will just head to the back so that there won'tbe a problem when dh comes on with the baby at Family boarding

 

[Judique]

We have driven from Southern MD to FL every since 2009. For us, it is about a 14 hour trip and we enjoy it.

I drive also from Southern Md area.

Do you stop overnight? I always do, which is probably why it's so easy for us.

Going again in January and can't wait!

 

[BigDogHU75]

I drive also from Southern Md area.

Do you stop overnight? I always do, which is probably why it's so easy for us.

Going again in January and can't wait!

We usually stop overnight in GA or in Orange Park, FL where our friends live. We can't wait to be cruising in April and staying at OKW for a couple of days after the cruise. In what part of So. MD do you live? We live in southern St. Mary's County not too far from the Pax River Naval Base.

 

[Carole]

We live south of Pax River and always fly. Drove for many years before gas prices were high.

 

[edk35]

We almost booked airfare today for Easter week but I just could not do it. We would have had to fly out of Reagan National because BWI was VERY EXPENSIVE Also, because we still have two in school....we would have flown out on Fri. March 30th and returned on Easter Sunday or even Monday April 9th and I could not get it any lower than about 300 or so per person. THEN we would have rented a van and the cheapest I could find was 635 bucks for 9 days. We have booked a vacation home in Windsor Hills for this trip so we need a vehicle because we are going to Kennedy Space Center and some other offsite places . This will be a FIRST for us to stay off property except for ONE night when we got in really late. We stayed at Buena Vista Suites. So we are going to drive and I am sure we will NOT spend 1800+ driving both ways.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

I booked early March flights a couple of weeks ago. I always find the best prices on their website on Tuesdays. So booked only the first leg because the returning flight times were aweful. One week later they added another flight time , plus it was direct AND $117. Booked it. Checked back the next Tuesday and another flight was added. Switched my booking. Checked for the last leg and it wasn't there anymore a week later! Guess it filled up? I have never seen such games with SW as I have this year.

 

[vicki_c]

We are flying AirTran next month from BWI - $89 down, $114 return - that was the best I could do when I booked in May. I ended up booking it through Orbitz though with a hotel package @ the Swan - not sure if I got the best deal ever, but it was the best deal I could find at the time, and didn't want to invest any more effort into it for minimal additional savings.

(and those are non-stop and at perfect times for us - leaving around noon on a Thursday, leaving Orlando around 5:30 on Sunday night - perfect long weekend times.)

 

[kaelarad]

DH and I live in Columbia and we drive every year when we visit for Christmas.
This year we are leaving the day before out BWV check in and staying in the Florence, SC overnight. This is the halfway point.

We tend to fly Airtran for our shorter trips. Like having an assigned seat and with my DH corporate rate we can check one bag for free.

 

[Cmbar]

We live in Western Howard County and travel to Disney at least once a year. We have mixed it up, driving some times and flying mostly with Southwest. I too have been dissappointed in the newer rates at SWA but I guess it is to be expected with the price of gas this high for so long. But with SWA buying out Airtran I knew it would only be a matter of time that our choices were going to be getting slimmer. They are the only airlines that fly direct to Orlando (which I think is ridiculous in this metropolitan DC area).

We are flying in late January for 84 each way to stay at BCV. When we go on our Fantasy cruise in June we will drive since we don't have to worry about school schedules and can take our time driving. We usually hit Florence, SC or if we can make it to Jacksonville we stay there overnight. Or sometimes we even leave early am around 4am and drive straight to Cape Canaveral. Just depends on what our plans are, work situation, how many drivers and such.

All I know if that if it gets too expensive to fly, I will drive because I need my DVC fix!

 

[MDTerp]

Wow - so thrilled to find this thread! Glad to know there are many Marylanders who are fellow DVC'ers!

We're headed down to BLT for the EIFWF next week - so excited to "go home" for a few days. Hoping for better weather than we've had here this fall!

I agree with prior posters about the noticeable increase in airfare to go along with the limits on good flights since the AT/SWA merger. We've been lucky and can still make our trips for just under $200/person. I routinely compare all airlines that fly non-stop from all 3 airports. I'll take the best one - cost and times considered. Sometimes the extra distance to IAD or DCA is worth it.

Looking forward to "meeting" everyone as we compare stories and share ideas on this thread.

 

[gonecrusin]

Wow - so thrilled to find this thread! Glad to know there are many Marylanders who are fellow DVC'ers!

We're headed down to BLT for the EIFWF next week - so excited to "go home" for a few days. Hoping for better weather than we've had here this fall!

I agree with prior posters about the noticeable increase in airfare to go along with the limits on good flights since the AT/SWA merger. We've been lucky and can still make our trips for just under $200/person. I routinely compare all airlines that fly non-stop from all 3 airports. I'll take the best one - cost and times considered. Sometimes the extra distance to IAD or DCA is worth it.

Looking forward to "meeting" everyone as we compare stories and share ideas on this thread.

 

[lilkitty819]

I have to agree that SW has gotten alot more expensive. I had to go with Air Trans for our flight this year I had to book 7 tickets and SW wanted a $1000.
more then AT and that included picking our seats and paying for suitcases I sure hope that when the merger is complete the prices for SW go down