Newbie to flying. Several questions

[Antonia]

DH and I plan to fly to WDW January 28 and return January 31. Staying 3 nights/4 days.

Flying out of Charlotte, NC and into MCO roundtrip.

Looks like we could get non-refundable coach tickets for around $160/person right now. Should I jump on these and buy them now or wait closer to time since they are non-refundable.

Also, is there a best place to sit on the plant. What are the seats USAir has marked as choice. Should I reserve those?

Also, will we have to go through a body scanner just to fly from Charlotte to Orlando????

 

[stacy6552]

Don't fly US Air unless you want to be bullied and humiliated and you dont mind agents messing with your kids.

Aside from that, we usually top out at the price from DC to Orlando, so I would think you can do better, but I'm guessing since I dont know your market.

 

[Tara]

DH and I plan to fly to WDW January 28 and return January 31. Staying 3 nights/4 days.

Flying out of Charlotte, NC and into MCO roundtrip.

Looks like we could get non-refundable coach tickets for around $160/person right now. Should I jump on these and buy them now or wait closer to time since they are non-refundable.

It looks good to me, but I don't normally price that market. I have a hard time imagining it would go any lower. They might go down a little in the next few weeks, but I'd expect the price to firm up soon - that's only 10-11 weeks away.

Also, is there a best place to sit on the plant. What are the seats USAir has marked as choice. Should I reserve those?

It depends on the plane and your own comfort needs. If you are claustrophobic, you might want to be close to the front. If you are prone to motion sickness, you might want to be over the wings. I always buy choice seats (usually they're just $5-$10 each), especially on longer flights where I've experienced them running out of food choices by the time they reached row 17.

Also, will we have to go through a body scanner just to fly from Charlotte to Orlando????

I don't know if scanners are in use in Charlotte yet. They apparently are in Orlando. If they are, you can opt-out of the scanner, but you have to submit to a pat-down which you might find equally invasive.

 

[D23Ry]

Thats a good price for tickets! You can sometimes get better "last minute" deals, but that can be very risky!

If its a big plane, i always try to sit near the front, get out quicker. Oh and on the aisle is my preference so you can get up if you need to easier.

 

[Antonia]

Thanks for the replies!

 

[DebbieB]

DH and I plan to fly to WDW January 28 and return January 31. Staying 3 nights/4 days.

Flying out of Charlotte, NC and into MCO roundtrip.

Looks like we could get non-refundable coach tickets for around $160/person right now. Should I jump on these and buy them now or wait closer to time since they are non-refundable.

Also, is there a best place to sit on the plant. What are the seats USAir has marked as choice. Should I reserve those?

Also, will we have to go through a body scanner just to fly from Charlotte to Orlando????

$160 roundtrip? That's a great price! If your airport has the body scanner, it doesn't matter where you are traveling to. My experience is they don't have them setup in all lines in all airports.

Don't fly US Air unless you want to be bullied and humiliated and you dont mind agents messing with your kids.

Aside from that, we usually top out at the price from DC to Orlando, so I would think you can do better, but I'm guessing since I dont know your market.

What happened? US isn't my favorite airline but I can't say I've ever been "bullied andn humiliated".

 

[stacy6552]

Ok heres the short version: Family of 4 flying with 3 carry-ons, all regulation size, plus a purse and laptop bag. Dh and DS2 had stepped onto the plane when a woman with no uniform or name tag grabbed the bag from DS1, an obvious minor, and said he couldn't take it on the plane. When I began questioning what the heck was going on, the woman got rude. When the uniformed attendant, ED, tried to offer me a gate check claim ticket, the woman refused, "not the way she's acting." When I pointed out that the bag met their rules and questioned her treatment of my son, she told me that if I wanted to fly, I had to let go of my own bag (I'd grabbed it in the intial moments when I didnt know what was happening). Ed stepped in again, handed me a gate check ticket and said it would be waiting at the gate. When the woman began to argue with him, he took the bag and said that this was their problem.

But wait there's more: As I boarded the plane the flight attendant who'd been watching stepped infront of me and began closing overhead compartments, even though there were still many people boarding behind me, and not before I could see that the one over our seats and the one in front of it were completely empty. I asked the attendant if she would tell me what the deal was about the bag and she whirled around and said, "no you're lucky to be on this plane. Do you want to fly or not? Sit down."

Oh and by the way, when we arrived at our seats, they had been given to another family.

 

[LyssaLovesStitch]

I use farecast.com and check the pricing forecast before buying tickets. I've not had a problem. Ticket prices may fall by 5 or 10 bucks after I buy, but usually they're right on the money.

Kayak.com is another great place to compare flight prices and schedules.

As for the scanners - I think someone already said it - if your airport has them, then you either have to go through them or you have to opt out and take a physical pat-down. My two cents would be I wouldn't say anything unless actually asked/told to go through the new scanner - because you may make a big deal out of something that wouldn't have happened if you hadn't said you wanted to "opt-out" in the beginning.

I hope that makes sense. Orlando does have them from my understanding. I'll go through them, but not everyone feels the same way I do. Only you can choose for yourself what you want to do!

Sorry for the bad experience with USAir. We generally use Delta, and haven't had a problem with them.

 

[scdak]

I fly out of charlotte all the time, that price is about the best you will get right now, and its about the same price I paid for my tickets to MCO for my upcoming trip in 24 days (not that I am counting) and I bought them in March. As of 2 weeks ago I did not see a full body scanner in use at checkpoint A, not sure about B which is usually used by USAIR, the others are right though, if its in use and you don't want to use it, the opt out choice is a patdown, but even with the regular machines in use, you might still be pulled out for patdown, happens to me all the time, its the luck of the draw. Have a great vacation!