No more direct SW flights from IAD to MCO??

[kmvand1]

I was checking Southwest airfare for our trip December 11 - 17th and saw no direct flights from IAD to MCO and back! Has something recently changed and I missed it?? We have always taken direct flights to Orlando. I am not willing to take an 8 hour flight when it has always been 2 hours. Help!

 

[Lewisc]

Either fly out of BWI or find another airline.

 

[DebbieB]

It was posted a couple of months ago that the SW non-stops were eliminated from IAD. Probably because Jet Blue, AirTran and United offer non-stops, they would rather not compete. MCO flights are low profit for the airlines because of low fare competition.

 

[Tina]

I've always flown United or JetBlue (prefer JetBlue) out of IAD to MCO. Southwest didn't service IAD for so long, that it never really mattered to me by the time they finally arrived. I think JetBlue is the superior carrier anyway.

 

[n2mm]

Yep, they are gone. There were no non-stops released during the last release. I wrote to SW and asked if they would be adding some later and was told no, that there was no demand at IAD for nonstop to MCO. I flew them 3 times as did other family members and the flights were always filled.... Though I did always fly home on Jetblue, because of the RAC. With United, JB, and AT all STILL flying non-stop out of IAD, I guess they just couldn't compete. I pretty much stick with JB, but did enjoy the choice of SW too. I'm too far from BWI as my drive to Dulles is an hour alone. I do keep checking just to see if SW changes their schedule, but so far nothing new.

 

[kmvand1]

Either fly out of BWI or find another airline.

uh, thanks!

 

[kmvand1]

Yep, they are gone. There were no non-stops released during the last release. I wrote to SW and asked if they would be adding some later and was told no, that there was no demand at IAD for nonstop to MCO. I flew them 3 times as did other family members and the flights were always filled.... Though I did always fly home on Jetblue, because of the RAC. With United, JB, and AT all STILL flying non-stop out of IAD, I guess they just couldn't compete. I pretty much stick with JB, but did enjoy the choice of SW too. I'm too far from BWI as my drive to Dulles is an hour alone. I do keep checking just to see if SW changes their schedule, but so far nothing new.

I'm in the shenandoah valley, so my drive to Dulles is about an hour as well. BWI is out of the question. We have always done SW every year for our Disney trips and yes, the planes were always full on our trips as well. Guess we'll be flying Jet Blue.

 

[Donut23]

If you will really miss SW, you may want to consider a Park 'n Fly hotel near BWI. Your hotel rate includes parking your car at the hotel for the week you are gone.

DH used to do this all the time when he flew from Islip in New York. He stayed at the Holiday Inn just outside the airport property. He would take the first shuttle of the day and it costed less than parking at the airport.

Especially if you have a longish ride to the airport.....this will keep you in the neighborhood - you can sleep in a little - and far less stress.

We LOVE Southwest from BWI - lots of flight choices....but I'm only 15 minutes from the airport.

 

[Tina]

We did the park n fly one year from BWI and it was ok, but we felt like it sort of stole a night of our vacation. And then we still had a long drive when we came back home. Our drive to BWI is nearly as long as the flight to Orlando.

 

[bicker]

I wrote to SW and asked if they would be adding some later and was told no, that there was no demand at IAD for nonstop to MCO. I flew them 3 times as did other family members and the flights were always filled....

Figure that when a business says that there is no demand, they mean that there is no profitable demand. The willingness of consumers to buy something where the supplier doesn't earn enough money isn't really "demand".

 

[uknowbeers]

Three airlines serve this route non-stop. I have been flying it for years. Rarely was Southwest the most affordable, nor did it have good flight times. Many times the flights were before 8am and mid-day, around 1pm, leaving Dulles, meaning either a very early morning or a wasted day. The return flights MCO-IAD were slightly better on times.

JetBlue has comfortable seats, good times, 2x/day flights, free snacks and your first bag free. If you catch it on sale, it's usually on par with Southwest prices. If you can't find a good JetBlue flight, AirTran always has at least one flight a day, sometimes two, and good fares. You have to pay for your bags, of course.

If all else fails, United has many more flights a day (at least 4 if not 5-6), great flight times, and hit-or-miss pricing and service.

 

[uva185]

I'm in the shenandoah valley, so my drive to Dulles is about an hour as well. BWI is out of the question. We have always done SW every year for our Disney trips and yes, the planes were always full on our trips as well. Guess we'll be flying Jet Blue.

Just because they were full does not mean they were profitable. With Jet Blue, United, and AirTran all offering nonstops Southwest most likely decided it was too costly to compete.

That said you still have 9 nonstop flights to choose from.

 

[bicker]

Good point - on many routes non-stop to Orlando, how full the aircraft was just influenced how much money the airline lost, not whether or not they lost money.

 

[tinkerbell313]

We too live out in the Shenandoah Valley. We use IAD and have always used Jet Blue to go to Florida.

The flight times were convenient (down first thing in the AM and back home on an evening flight).

The flights were always less expensive for us with Jet Blue for the days/times we needed. I have noticed that Tuesday/Wednesday flights are less expensive then the rest of week. We are going to the World in September and I bought our tickets, back in March, for $49 per person each way on JetBlue.

Flights are direct from IAD to MCO.

The flight staff has always been very good to us.

Our children love Jet Blue because of the TVs, of course.

I also like JetBlue because they serve Arizona Iced Tea and DH loves Dunkin Donuts coffee. We also like the variety of snacks.

What ever airline you choose...I hope you have a great trip.