Non stop swa flts open

[3happydancers]

Don't know if this was posted, but I was checking for non stop flights for SIL out of Orlando to Islip for late August. They finally opened them up!!!! I don't like the price of the Wanna Get Away for my day but I am paying with points so I booked it. Now to keep checking to see if the price comes down.

For some reason the non stop flights were not offered the day SWA opened their flights thru Oct for what I needed.

 

[maxiesmom]

Shoot. Still no non stop from Grand Rapids.

 

[kristenrice]

Shoot. Still no non stop from Grand Rapids.

Yeah, I think that ship has sailed. I feel like those nice AT/SWA non-stops to Orlando are gone for good. We're flying out of Flint for our next trip. It's half the price of GRR and they have non-stops. It stinks because I feel like bringing the "discount" airline (AT/SWA) to GRR and advertising the non-stop flights to Orlando was a BIG deal. Now that it's been a few years, we're trending back to where we were in 2010...no non-stops and $400+ flights. I thought there was a news story a while back that said that air traffic out of GRR was significantly higher that what it has been. Not sure what happened...

 

[maxiesmom]

Yeah, I think that ship has sailed. I feel like those nice AT/SWA non-stops to Orlando are gone for good. We're flying out of Flint for our next trip. It's half the price of GRR and they have non-stops. It stinks because I feel like bringing the "discount" airline (AT/SWA) to GRR and advertising the non-stop flights to Orlando was a BIG deal. Now that it's been a few years, we're trending back to where we were in 2010...no non-stops and $400+ flights. I thought there was a news story a while back that said that air traffic out of GRR was significantly higher that what it has been. Not sure what happened...

The non stop flights from Flint to Orlando are at 6:50 am. I am having no luck convincing the rest of the crew to either drive down in the wee hours or book a cheap hotel in Flint the night before.

 

[kristenrice]

The non stop flights from Flint to Orlando are at 6:50 am. I am having no luck convincing the rest of the crew to either drive down in the wee hours or book a cheap hotel in Flint the night before.

$248 one-way from GRR vs. $111 one-way from FNT...my troops are going to have to suck it up and deal with the early flight. It saves over $1000 so even with the cost of a hotel and parking, we will come out WAY better than those crappy options out of Grand Rapids.

Actually, I found a Fairfield Inn in Fenton (about 15 minutes south of the airport) that is a Marriott Rewards category 1 hotel. That means it only takes 7,500 Marriott points to reserve it. I just so happened to have about 8,000 in my account so it won't cost us anything.

 

[maxiesmom]

$248 one-way from GRR vs. $111 one-way from FNT...my troops are going to have to suck it up and deal with the early flight. It saves over $1000 so even with the cost of a hotel and parking, we will come out WAY better than those crappy options out of Grand Rapids.

Maybe I should stop whining so much. It is only $88 more a person to fly out of GRR instead of FNT. My bigger gripes are the flight times, and the lack of non-stop flights. When I looked they are still running non-stop flights through July, but then they stop.

I can get much better flight times with Delta, and the cost is the same as Southwest, once you factor in EBCI vs luggage fees.

Am I crazy to think that prices might drop at all on either Southwest or Delta?

 

[3happydancers]

Maybe I should stop whining so much. It is only $88 more a person to fly out of GRR instead of FNT. My bigger gripes are the flight times, and the lack of non-stop flights. When I looked they are still running non-stop flights through July, but then they stop.

I can get much better flight times with Delta, and the cost is the same as Southwest, once you factor in EBCI vs luggage fees.

Am I crazy to think that prices might drop at all on either Southwest or Delta?

If your crazy then that makes two of us. I am waiting on a SWA flight that is $306.00 ONE WAY to MCO for my SIL. I did book with points but of course it cost me twice as much in points (which I'd like to save for next year)!

How many people are flying in your group? I'm not familiar with your situation but some questions I thought of: $88 is a lot more is a lot more when you add it up but...are you comfortable with this price? How much is it worth it to you to fly from your preferred airport? How much would you prefer flying during your preferred times and having a non-stop flight? If you flew from GRR, could you add a day to your vacation so you are not losing WDW time?

 

[kristenrice]

If your crazy then that makes two of us. I am waiting on a SWA flight that is $306.00 ONE WAY to MCO for my SIL. I did book with points but of course it cost me twice as much in points (which I'd like to save for next year)!

How many people are flying in your group? I'm not familiar with your situation but some questions I thought of: $88 is a lot more is a lot more when you add it up but...are you comfortable with this price? How much is it worth it to you to fly from your preferred airport? How much would you prefer flying during your preferred times and having a non-stop flight? If you flew from GRR, could you add a day to your vacation so you are not losing WDW time?

When I looked at the prices, we were 100% set on SWA because we have the points. When I realized that we could barely get 2 R/T from GRR vs. 4 from FNT, I had to figure out the additional expenses (hotel, parking, etc) and see if it would still be worth it. Parking at FNT in the economy lot is only $6/day (so about $50 at most) and then we also had the Marriott points to cover the hotel. Add the financial savings to the non-stop flight (yes, those 1-stops out of GRR have terrible times...arriving at 8:30pm with a 6+ hour travel time) and FNT became a no-brainer choice.

Our next trip will be in May 2015 and I am hoping that they bring back a non-stop option from GRR.

 

[3happydancers]

When I looked at the prices, we were 100% set on SWA because we have the points. When I realized that we could barely get 2 R/T from GRR vs. 4 from FNT, I had to figure out the additional expenses (hotel, parking, etc) and see if it would still be worth it. Parking at FNT in the economy lot is only $6/day (so about $50 at most) and then we also had the Marriott points to cover the hotel. Add the financial savings to the non-stop flight (yes, those 1-stops out of GRR have terrible times...arriving at 8:30pm with a 6+ hour travel time) and FNT became a no-brainer choice.

Our next trip will be in May 2015 and I am hoping that they bring back a non-stop option from GRR.

I definitely agree with not taking a flight that is 6+ travel time going to Orlando and arriving at 8:30 at night is a waste. Can I ask how far FNT is from you? You mention a hotel stay.

We have JFK which is about 1 hr 15 min to 11/1 hour from me but the traffic to get there could add a substantial amount of travel time for us. And I think their long term parking is at least 10 per day if not more.

 

[kristenrice]

Can I ask how far FNT is from you? You mention a hotel stay.

FNT is about 1 hour 45 minutes away. Since we are leaving on a Sunday morning (6:50am), we are going to drive over Saturday afternoon. There shouldn't be too much traffic, but if there is, we don't have to stress over it because we will have plenty of time.

Back in 2008, we took our first family trip (kids first time flying, strollers, car seats, etc) out of GRR. We had a 2pm flight so I planned on getting to the airport by 11:30am. We planned on meeting my parents at 9am for breakfast and then they would follow us to the airport and drive our truck home. As I was en route to the kennel to drop off the dogs (8am), a car ran a stop sign and hit me! Luckily, there were no injuries, but I had to sit and wait for the police to arrive. Her car was pretty heavily damaged (small car, I have a Suburban) but fortunately, mine was driveable. I called the hubby and my parents and told them that breakfast wasn't going to happen. Instead, they met us at our house and followed us out to the airport. Then they drove my truck to the dealership and it was repaired while we were on vacation. It all worked out, but I was a MESS the whole time. I was almost in tears thinking that we'd miss our flight. After that, I learned my lesson and I budget in PLENTY of time on flight day. When we opt to fly out of a different airport, I will ALWAYS drive over the night before, even for an evening/afternoon flight. I couldn't handle the stress of a huge traffic back up (highway closes, semi-jacknifes, bridge washes away...it can happen) or a mechanical break down. We had a flat tire on our way home from HHI which gave us a 3 hour delay and that was just another reason for me to budget a LOT of extra time before a flight.

 

[maxiesmom]

My flying crew is me, my 22 year old nephew, and a couple of his friends. So everyone is paying for their own air fare. Dear nephew already said he would just assume fly out of GRR. So maybe I will check flights for going down a day earlier of coming back a day later, so we don't lose a whole day of park time.

 

[maxiesmom]

Wow, Detroit doesn't have any non stop flights either! That is shocking!

 

[kristenrice]

Wow, Detroit doesn't have any non stop flights either! That is shocking!

...and sad. I would think that GRR or DTW would be a better market to place the non-stops over Flint, but what do I know.

On a slightly related note...with our flight departing at 6:50am, what are the chances that it will be delayed? Would it be coming from another city that morning or would it be spending the night on the tarmac? My sister is worried about a delay and it got me thinking. On all of our previous flights, we had to wait for our plane to land. With a flight this early, where would it be coming from??

 

[DebbieB]

Wow, Detroit doesn't have any non stop flights either! That is shocking!

Southwest has backed out of many non-stops from other airlines hubs. Detroit is a Delta hub. It's hard to compete so they just step away.

 

[kristenrice]

Southwest has backed out of many non-stops from other airlines hubs. Detroit is a Delta hub. It's hard to compete so they just step away.

I would think that keeping the non-stops in GRR would be beneficial to SWA since it is NOT a hub. If people in western michigan (and even northern and mid-Michigan) want a non-stop flight, their ONLY option is Delta out of Detroit. Personally, if I didn't have the SWA points, I would still drive to Detroit to get the non-stop flight. There are no other airlines (well, Allegiant, but they fly to Sanford) that offer non-stop flights to MCO from GRR. It would seem that there is a huge market since half of Michigan goes to Orlando for spring break. If SWA were the only airline to offer non-stop service to MCO from GRR, I think they would pull people away from Detroit and certainly away from Delta. Obviously, this isn't the case because they discontinued the non-stop flights to MCO and now there are none. So, off to the east side we go! If they stop the non-stops out of Flint, we will be forced over to Midway, but at that point, I would seriously have to reconsider Delta. I would rather drive to Detroit than to Chicago.

 

[lauti]

...and sad. I would think that GRR or DTW would be a better market to place the non-stops over Flint, but what do I know.

On a slightly related note...with our flight departing at 6:50am, what are the chances that it will be delayed? Would it be coming from another city that morning or would it be spending the night on the tarmac? My sister is worried about a delay and it got me thinking. On all of our previous flights, we had to wait for our plane to land. With a flight this early, where would it be coming from??

It would likely be there from the night before

 

[DebbieB]

Part of the reason an airline would reduce flights is airport fees. They might be getting a better deal in Flint.

 

[3happydancers]

FNT is about 1 hour 45 minutes away. Since we are leaving on a Sunday morning (6:50am), we are going to drive over Saturday afternoon. There shouldn't be too much traffic, but if there is, we don't have to stress over it because we will have plenty of time.

Back in 2008, we took our first family trip (kids first time flying, strollers, car seats, etc) out of GRR. We had a 2pm flight so I planned on getting to the airport by 11:30am. We planned on meeting my parents at 9am for breakfast and then they would follow us to the airport and drive our truck home. As I was en route to the kennel to drop off the dogs (8am), a car ran a stop sign and hit me! Luckily, there were no injuries, but I had to sit and wait for the police to arrive. Her car was pretty heavily damaged (small car, I have a Suburban) but fortunately, mine was driveable. I called the hubby and my parents and told them that breakfast wasn't going to happen. Instead, they met us at our house and followed us out to the airport. Then they drove my truck to the dealership and it was repaired while we were on vacation. It all worked out, but I was a MESS the whole time. I was almost in tears thinking that we'd miss our flight. After that, I learned my lesson and I budget in PLENTY of time on flight day. When we opt to fly out of a different airport, I will ALWAYS drive over the night before, even for an evening/afternoon flight. I couldn't handle the stress of a huge traffic back up (highway closes, semi-jacknifes, bridge washes away...it can happen) or a mechanical break down. We had a flat tire on our way home from HHI which gave us a 3 hour delay and that was just another reason for me to budget a LOT of extra time before a flight.

Wow! Thank goodness no one was seriously hurt! I completely understand your reasoning. Actually, I like your idea about taking a room the night before the flight. Here I'm thinking, drive to JFK the morning of (and we usually take an early flight), stressing out (because that's what I do), and never thought to take a room the night before because we are relatively close.

 

[3happydancers]

My flying crew is me, my 22 year old nephew, and a couple of his friends. So everyone is paying for their own air fare. Dear nephew already said he would just assume fly out of GRR. So maybe I will check flights for going down a day earlier of coming back a day later, so we don't lose a whole day of park time.

That's what we did for our flight home; we are leaving a day later to come home. I'm already worrying about next year's vacation and traveling. I only see SWA flights getting worse.

 

[daisyx3]

We have flown SWA out of Detroit a couple of times. The first time in 2010 we had to stop in Nashville but we did not change planes; we just say on the plane. That wasn't a problem. Then in 2012 we had to change planes at our stop which involved running to a gate to use our A passes before boarding started without us.
For our June trip I booked Delta nonstop. But for our quick couple getaway in November, maybe I will look at Flint. We live near Toledo but it has few airlines and no non stops to Orlando; just allegiant into Sanford with chosen days and crappy times.
Daisyx3