opinions on travel...

[pixxi]

I was going to book Frontier since they have 69.00 both ways but when I selected it, I was shown seating assignments for $12 (24 round trip) a person and also the baggage fee of $20 a bag ($40 round trip).

Flight from Chichago to Orlando: 828.00
Seats: 144.00
bags: 200.00
bus to airport (no parking fee) 200.00
total 1372.00

For a family of 6 that really added up fast. Do you have to pay for seating assignments? If not, so they try seat people with who the reservations were booked with? We have 4 children.

Southwest is closer to home but higher price
Flight Milwaukee to Orlando 1584.00
Seats 0
Bags 0
parking/gas 120.00
time saved about 1.5 hours for closer airport
Is there anything else I'm missing or should consider?
I just don't know which is a better deal with travel times and hassle...

 

[StitchBuddy]

Personally, I would go with Southwest.

 

[scrapquitler]

Can you take less suitcases? We always take less suitcases than the # of people.
Have someone drive you to the airport and then pick you up on the way back?

 

[Monykalyn]

You don't have to pay for seats on Frontier but no guarentee you will sit together. Southwest is free bag x 2 up to 50# each. I'd prefer Southwest - it is nicer airline and if it is closer to home...it is very nice not having to drive after a vacation However a few hundred dollars is nice too...

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

Plus if you have enough time you could sign up for SW CC (or more depending on ages of travelers) to get 50k points after spending 2K in 3 months.

Those points would more than likely cover 2 round trip fares.

 

[HM]

Truthfully, with a family of six, I'd drive to Orlando. Add a bit of time to your vacation to make the drive.

I've flown three times in the last few months and it's not been fun. I am now a firm believer in taking my own car to wherever I want to go, if at all possible.

 

[MrPTato]

I would go with Southwest as well. I booked yesterday, checked flight prices today and they dropped $9 each way. 3 round trip tickets and I got a credit of $56. I will take that! Baggage is free too!

 

[Dizlvr]

I'd pay that. For our family of 5 I'm always happy to find airfare (and other trans costs) for under $1500. I'd also pay more for less hassle so I would probably pick the SW option in your case.
One way you could try to cut that cost is use less bags, not sure if there is a fee for carry on but maybe stuff some outfits in those for the kids. Or use some time to do some laundry while there.

Do you need to take a bus? We once rented a car just to drive to the airport, then rented another when we returned. It was maybe $60 total.

 

[MrPTato]

Do you need to take a bus? We once rented a car just to drive to the airport, then rented another when we returned. It was maybe $60 total.

Great idea...never thought of that before! Parking at the airport can be about $130 for the week.

 

[artemis4]

Truthfully, with a family of six, I'd drive to Orlando. Add a bit of time to your vacation to make the drive.

I've flown three times in the last few months and it's not been fun. I am now a firm believer in taking my own car to wherever I want to go, if at all possible.

This is what I say as well. Given our family size, we have found driving to be the best option. If Milwaukee is your closest airport, your drive would be about the same as ours since we are in WI as well. It's totally doable.

 

[Jedimom]

I noticed that SW fares dropped yesterday/last night for MKE-MCO -- so perhaps you can get an even better price today? I know for my dates it's now at $127/person/way. Usually if I keep stalking long enough I can get it even lower. If you've got the time and a little patience, keep checking prices???

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

By any chance have you ever checked out the Disney Gift Card Deal thread? It gives great advice on saving on Disney gift cards which is the same process for Southwest gift cards. If you have a Target Red Card you can save a minimum of 12% on your flights if you book each way separately and you and your husband book separately as well(you can only use 4 forms of payment per transaction and the SW gift cards are sold in increments of $200). Time consuming but so is a 3 hour round trip drive.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

By any chance have you ever checked out the Disney Gift Card Deal thread? It gives great advice on saving on Disney gift cards which is the same process for Southwest gift cards. If you have a Target Red Card you can save a minimum of 12% on your flights if you book each way separately and you and your husband book separately as well(you can only use 4 forms of payment per transaction and the SW gift cards are sold in increments of $200). Time consuming but so is a 3 hour round trip drive.

I thought Target only discounted Disney gift cards. They discount SWA also?

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

I thought Target only discounted Disney gift cards. They discount SWA also?

All gift cards are discounted except for Target and Visa/AMEX type cards.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Wow! Time for me to get a Target cc!

 

[HM]

When are you flying? Can you change your dates?

My Brother's family that lives in MI is going to fly out of Chicago next month via SWA. They are a family of five and got flights for the five of them under $600.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Wow! Time for me to get a Target cc!

You do not need to sign up for the credit card, you can just get the Debit card and get the same savings.

 

[okeydokey]

I just booked a Frontier trip for my husband to see his folks in Philly this Fall. A direct flight from florida back home was a bargain even with the seat and bag fee. 202 round trip is unheard of around here.

 

[kathy884]

Everyone has a different cost/convenience trade offs and different vacation budgets. We are more willing to pay extra for less hassle and time savings than a lot of people if it's in our vacation budget. That includes paying more for direct flights vs. ones with layovers, paying more to fly our of closer airports, paying more to get good flight time that aren't super early or super late that have reasonable and not overly long layovers. We're into doing fewer, shorter, and less exotic vacations to stay in budget and like to make the travel experience as hassle free as possible. But we too have our price point where we do something less convenient to save money for sure or decide not to travel at all as it's either too expensive or sounds like to much of a pain to get there and back to be worth it. I know we'd be willing to pay the extra $212 to avoid that extra hour and 1/2 on both ends to and from the airport.

"Just reread your post and see that you have another $120 on top of that for parking and gas" so that makes the decision a little harder too, as it sounds like it's an extra $332. So the question I guess is would you be willing to do an extra three hours of driving for $332. Or would you be willing to pay an extra $332 to avoid an extra three hours of driving. You could look at it either one of those ways. // Our family would I believe at this point in our lives and with what we currently budget for vacations pay the extra still, and I think a lot of that is DH's huge dislike of inconvenient travel and travel hassles. We'd even I suspect be willing to shorten our trip by a day to do that. // Everyone values different things though.

 

[#1DopeyFan]

I use Frontier all the time, don't pay to pick your seats ahead of time. There is always that chance that you might be separated, but we've never had any trouble sitting together and even times where they've gone out of their way to seat us together, without us even asking. For my family of 4, we usually pack one huge suitcase and check that, then everyone carries their own personal item, backpack or duffel equivalent, that fits under the seat, then there is no additional charge for those. But even if you check 2 bags total, I'm figuring you'll save almost $500 ($476) all for 1.5 hours inconvenience? Well worth it, imo! Good luck!