Planning Nerdness - Flight Planning!!

[DVC_Corrys]

So, we are planning for a Sept 09 trip and started looking at flights. I wanted to share a great website that I use and I think it would help anyone who has to fly to WDW and likes to save money.

it is side step .com (I cannot post links yet)

I live in Orange County so there are six airports I can fly out of (SNA, LGB, LAX, ONT, BUR, SAN) within 80 miles of my house. This website will search your home airport and then offer alternative airports in the area. I know most places don't have this many airports but it can help.

An even better feature I love is their tracking feature. You set up a free account (no spam, no offers) and they will send you daily or weekly (your choice) emails with the most current flight prices. I say why spend hours every day looking when it will do it and email you the results.

This website does not book travel so you actually book from the specific website it references.

It is a pretty impressive sight and I checked it out to other sites and find that it pulls the best deals. It uses airline websites and travel websites so it provides a great sample to choose from.

The only limitation is that Jet Blue and Southwest are not displayed, but I think they do provide links.

 

[TIGGERmetoo]

Thanks - I'll check it out!

 

[msabol01]

That's great I will check it out, I have five airports nearby Philadelphia, Newark, La Guardia, JFK, and Atlantic City.

 

[bwvBound]

Seems sidestep.com is a whole lot like kayak.com .

Edited to add: Indeed! Kayak bought SideStep last year. Story:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/12/20/breaking-kayak-raises-196-million-buys-rival-sidestep/

 

[DVC_Corrys]

I did not know that!! They look and feel very similar. I think like most people here who plan months out that the daily email for fair changes is a great planning tool

 

[bwvBound]

I did not know that!! They look and feel very similar. I think like most people here who plan months out that the daily email for fair changes is a great planning tool

Agreed -- I have three of those little Kayak critters working for me now and have been watching them for months. Recently picked up r/t SAN-MCO for $240 pp on our preferred airline and r/t SAN-LIH for a reasonable fare (not great but the lowest posted since July?). Helpful tool!

 

[DVC_Corrys]

BWV - I am noticing now that SAN is way cheaper than any of airports for my Sept 09 Trip. $310 for SAN, $399 LAX, $477 SNA!! However, I am sure this is because we are nine months out. I was finding Delta Flights out of SNA for $240 in April 09. Guess it pays to keep an eye out.

Also, we live in South OC and it is quicker to get to SAN than LAX most times!! and SAN is twice the distance.