Please check with Disney Travel Co. before booking Airtran Flights!!!

[jen42002]

I booked our return flight on Airtran the other day for our August trip for $124 one way. Not great but it's the only late flight direct to Milwaukee. I decided to hold off on the flight down hoping the rates would go down. Total at $124 each way is around $267.

Out of curiosity, I checked on the Disney site to see how much it would be to add flights to our package. The rate was about $200 roundtrip, $67 less. I called Disney to see if we could book the one way down at their rates. No go. Apparently they have a partnership agreement with Disney but it is for roundtrip fares added to a package. Oh well. Live and learn.

Just wanted to post this in case someone else is looking at booking airfare soon as it may be worthwhile to check both the airline company sites and Disney as well.

 

[funhouse8]

Wow, Who would have thought. Thanks good to know I hope they run a deal airfare when they open Hawaii. That would be great!

 

[momof2disprincesses]

I would have done the same thing as you. I never would have expected it to be cheaper to book a flight thru Disney rather than with Air Tran directly.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

A couple of warnings...

1. If your flights change (always a risk) then you get to call Disney to deal with that.

2. No, you won't get a credt if AirTran runs a sale.... The "group" rate Disney has doesn't allow that.

 

[Missytara]

A couple of warnings...

1. If your flights change (always a risk) then you get to call Disney to deal with that.

2. No, you won't get a credt if AirTran runs a sale.... The "group" rate Disney has doesn't allow that.

And they are not as likely to allow you to change.

When I did the land/sea package the first couple of years, I booked airfare through Disney. It seemed cheaper, until I realized they booked me on the cheapest flights.

Inconvenient times, long layovers, etc.

I like to have control over my airfare now, so I don't have to deal with arguing with them when my flight gets changed and I want a more convenient flight.

 

[jen42002]

Great points orangecounty and missytara! At least with booking online you can select your specific flights and not take whatever Disney chooses to assign you. Having control of your reservation is key but I thought I would post this in case someone is really limited on budget and an airfare discount might help.

 

[paarras]

Thanks jen42002 for the travel tip. Just booked online (using a PIN code) and we saved nearly $100 on 2 roundtrip tickets. The flights we wanted were listed

 

[Shagley]

Thanks for the heads up. I really debated about booking through Disney, because I like to have more control over my reservations. However, I got tickets for $210 rt for non-stop flights (BMI to MCO) through Disney and they are currently $287 rt on the Airtran website for the exact same flights. That saves us over $300 on 4 tickets, so I couldn't afford not to book through Disney. Also, the cheapest I have ever seen these tickets is $89 each way and that was a few years ago, so I am pretty sure that the price won't go lower than $210 rt before September.

 

[seashoreCM]

Disney Travel Co. would just be another stop on your grandiose shopping trip to find the lowest fare. Disney Travel Co. probably has a block or allotment of seats on various airlines.

Whether or not they really are, Disney Travel should be sensitive to customers' reactions to airline schedule changes, and book changes that the customers ask for (or refund it all). They (should) know that customers want to arrive at Disney early in the day and go home late in the day to be able to enjoy the parks.

 

[jen42002]

Nice to see some of you have been able to save a bit. We had booked our airfare direct through Airtran already so we lost out on the savings. I did email Airtran about the fact that I had a Disney package and did not realize I could save more adding the airfare to our package. They indicated they could refund my money (including only charging me one change fee) but I would still lose out. As a courtesy, they did book me complimentary seat assignments in the first to board area ($15 each) for both legs of our trip. At minimum we would have booked the $6 seat assignments so I am glad they were able to do this for us. Now only 175 days and counting

 

[jen42002]

Thanks for the heads up. I really debated about booking through Disney, because I like to have more control over my reservations. However, I got tickets for $210 rt for non-stop flights (BMI to MCO) through Disney and they are currently $287 rt on the Airtran website for the exact same flights. That saves us over $300 on 4 tickets, so I couldn't afford not to book through Disney. Also, the cheapest I have ever seen these tickets is $89 each way and that was a few years ago, so I am pretty sure that the price won't go lower than $210 rt before September.

One more thing the representative did mention is that if you book through Walt Disney Travel Company, you cannot get any price adjustments since the fare is already discounted from that on the Airtran website. Hoping the fare goes down so I can at least get a credit for a future trip since we booked directly with Airtran. Lesson learned. Next time I am booking my Airtran flight through Disney.

 

[seashoreCM]

Or wait until Airtran has its own fare sale and then inquire of Disney Travel Co.

 

[amym2]

Thanks for the heads up about this! I booked our airfare through Disney today and it was $717 for 4 RT tickets including taxes and fees on Airtran. Going directly through AT it would have cost $1037. Even the TA I'm using didn't know that you're now able to book specific flights through Disney. You still can't for a cruise, but for WDW you can. She was so happy as well!

 

[shystalips]

Mind me asking where you got the pin code?

 

[jen42002]

Mind me asking where you got the pin code?

No pin code required. You just select your flights on Airtran when booking your WDW package through WDTC.

 

[SkcMom]

OP, I love you!! Lol! I was going to book our AirTran flights this morning. Was going to be $902. Using Wdw it's $662!! I told the rep the exact flights that I wanted he booked me on them!! $240 for Wdw!! Thanks so much!! You made my day!! =]

 

[Orangewolf]

I will be doing this in the next few days too - as soon as we get our tax refund - if it all works out we will save $401!!! And get the exact flights we wanted from Air Tran anyway. So above poster - you called and added your flights? We already have our pkg booked so I was worried if we could call and just add flights, but it sounds like that's what you did? Thanks

 

[Shagley]

I will be doing this in the next few days too - as soon as we get our tax refund - if it all works out we will save $401!!! And get the exact flights we wanted from Air Tran anyway. So above poster - you called and added your flights? We already have our pkg booked so I was worried if we could call and just add flights, but it sounds like that's what you did? Thanks

My package had already been booked in November and I called to add the flights just a few days ago. They do say that you have to wait about 24 hours for AirTran to process the flight information from Disney, then you can call Disney back and ask for the "Record Locator Number" and that will allow you to go to the AirTran website to book your seats or prepay for you luggage.

 

[SkcMom]

I will be doing this in the next few days too - as soon as we get our tax refund - if it all works out we will save $401!!! And get the exact flights we wanted from Air Tran anyway. So above poster - you called and added your flights? We already have our pkg booked so I was worried if we could call and just add flights, but it sounds like that's what you did? Thanks

Yes!! That's exactly what I did! Worked like a charm!! =]

 

[Orangewolf]

Yes!! That's exactly what I did! Worked like a charm!! =]

My package had already been booked in November and I called to add the flights just a few days ago. They do say that you have to wait about 24 hours for AirTran to process the flight information from Disney, then you can call Disney back and ask for the "Record Locator Number" and that will allow you to go to the AirTran website to book your seats or prepay for you luggage.

Thanks! I can't wait to book - hopefully it will be tomorrow - our refund was being deposited/pending as of this morning!! Yay! This brings the tickets from around $328 RT to about $248 RT Yay! That's close to what we paid last yr. Now I can book it and forget it!