Seeking Maritime Flight Guru's

[zarvgirl]

hello all,

I am soooo excited to be thinking about our 2nd family vacation at WDW.
With the new free dining option that has sealed the deal!!

I've posted before wondering about the best flight deals for Maritimers. The last trip we drove from PEI to Boston, couldn't resist the savings and really didn't mind the travelling even through a snowstorm!!

I want to book our WDW stay but haven't figured out the flights yet.
Any and all advice is seeked. I watch Airfarewatchdog and kayak.

We are a family of five looking to travel late March 2011.

My questions:

What days of the week are best for flight deals? (out of Boston, Bangor, Portland or any other suggested airport) Ideally the less driving the better.

Should I book WDW then get flights or the other way around?

TIA

 

[bfamily5]

Greetings from NB!!! I just booked for Sept 2011 so I am starting my research all over again...however I do remember a few tricks from the last trip. In my experience it is cheaper to fly on anything but a Friday and Sunday (supply and demand!) The least expensive airfare I could find was with Airtran out of Portland ME. There is another airline called Allegant air or something like that . But they only fly on Mondays to Orlando and Fridays from Orlando, but check them out too in case it works for you! I booked my WDW stay first (to secure a room and FD) I have us leaving on a Thursday and coming in on a Sunday. Since I am more than 1 year out I am researching and printing out air fares for my days (Thursday in, Sunday out) for this year so I have an idea. Last time we went I was able to snag airfare for 5, Portland to Orlando for $800 usd return...and a park and fly at HoJo's $79ish!! SWEET!!!

 

[zarvgirl]

Oh, where are you wonderful flight checking, deal finding experts???
I would still love any help, advice, prayers, suggestions that you can give me.
Thanks

 

[OverlookedAttraction]

Just a word of caution about Allegiant Air. They are great to fly with but they do not fly into MCO in Orlando. Instead they fly to Sanford Airport in Orlando which is quite a distance from Walt Disney World and is not serviced by Magical Express.

 

[Ted in Halifax]

Can you post your departure date and arrival dates ... are they booked (at Disney) or are you open for when to leave and arrive?

Tuesday or Wednesday appear to be the best dates for travel to/from PWM, MHT or BOS.

Also, best to check airfares early in the week ... i.e. Mon , Tues, Weds

 

[zarvgirl]

Loving the tips so far.

Here's the scoop.
We are not going until March/April 2011.
Family of five.
Flexible dates.
Haven't booked WDW yet, as it seems like it would be easier to fit it into the flight times as opposed to the reverse.
Last time we booked and were gone within 60 days. This planning in the future is much harder for me!! Last time we were able to get flights from Boston for under $850 US for five!

Thanks for the insights so far. Hope there is more!!

 

[Ted in Halifax]

You have it right ... hunt for the flights first ... but you can always book and modify your reservations. Just a thought.


Here's what I think .... you may need to wait until Nov or Dec to book a real deal.

So far I see US airways out of MHT with 118US per person plus taxes, but no for March or April yet. If things keep going the way they are now, then this may show up on airfarewatchdog. Set MHT to MCO in your fare alert searches. I have this fare booked for Nov 2010.

Also ... in DEC of 2009, I book March 16 to March 29th out of Halifax via continential for $329 CDN (taxes and fees in), so that would also be another fare alert.

I think something may come along in Sept or Oct, but I suspect Nov or DEc is more likely.

Ted

 

[OverlookedAttraction]

Just thought I'd share what we are doing.

We've priced our trip for $842.72 return for the two of us with Allegiant Air from Bangor to Sanford. This includes absolutely every fee including parking in Bangor for 10 days, gas to Bangor, luggage, taxes, service fees. Because the flight doesn't leave until afternoon, we can drive there that day.

The only thing not included in the price is ground transportation from the airport to WDW. Admittedly, this is a hassle. However, going into Sanford will save us over $400 and that's worth the hassle for us this time. I'm still exploring ground transportation options. Hopefully, I'll come across something great and share it with you.

That's a great deal from Boston, by the way, but don't forget to include all these little fees that we forget about? Does that price include baggage? Do you need to stay overnight in Boston? What about gas? Taxes and fees?

You should note that Allegiant has only released prices until January 2011 but the prices are pretty consistent no matter when you travel and only flucuate $10 - $20.

 

[gilsan]

Just thought I'd share what we are doing.

We've priced our trip for $842.72 return for the two of us with Allegiant Air from Bangor to Sanford. This includes absolutely every fee including parking in Bangor for 10 days, gas to Bangor, luggage, taxes, service fees. Because the flight doesn't leave until afternoon, we can drive there that day.

The only thing not included in the price is ground transportation from the airport to WDW. Admittedly, this is a hassle. However, going into Sanford will save us over $400 and that's worth the hassle for us this time. I'm still exploring ground transportation options. Hopefully, I'll come across something great and share it with you.

That's a great deal from Boston, by the way, but don't forget to include all these little fees that we forget about? Does that price include baggage? Do you need to stay overnight in Boston? What about gas? Taxes and fees?

You should note that Allegiant has only released prices until January 2011 but the prices are pretty consistent no matter when you travel and only flucuate $10 - $20.

I am not sure where you are, but that seems expensive. I have seen flights out of Halifax to MCO for $387USD/person return (1layover). You need to be a little flexible on your days but you can usually get a good deal with out the trouble of flying out of a distance airport.

We are an hour out of Halifax and there are only 3 in the family, but for us the savings of flying from Maine are not usually that significant and if you include the extra time we are usually better off flying out of Halifax.

Larger families do save more flying out of a US airport, but smaller groups of 2-3 people I think are better flying out of Halifax. With larger families you are dividing the extra costs gas, hotel, etc. over more people.

I have been pricing flights for November and December and have easily found flights for the 3 of us ranging from $1193-$1254. Which is lower than you quote per person. Try Kayak.com they are great for pricing flights easily.

 

[OverlookedAttraction]

I am not sure where you are, but that seems expensive. I have seen flights out of Halifax to MCO for $387USD/person return (1layover). You need to be a little flexible on your days but you can usually get a good deal with out the trouble of flying out of a distance airport.

We are an hour out of Halifax and there are only 3 in the family, but for us the savings of flying from Maine are not usually that significant and if you include the extra time we are usually better off flying out of Halifax.

Larger families do save more flying out of a US airport, but smaller groups of 2-3 people I think are better flying out of Halifax. With larger families you are dividing the extra costs gas, hotel, etc. over more people.

I have been pricing flights for November and December and have easily found flights for the 3 of us ranging from $1193-$1254. Which is lower than you quote per person. Try Kayak.com they are great for pricing flights easily.

Sorry, I did my math wrong intially. (I doubled the parking by mistake.) My total with Allegiant is $762.72 with everything in except transportation to Sanford (which is $100 one way with a town car.) The flight itself is $271.36 round trip/per person.

Gilsan, it takes us half the time to get to Bangor as it does to get to Halifax. Not only that but the price I quoted with everything in was slightly less than that $387USD you found from Halifax, that only includes the flight, I assume. The $387 doesn't include the extra gas to get to Halifax, the parking fees, baggage fees (if there are any), and the added need for a hotel. Allegiant also offers a direct flight, which seems rare from Halifax. Also, you don't have to clear customs at an airport while flying from Bangor.

It certainly depends on where you live but the savings for us to go to Bangor rather than Halifax is a few hundred dollars between the two of us. It is all these little charges that people forget about. So, it's worth pricing out several options.

ETA: I'm in Fredericton and flying from there is out of the question. There's one airline and it is currently offering a rate of just under $1500 for the two of us.

 

[gilsan]

Traveling from Fredricton does make a difference.

I wasn't sure where you were traveling from. For us an hour south of halifax traveling to Maine adds a lot of time on the trip. From Halifax my in-laws drop us off at the airport so there is no additional cost for parking and hotel. We also carry our bags on so no baggage fees either.

 

[OverlookedAttraction]

Gilsan, in your case, that makes sense.

 

[zarvgirl]

We will be travelling from PEI in late March/April 2011.
Approx. 3.5 hr drive to Halifax, 10 hr drive to Boston.

For our 2009 trip flying from Boston, I got a /stay/park/fly for $140 approx. which also provided a shuttle to/from airport and a continental breakfast.
We also had to stay overnight on the way home. $150.
Ate out 3 times total (packed meals for trip down) $135
Gas ??
Checked two bags, had carry on's for rest. $20

Had the convience of direct 3 hour flight, which we wanted being our first time travelling as family of five. Also only had to worry about customs at the Border.

$850- plane tickets for five taxes/fees in
$140- stay/park/fly
$150- hotel on way home
$135- meals on the road
$20 - baggage fees
$1295 total plus gas and time

We felt this was good price for a family of five. If it could be repeated from Halifax I would jump on it.

Thanks all for your advice and tips, I will be checking flights on Mon, Tues, and Wednesday.
Am already signed up with Airfarewatchdog and Kayak, Will sign up for the fare watches. Is there a certain airline?

zarvgirl

 

[OverlookedAttraction]

Zarv, I'm assuming that $850 was the return price? That's a great deal. I personally couldn't handle the 10 hour drive but if your family doesn't mind, what a great savings.

 

[Ted in Halifax]

As an example ... my November trip. Leave Halifax Nov 1 Drive all day to Manchester. I estimate 100 in Gas. Park and Fly, just over $100.

Airfare for 4 people was booked for $557 including fees and taxes. Both ways.

Return costs another $100 in Gas, plus we've added a stop in Bangor overnight ($100).

So our budget:
Gas $200
Hotels $200
Airfare $557
Bag fees 2 each way $100
Travel Total $1057

Add some travel food $80
POP century 8 nights $670
wegoshop run $200 (beer, lunch foods, veggies, other drinks)
Occasional meals $250 (Pop food court pizza etc)
In Disney Total $1200

Trip total 4 people - 2 days in US, plus 8 in Disney for approx $2300.

Ted

 

[zarvgirl]

As an example ... my November trip. Leave Halifax Nov 1 Drive all day to Manchester. I estimate 100 in Gas. Park and Fly, just over $100.

Airfare for 4 people was booked for $557 including fees and taxes. Both ways.

Return costs another $100 in Gas, plus we've added a stop in Bangor overnight ($100).

So our budget:
Gas $200
Hotels $200
Airfare $557
Bag fees 2 each way $100
Travel Total $1057

Add some travel food $80
POP century 8 nights $670
wegoshop run $200 (beer, lunch foods, veggies, other drinks)
Occasional meals $250 (Pop food court pizza etc)
In Disney Total $1200

Trip total 4 people - 2 days in US, plus 8 in Disney for approx $2300.

Ted

I'm loving this kind of set-up. Everyone keep your fingers crossed for me!!

 

[Ted in Halifax]

Just remember that I have an annual pass ... so Disney passes are paid for. You would need to add that in.

 

[DisneyCapers]

Hi Everyone,
We booked FD for August 2011. We will probably fly out of Halifax as we're from Cape Breton. We flew with AC in 2009 and clearing customs in Toronto was a bit of a hassle. In 2007, we flew with American Airlines which was better because we cleared customs in Halifax. Anyone have any advice on which airlines have the best deals out of Halifax?
Thanks!

 

[Ted in Halifax]

If flying out of Halifax, I would look at Continental's website. Use the Canadian selection under the billing address box (converts to CDN dollars).

right now they run around $375 cdn per person with taxes and fees included. I have seen these flights as low as $329 cdn taxes and fees included.

These flights stop in Newark ... where you will change terminals. There are reviews of this flight in the Canadian forum. I've done the flight ... and although Newark is ugly and old .... you are only in there for a stop.

remember to factor in Bag fees.

I would also check US airways ... they are new to Halifax.

I'm not a fan of flying west to go south, and preclearance in Halifax is a breeze.

 

[braddillman]

Ted's got it right, although I tend to think Newark is much better than it was 10 years ago, it's not so bad now. Halifax has me spoiled, I think it's the best airport in the world.

We're a family of 5, and live very near the Halifax airport. We'd love to fly out of Halifax, but asking for 5 tickets together is like holding up a big picket sign that says "Please Gouge Me!". This is especially true for frequent flier points like aeroplan.

What we have done is to divide into 2 groups, e.g. 3 girls go together, and 2 guys together. As long as we arrive the same day (hopefully same afternoon or morning), I don't have much problem. We make sure to get a notarized letter for clearing immigration separately (so it doesn't look like one of us is taking off with the kids), if needed, or just in case.

IMHO, if I can't find reasonable deals I'd drive to Portland. I'd prefer to go in September (and have when the kids were younger), but now school limits the available opportunities.

From PEI, I'd probably just look at Portland and forget about Halifax. But then, I don't mind long drives (e.g. we're used to driving overnight to Ottawa to visit family).