Suncountry and DME?

[pugdog]

Ok I just got back from the TA and she told me that Suncountry and WDTC have teamed up and are now offering discounts between them. So my next question to her was " is Suncountry part of DME also" her answer was " I don't know".
So my question to the group and Tyler is: Is suncountry part of DME yet and if not will they be before December when we go?

 

[seashoreCM]

Doesn't matter whether they are part of DME, you can use DME the same way with any airline flight coming into MCO or even if you came by train and got yourself over to MCO on resort check in day.

For those airlines that are participating with DME there are no additional discounts just for that.

The only difference that "participating" makes is that you can check baggage for your trip home at the resort on check out day (flights leaving after 8 AM). Otherwise you simply bring your baggage to the DME bus back to the airport.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/magicx.htm

 

[magicaldisney]

We flew Sun Country out of MSP last October. As stated above, it doesn't matter what airline you fly, you can use DME as long as you are staying at a WDW resort. What you can't use is the baggage check at the resort when it's time to return to the airport unless they are participating. As of October Sun Country was not participating.

What discounts was your TA referring too?

 

[pugdog]

I totally understand DME it's just that Suncountry is currently Half the price of NWA. And I want to use resort checkin at the end of our trip. And if suncountry is in the works to become part of DME then I will fly with them otherwise I will need to get tickets with NWA.

 

[CleveRocks]

I totally understand DME it's just that Suncountry is currently Half the price of NWA. And I want to use resort checkin at the end of our trip. And if suncountry is in the works to become part of DME then I will fly with them otherwise I will need to get tickets with NWA.

Everyone has their own opinion, and I'm not trying to change your opinion, I just want to make sure you understand what you're saying here.

Let's say you found a Suncountry fare of $150 and a NWA fare of $300. That means NWA is $150 more. If there are two of you going, then NWA is $300 more.

Are you seriously saying that you will pay $300 to have someone transport your luggage from your resort's lobby to the airport, and you'll next see it at your home airport?

Because if that single service, which I agree IS a nice service, is worth $300 to you, I'll go pick up your bags for you and deliver them to the airport for you for, say, $200!

Seriously, I can't imagine paying double the airfare ONLY to avoid taking my bags on a bus on the way back to the airport and then check in the luggage at the airport ticket counter or with a skycap.

 

[zulaya]

pugdog...care to share what your quote was from WDTC for Sun Country?

 

[magicaldisney]

Everyone has their own opinion, and I'm not trying to change your opinion, I just want to make sure you understand what you're saying here.

Let's say you found a Suncountry fare of $150 and a NWA fare of $300. That means NWA is $150 more. If there are two of you going, then NWA is $300 more.

Are you seriously saying that you will pay $300 to have someone transport your luggage from your resort's lobby to the airport, and you'll next see it at your home airport?

Because if that single service, which I agree IS a nice service, is worth $300 to you, I'll go pick up your bags for you and deliver them to the airport for you for, say, $200!

Seriously, I can't imagine paying double the airfare ONLY to avoid taking my bags on a bus on the way back to the airport and then check in the luggage at the airport ticket counter or with a skycap.

I was also wondering if I was understanding this correctly? For my family (and this is just our opinion) we would choose to save the money and bring our own luggage to the airport with us.

I'm curious....if you check your luggage at your resort, do you still need to get on the DME bus three hours before, or do you get to catch the bus a little later. I guess that could make a difference for some people.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I'm curious....if you check your luggage at your resort, do you still need to get on the DME bus three hours before, or do you get to catch the bus a little later.

Your scheduled pickup time for DME will be approximately 3 hours before you scheduled flight departure time, regardless of whether you use Resort Airline Check-in.

This thread perpetuates the misinformation that some airlines are part of DME and some airlines aren't. There is no such thing as a participating airline list for DME. Only Resort Airline Check-in has a participating airline list.

Just think of DME and Resort Airline Check-in as being two entirely different services. You can use DME without Resort Airline Check-in. You can use Resort Airline Check-in without DME.

 

[dudspizza]

BAGS, Inc, does not show any mention of Sun Country joining the participating airline list (for remote resort check in).

Why would Sun Country even want to join? The cost is incurred by the airline, not the passenger, and SC offers 1 flight a day between MCO and MSP. During peek times, the flights are 3 a day at most. They don't fly anywhere else from MCO, so I would think the cost would be much higher than the benefit.

I am a huge Sun Country fan, but I don't see it happening any time soon. Also, if the cost is half of NWA, I would gladly take my bags to the airport and check them myself. The lines have always been very short for SC check in at MCO, so it really isn't that big of a deal. If the OP is thinking they want to use remote check in and then go off to the parks, SC only offers a flight between 10-noon back to MSP most times during the year, so remote check in would not be offering any great time savings either. Now if you can get a late night flight on NWA, that is a different story, but still not worth double the fare, IMHO.

Best of luck. If you can afford the higher price, great, but I will be taking the cheapest price so I can return to WDW sooner than later!

Duds

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

BAGS, Inc, does not show any mention of Sun Country joining the participating airline list (for remote resort check in).

Why would Sun Country even want to join? The cost is incurred by the airline, not the passenger, and SC offers 1 flight a day between MCO and MSP.

The ongoing cost is not incurred by the airlines. At BAGS Inc. locations other than Disney-operated resorts, the cost is paid by the passenger, usually at the rate of $10 per passenger. At Disney-operated resorts, the cost is paid by Disney. The airlines are trying to avoid every cent of ongoing costs, so you can be sure that they aren't paying to staff and operate Resort Airline Check-in.

The big reason that participating airlines like the BAGS Inc. service is that these airlines avoid ticket counter staffing costs when passengers check their bags and get their boarding passes from BAG, Inc. (including Resort Airline Check-in at Disney resorts).

An airline does incur up-front costs to connect their computer system with BAGS, Inc., and to work out the legal, operational, and service level issues.

I agree that for a small airline like Sun Country, the up-front cost of connecting into BAGS Inc. is likely to be uneconomical when compared to the relatively small number of Sun Country passengers who would use the service. However, as BAGS Inc. expands nationally, there will be more BAGS Inc. locations in other Sun Country cities. When BAGS Inc. eventually expands to Minnesota, Sun Country will have a very good reason to jump onboard.

Along those lines, the fact that Alaska Airlines is now participating is undoubtedly more attributable to the presence of BAGS Inc. in San Francisco than to Alaska Airlines' limited service to Orlando.

 

[pugdog]

I would in no way pay double the cost, but another $20 maybe. When we travel it's not only our bags but also DW's power wheelchair and her manual chair. So trying to lug this through the airport is not a pleasent activity and using remote checkin would be nice. Yes there is a 95% chance that we will be using NWA just because of the direct flight and remote check in and the times offered. But I am also a fan of Suncountry because of their better costomer service then NWA. But yes duds their times do suck.

 

[CleveRocks]

I would in no way pay double the cost, but another $20 maybe.

When I made my post ...

Let's say you found a Suncountry fare of $150 and a NWA fare of $300. That means NWA is $150 more. If there are two of you going, then NWA is $300 more.
Are you seriously saying that you will pay $300 to have someone transport your luggage from your resort's lobby to the airport, and you'll next see it at your home airport?

... I was simply going by what you wrote in your previous post:

I totally understand DME it's just that Suncountry is currently Half the price of NWA. And I want to use resort checkin at the end of our trip.

SO I wasn't being overly dramatic when I gave the example of paying twice as much to have Resort Airline Check-In. YOU are the one who gave that figure, not me.

For $20 per person, sure, I think I'd use a Resort Airline Check-In participating airline, especially with your daughter's extra equipment.