Teacher Discounts for Travel and Lodging on school vacation and breaks?

[Michele Rogers]

Most families with children can’t go during the school year so this affects many more people than just teachers so not sure why Disney should feel obligated to give special perks to one occupation. Summer tips to Disney have been cheaper and less crowded in my opinion anyway.

Forgive me if this came off as asking Disney to have discounts for teachers. I was talking about travel to Disney mostly. Flights during school vacation are outrageous.

 

[Michele Rogers]

Disney doesn't discount for Teachers. Unfortunately with their target being families, who have kids in school, everyone needs to go at the same times. Most teachers I know do get vacations though. I just traveled with a Teacher friend in January, she took a couple days off, it's our 2nd year to go then. Maybe try that one year

Yes, I used my couple personal days in January to travel after break because it was cheaper. Parents with school aged children can use their vacation time to take a trip during the school days though if they were worried about the prices. Teachers and public school employees get few personal days.

 

[Kestryl]

Parents of school aged children can use their time off to take a vacation and pull their children out of school during a different time. We cannot. We have few personal days.

This. My husband is a teacher. I get so, so jealous when parents are just like, oh, we’ll pull the kids for a week for vacation. That must be nice. My husband gets two personal days. Two. He had to use half a personal day because we were having issues with there HVAC and, while my job is relatively flexible, I couldn’t do it. We’re saving another to attend a wedding out of town. And these days do not roll-over- you don’t get to bank personal days, so can’t just “save up” time.

I don’t have any real tips. We just save up. It helps that I make good money and my job is flexible. We went right after school got out last year with some Fun & Summer discount. Crowds weren’t bad, actually, though it was really hot. We also drove, because we’re lucky to live close enough. (It’s 10 hours, but we’d spend 6-7 hours with a connection on a plane, so I guess it’s worth it.) Would a summer road trip be possible?

 

[kylenne]

The discounts are slim though. I had hoped there would be flight discounts. That's what is the most expensive. It's crazy.

You want cheap flights, play the credit card rewards game. You don’t have to be a hardcore churner type either. I’m not and our May flights were paid with my JetBlue Plus card’s sign up bonus. Families with kids tend to love the Southwest cards because of the free companion passes. The I love credit cards thread on the budget board is a great resource.

 

[Dakota731]

We use our credit cards too for free flights. With a school aged child we go over Christmas and flights at that time are even higher than summer so we just make it work. We look for room discounts since WDW isn’t cheap for anyone!

 

[danc18]

I do sympathize with the teachers being tied to common break weeks. We have always traveled with teachers. The advice above is generally good. Since you know your dates a year ahead, try DVC. Monitor for sales daily after you book and try to rebook sale rates. Book flights as soon as the schedule for those dates comes out. I find that fares can quickly double after that. In addition to the cost, you’re often saddled with crowds that put a dent in the experience.

 

[SandS_K]

Why don't you just travel during the 3 weeks you have off in the summer. Also if money is tight, my suggestion is don't go on a vacation you can't afford. We love going to disney because we find it cheaper than going other places. We live in North Dakota and priced out going to the black hills in SD or going Yellowstone. After looking at hotel prices, food, gas and activities it priced out pretty even to flying to WDW. We stay at a value resort, book when they have free dining and watch flight prices daily, looking for cheaper flights. It may not be the ideal time to go, but we still get to go. We only go to QS restaurants so we don't have to factor in the price of tips. Also, we don't have many flight options out of ND. I priced flying from Boston to MCO during the days we have booked for this summer. I would love to book flights for that price. Flights are half of what they are out of ND. Our budget doesn't allow for us to stay moderate, deluxe, swan/dolphin or DVC and we are fine with that. We are still going to WDW and creating memories to last a lifetime.

 

[ClapYourHands]

I wasn't judging you for buying LE Minnie Mouse ears and Loungefly purses. My point is you have discretionary income that lots of people don't have. It might not be a lot and it might be your one splurge, but lots of people don't even have that to add to a vacation fund. People working minimum wage jobs, living paycheck to paycheck, deciding if they are going to pay the electricity bill or the water bill - they don't get special discounts. Many of them don't even get PTO; they work or they don't get paid.

I agree spring break travel is expensive, but you can travel during your 3 weeks off in the summer. I was a teacher for 13 years. I got 3 personal days per year. They didn't roll over, and I couldn't use one adjacent to a vacation, so no making a three day weekend into a 4 day weekend for better travel prices. I have been there with the lack of flexibility, and I still don't think anyone in the school system deserves special travel discounts.

At the risk of reading too much into your posts, it sounds like what you're really wanting is special time with your daughter. You don't need to go to Disney for that. You can have special time with your daughter in many more affordable places. You can make them special. There are lots of great places within easy driving distance of MA. Drive to DC, stay on the outskirts, and enjoy the amazing free museums and monuments. We did that last summer, and my kids had a ball! Legoland is opening in upstate NY this summer. I priced out a vacation for my family, and we can get two days of tickets and a night in a hotel with free breakfast for about $250.

Growing up, our family did not take many vacations further than an hour's drive. We'd go to western MA (not the fashionable part), and my vacation was swimming in a lake, fishing, catching frogs, riding my bike. Would I have loved to go to Disney? Sure, but it wasn't part of the budget, so my parents worked with what we had. I never felt the lack. I finally made it to Disney when I was in 8th grade. It was my one and only childhood trip to Disney, and the only time I was ever on a plane with my parents. It was during February break because even though my parents were not teachers, my severely dyslexic brother could not afford to miss any school days.

You are absolutely right that seniority plays a big part in teacher pay, and none of us know how long you have been teaching. Maybe spring break at Disney is a trip that happens later when you are higher up the pay ladder an can better afford it. Maybe it's a road trip in the summer when you have more time. But I still hold to my position that working in a school doesn't entitle anyone to special travel discounts. Otherwise that 30-year teacher making (or exceeding) 100K would be getting special rates when the cashier at Walmart, the fry guy at McDonald's, and the retail worker at the mall would be paying full price, despite making minimum wage.

 

[Mainemama]

I am also a teacher, married to an educator, so I feel your pain with flights from the Northeast. We have settled on summer as the cheapest way to travel. You should be able to find rountrip direct flights from Boston for $99 each way if you fly midweek in July or August, late arrival or early arrival (not midday). I stalk flights and jump on them once I find in that range. Flights April break are 4xs that! December is the next most reasonable. We have flown on Xmas Day cheaply. We have also taken the auto train (driving to VG) About the same cost as flying, but Amtrak offers good child discounts and you won’t have to rent a car. Honestly, I took a second job at a summer camp to pay for Disney. Sounds like you already did that!

 

[AngiTN]

Teachers are slaves to school vacations. Parents of school aged children can use their time off to take a vacation and pull their children out of school during a different time. We cannot. We have few personal days. So yes, teachers should have travel discounts for school breaks when compared to a nurse or social worker. I think that anyone who works in the public school system should have the option of discounted travel and such.

As a teacher I am shocked you say such a thing. Many school districts don’t even allow such. Ours gives 4 days a year you can miss, excused or not. 4. Total

 

[ClapYourHands]

I don't know if you are still following this thread, but with the COVID19 outbreak scaring a lot of people, there are some pretty sweet deals developing on airfare and lodging. I don't know when your April break is, but you might want to monitor the travel situation carefully. I've seen some pretty big dips in airfare here and there already, and I think you'll see Disney room inventory open up at discounts (possibly through 3rd parties like Hotwire or Priceline) as people cancel trips.

 

[AngiTN]

Especially Southwest. I just saved 1000 points on each ticket, one way, for April.
And $90 each for the other leg. Also April.
We have a Delta flight booked for May but it's with a companion ticket so I can't change or alter it to check the prices. I may call though

 

[ClapYourHands]

FYI - Minnie Mouse ears with the Tea Party theme are currently in stock at Shop Disney