To plan early or not??

[tinafromidaho]

This is for everyone wondering if they might be planning to early. I am going in October, I bought my airline tickets in January, roundtrip was $171 each, our hotel was $79/night. I checked to see if I would have saved a lot by waiting to get them and my airfare would now be $305 for the SAME FLIGHT and $129/night for the SAME HOTEL. just thought I'd share this. Of course come the end of August things may drop lower than I originally paid. hee hee

 

[KCMiller]

To put your advance planning into perspective - our children will march at WDW in December of 2006. I'm already collecting info, choosing hotels, and scanning airfares to Orlando . . . . I should be all ready as soon as the school officially announces the dates!

For me, a good bit of the fun of any trip is the planning part - the dreaming part - the 'should we do this or that' part . . .

KC

 

[tlovesdis]

I am a big time early planner as well! I bought my airline tickets for my October DL trip back in March for $39 each way and right now they are $49 each way, and I predict they will go up as time goes on. Flight costs usually don't come down, but hotel prices might.

A few years ago we were going and I booked the new Residence Inn in Garden Grove about 8 months early. I got a two bedroom / two bath suite for $146 a night, which I thought was a great price for 6 people! So a few months before our trip I checked the website again and found the rate had dropped to $135 a night so I booked that and cancelled the other one. Then about a month before I checked again and it was down to $116 a night! Of course I booked that and cancelled the other one. So it pays, I think, to go ahead and plan ahead, but keep checking on things as time goes on. We saved $150 bucks!

 

[odgerscrew06]

I just wanted to comment on the early planning. I am also a huge fan and enjoy every minute of planning our disney trips. We have found that planning ahead of time really can pay off in different ways; airline tickets, reservations and seating in the restaurants, and being able to get advice from others on fun things to do!! My family will be going to WDW the end of November to the beginning of December and we talk about it everyday!!! It is wonderful to be able to get everyone elses input on things; we would have missed out on some soon to be neat experiences!!

 

[DLovinFam]

We are also early planners! We booked our Disney vacation Sept. 2004 for Aug. 2005. It's so fun to have something to plan and look forward too! When I first booked we had nearly 11 months to wait and now were down to less than 2.5 months. The time has surprisingly gone by fast!

 

[odgerscrew06]

DLovinFam, you are so right about the time!! We have been planning our trip to Disneyworld now for almost a little over a year and before we know it we will be getting on a plane to Orlando!! YEAH!! We can't wait; I just love the excitement!!

 

[JDarling]

Definately plan early for any trips planned during the 50th! Hotels are already filling up (and charging premiums)!

 

[DLovinFam]

DLovinFam, you are so right about the time!! We have been planning our trip to Disneyworld now for almost a little over a year and before we know it we will be getting on a plane to Orlando!! YEAH!! We can't wait; I just love the excitement!!

I know! It probably makes time go by more quickly when we are planning something SO exciting! When are you going?

 

[karylrocks]

I booked airfare (flying in to San Diego and out of SNA) for our August trip over 3 months ago for $195, the same flight is now $275; a difference of $400 for the five of us. I also reserved a rental car at $160 for the week, the price is now about $100 more. It definitely pays to plan ahead!

 

[Blackunicorn]

Nah, I don't believe in planning early.

I mean, how can I plan early, when those darn airlines won't release their fares for my September 2006 trip????

 

[odgerscrew06]

DLovinFam, we are going from November 28th to December 8th. We are new vacation club members and our home base is Saratoga Springs. We haven't heard to many great things about the resort, but that's okay because our intinerary doesn't have us staying at the room to much; basically to sleep! That is probably why we always need two to three days to recooperate!! With Disney, we wouldn't have it any other way!! Gotta love it!!

 

[DLovinFam]

DLovinFam, we are going from November 28th to December 8th. We are new vacation club members and our home base is Saratoga Springs. We haven't heard to many great things about the resort, but that's okay because our intinerary doesn't have us staying at the room to much; basically to sleep! That is probably why we always need two to three days to recooperate!! With Disney, we wouldn't have it any other way!! Gotta love it!!

You have a wonderful time!! Some day maybe we will make it over to WDW!
I know what you mean about recooperating! I wish we took more than one day off after our vacation, but at least be will be able to catch up on laundry and groceries that day (and hopefully rest some too). We wouldn't have it any other way either! I can hardly wait! Dh and I have been talking about it ALL morning!

 

[eva]

Well, I love planning early. But now I'm kicking myself for buying the airline tickets too early. I had been watching airfares from Peoria to LAX and Orange County since the end of last year. The prices at that time were ranging from $375 to $450. Finally the airfare to LAX went down to $339 the beginning of May. So I jumped on the price and bought. I just looked and the same flight is now $261. Man, if I had waited I would have saved $158 between the 2 of us.

 

[odgerscrew06]

Airline pricing is so hard to tell at times; should I buy them early or wait till a couple of months out. Does anyone have any good tips on when to shop for tickets and when can be the best prices?? We got our tickets last year because the price was good; LAX to MCO for only $276 roundtrip; we felt that price was the best we had seen and jumped on it!! There has to be a rhyme to the reason! Help me out, I am not making any sense now

 

[Sue & Co.]

We booked in March 2005 (as soon as we got back from WDW) for an April 2006 DL holiday. For us we knew fares would almost certainly go up as we are travelling from Uk at start of UK school holidays and back at end of hols, there could also have been a problem with availability during school holiday time. It's good because I've got a long time to plan but bad because we aren't telling the kids yet and I've got to be careful not to let it slip.

Sue

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I am such a planner. To me that is part of the fun.