Transportation options from Dallas?

[Aunt Stepody]

We have some friends who are trying to go to Disney for their first time. Airfare prices are crazy expensive...like $400-$500 RT. So, other than driving their personal vehicle, how could they get to Orlando?

 

[Alesia]

Teleporter?

They could take a greyhound bus, but it's going to be around 30 hours each way. It would probably cost between $150 and $200 per person. It would be faster and easier (and probably cheaper) to drive themselves.

 

[backyardponder]

Have you checked Southwest from Love field? www.southwest.com. At least they don't charge for baggage, so that could be a savings.

 

[dbarker]

When are they going?

 

[Aunt Stepody]

Teleporter?

They could take a greyhound bus, but it's going to be around 30 hours each way. It would probably cost between $150 and $200 per person. It would be faster and easier (and probably cheaper) to drive themselves.

Yes, a teleporter would be awesome.

I found roundtrip fares for $178 pp on Greyhound. So that might be a possibility.

Thanks!

 

[Aunt Stepody]

Have you checked Southwest from Love field? www.southwest.com. At least they don't charge for baggage, so that could be a savings.

Yes, we've looked at Southwest too. They're somewhat cheaper but not much...average about $300pp RT.

 

[Aunt Stepody]

When are they going?

They're dates are somewhat flexible but she told me ideally June 12th-June17th.

 

[Alesia]

Yes, we've looked at Southwest too. They're somewhat cheaper but not much...average about $300pp RT.

I would take that over the greyhound option any day of the week. I don't know if you've ever been on a greyhound, but I wouldn't spend 30 hours on one (especially with kids) unless it was a dire emergency. I certainly wouldn't do it for a vacation.

 

[aubriee]

Yes, we've looked at Southwest too. They're somewhat cheaper but not much...average about $300pp RT.

I fly from Dallas to Orlando several times a year. Since Southwest took over Air Tran and moved them out of Dallas Nov 22nd, airfare out of Dallas has skyrocketed. I've always paid $158.00-$220.00 r/t to Orlando. Since Nov 22nd, airfare has hovered around the $400.00 mark. For my trip Nov 26th-Dec 4th it had been around $450.00, then one Tuesday night American dropped to $268.00 and I grabbed it. A few days later it went back up to $450.00 and never went down. That's the most I've ever paid for airfare, but I was glad to get it. For my upcoming Feb trip it was hovering around $400.00-$450.00, but then again one Tuesday night after midnight American dropped their fares again and I snagged three tickets for $193.00 each. A day or two later they went back up to over $400.00. I work night shift and so check airfares just about every night after midnight. That fare hasn't come down again. I've been watching for airfare for my May and Sept trips, but they are hovering over $450.00 on American and over $300.00 on Southwest. Spirit had them for $205.00, but with all their fees they're $265.00 and get horrible reviews, so I'm scared of them.

It's a 22 hour drive from Dallas to Orlando and a 2 hour 22 minute flight. No way am I willing to drive it when I can get there in a little over 2 hours, so I'm playing the airfare game. If American, Southwest, or Delta would drop to around 250.00 I'm gonna grab it. That's still more than I'm used to paying, but that's the price point I'm willing to pay. Our days of $158.00 airfare and nonstop flights are over. I hate the layovers Southwest and Delta has and have always flown Air Tran or American for their nonstop flights, but will put up with layovers if the fares are the right price.

 

[KValo]

Usually I've paid around $180-220 round trip from DFW to MCO, as recently as last June. This year is out of control...$470 for the same trip that cost less than half that a year ago! AirTran leaving DFW was VERY bad!
We ended up booking flights into Palm Beach International for $252 round trip and are going to rent a car and drive 3 hours up to Orlando. For 4 people we save over $800 on the airline tickets and with a good enough deal on the rental cars (1 day up, 1 day down), plus a night in a hotel in PB we'll still come out way ahead. If nothing else it gives us a few hours to hit the beach, relax, and get a good night's sleep before hitting Orlando.

 

[Needzavacation]

Jetblue is going to start flying out of DFW in May, so that might be another option depending on their routes.

 

[KValo]

Jetblue is going to start flying out of DFW in May, so that might be another option depending on their routes.

As of now they are only going to fly to the north east. But later down the road I'm hoping we seem them fly to Orlando, that would be great! AA needs some competition!

 

[aubriee]

As of now they are only going to fly to the north east. But later down the road I'm hoping we seem them fly to Orlando, that would be great! AA needs some competition!

Spirit is going to start flying nonstop from DFW to MCO on March 22nd (only one flight a day though). They dropped their fares yesterday and are now offering $50.00 off each flight for flights 4/14/12-9/30/12. I gave in yesterday and booked flights for both my May and Sept trips. Even with all their fees they're still more than 50% cheaper than American. Even paying for carry ons Spirit's $183.58 looks alot better than American's $460.00.

 

[KValo]

Spirit is going to start flying nonstop from DFW to MCO on March 22nd (only one flight a day though). They dropped their fares yesterday and are now offering $50.00 off each flight for flights 4/14/12-9/30/12. I gave in yesterday and booked flights for both my May and Sept trips. Even with all their fees they're still more than 50% cheaper than American. Even paying for carry ons Spirit's $183.58 looks alot better than American's $460.00.

You are braver than I. I read too many bad things about Spirit that even with the cheaper prices I still stayed away.

 

[Aunt Stepody]

Spirit is going to start flying nonstop from DFW to MCO on March 22nd (only one flight a day though). They dropped their fares yesterday and are now offering $50.00 off each flight for flights 4/14/12-9/30/12. I gave in yesterday and booked flights for both my May and Sept trips. Even with all their fees they're still more than 50% cheaper than American. Even paying for carry ons Spirit's $183.58 looks alot better than American's $460.00.

Thank you SO much aubriee!!! My friend just booked her family of 3 for $316.95 TOTAL. Woohoo!!!