WestJet - Love that direct flight from Calgary - but SO expensive!

[hughman]

On our first trip to WDW we took the direct WestJet flight back to Calgary and loved it! I am keeping an eye out for a seat sale but the WJ price is almost double the AA or Delta...I guess they keep it filled up so they don't need to discount it? And by the way, has anyone out there tried using "redtag.ca" for flights? Thanks for any info...we are travelling aroung August 18th, staying at PORFQ...it will be our second trip. 2 adults and our 2 lovely teen girls!

 

[dis_guy]

I feel your pain! For us flying out of Edmonton, the only real choice is to get the best price available on United. A few years ago you could find YEG-MCO flights with United on the Air Canada site for very good prices, now they're just ridiculous. Delta usually costs more and West Jet is even pricier. So much for "Canada's Budget Airline". While we still get "tolerable" fares on United, since the merger with Continental, the cheapest routes have shifted from connections in Denver to connecting in Houston which is fine but has me on edge since the first time through, we missed our connection. Hopefully that won't happen the next time as I've allowed a little more time between flights. In the end it's a crap shoot and heavily depends on luck. There's one thing for sure, when I see a "pretty good" fare I grab it because it's sure to go up!

 

[Kat&Dom]

On our first trip to WDW we took the direct WestJet flight back to Calgary and loved it! I am keeping an eye out for a seat sale but the WJ price is almost double the AA or Delta...I guess they keep it filled up so they don't need to discount it? And by the way, has anyone out there tried using "redtag.ca" for flights? Thanks for any info...we are travelling aroung August 18th, staying at PORFQ...it will be our second trip. 2 adults and our 2 lovely teen girls!

We are going the same dates as you. We are flying out of Calgary on August 18 and returning August 26 on United. I watched the flights for months and when I saw the flight on United at $500 with all taxes in return, I grabbed it. Westjet was just too expensive for us. I looked at flights on hotwire but booked directly with United just in case our flight has issues, I figured United would give better priority to those who book directly with them. Good luck on finding a reasonable flight.

 

[hughman]

Thanks for the info - I know it's so much cheaper to go to Disneyland, but we had such a blast staying onsite and using the dining plan that we all wanted to make the extra effort to go to Florida. I hope you all have a great trip too! I thing I may have to book that Delta flight too, or similar...Take care!

 

[Kat&Dom]

Thanks for the info - I know it's so much cheaper to go to Disneyland, but we had such a blast staying onsite and using the dining plan that we all wanted to make the extra effort to go to Florida. I hope you all have a great trip too! I thing I may have to book that Delta flight too, or similar...Take care!

Our flight is to WDW. We are flying Calgary to Orlando on August 18 with United for $500 return all taxes in. Our flight leaves Calgary at 6am and gets into Orlando at 2:30pm - we have a very tight connection so I booked directly with United knowing that they would take care of us if we miss our connection. I just booked the flight a couple of weeks ago so I hope you have good luck getting a good flight deal too.

I truly don't find a lot of price difference between flying to Orlando and flying to LAX. We are flying to LAX in November because I want my son to do Carsland while he still thinks that Lightening & Mater are still cool. Our flight to LAX was $457 so only $43 difference between the 2.

Anyway, enjoy your trip!

 

[dontthrowsand]

We are flying yeg to Mco with either united or delta. I lve the westjet flight but we need to leave from Edmonton on August 19th so it is completely out of the question for us. Joys of being pet owners!

 

[dis_guy]

We are going the same dates as you. We are flying out of Calgary on August 18 and returning August 26 on United. I watched the flights for months and when I saw the flight on United at $500 with all taxes in return, I grabbed it. Westjet was just too expensive for us. I looked at flights on hotwire but booked directly with United just in case our flight has issues, I figured United would give better priority to those who book directly with them. Good luck on finding a reasonable flight.

I wouldn't be too concerned about missing your flight's connection. If you connect through Houston there are a few more flights a little later in the day. I think Denver has a couple too.

I've found that as a Canadian you'll get preferred treatment as they won't offer you any compensation because they usually offer free flights within the US.

 

[dis_guy]

We are flying yeg to Mco with either united or delta. I lve the westjet flight but we need to leave from Edmonton on August 19th so it is completely out of the question for us. Joys of being pet owners!

Your best bet will likely be with United. It seems that the lower priced fares are mostly through Houston these days. Whatever you do do not go through Chicago. Awful airport and high probability of weather delays.

 

[monkey30]

Yes I agree United is a great way to fly, I really avoid American airlines at all costs. They were rude, annoying and really poor customer service!

We have used Westjet for trips to MCO, really enjoyed the red eye to Toronto then down into MCO in the morning. Kids slept on the flight to Toronto, and most of the flight to Mco. The last flight we had we picked up in January at $149 direct out of Edmonton!

We are doing LA this time around, and found seat sales for $99 each way, but just missed booking them. So we ended up with Alaskan airline for $311 return all included!

 

[monkey30]

Check again...... westjet just posted a seat sale!!!

 

[dontthrowsand]

Your best bet will likely be with United. It seems that the lower priced fares are mostly through Houston these days. Whatever you do do not go through Chicago. Awful airport and high probability of weather delays.

We are doing either Huston or Denver with united. I called and they were very helpful.

 

[dis_guy]

We are doing either Huston or Denver with united. I called and they were very helpful.

Glad to hear that. We've done the early flight (6:30AM ish) to Denver and then UAL 802 (I think that's right) arriving MCO about 3:30PM or so. Early enough to grab dinner and head to a park after checking in.

For our next trip we're trying the late flight (11:58 PM), connecting in IAH and arriving in Orlando the next morning at 11 or so. It allows a pretty full day if we can sleep on the plane.

 

[CerysG]

We have the same issues here in Saskatchewan and some really terrible conections and it seems to take forever to get to Orlando! Didn't know WestJet had a direct flight from Calgary which is good to know if you can get a good seat sale. We flew Delta last time but United seems to have the same price so it will depend on what time we can leave, how long we have when changing flights and so on. If find if you fly either through Denver or Chicago you need around 3 hours between flights to make sure you have time to get to your flight. I was at O'Hare in March and it was a quiet day there and it took me an hour to get off my flight and customs etc. I hear Denver is worse and on a busy day it can take forever. It would be much better to go through Calgary if you can get a seat sale. We are planning to go down next August so I will be watching for seat sales. Does Disney let you check in at the resorts for WestJet? It so nice to check your bags and get your boarding pass at Disney but something I don't have to have.

 

[dontthrowsand]

Glad to hear that. We've done the early flight (6:30AM ish) to Denver and then UAL 802 (I think that's right) arriving MCO about 3:30PM or so. Early enough to grab dinner and head to a park after checking in.

For our next trip we're trying the late flight (11:58 PM), connecting in IAH and arriving in Orlando the next morning at 11 or so. It allows a pretty full day if we can sleep on the plane.

I think we are on the same flight! I was happy to see that flight added to the schedule for quite cheap when we booked. There are only 9 people on the flight to IAH as of last night so should have lots of room to stretch out and relax.