What would you do?

[Disneyfan1977]

Ok so I have been trying to find decent priced airfare for our upcoming trip for Philly to Orlando. The fares right now are coming in at above 800 for nonstop round trip for 4 people from Philly international to Orlando. Philly is about 40 minutes from my house.

I have also searched Baltimore int. which is 90 minutes from my house and the price I am getting is 480.00 round trip non stop.

I really want to just book the lowered price but I would much rather fly out of PHilly. I have been checking farecast and it keeps saying prices for PHL to MCO are going down.....

Should I just book Baltimore to Orlando? What would you do?

 

[jakenjess]

Is the 480 total for four people? If so I would book it immediately!! 120 pp RT is an amazing price, and for me it would be worth driving 90 minutes.

 

[SaraJayne]

I'm probably not the best person to ask, as I'm driving two hours to fly out of an airport that was less than half price compared to the airport within half an hour of me.

I think I would go with the $480, which is a fantastic price!

 

[Disneyfan1977]

Is the 480 total for four people? If so I would book it immediately!! 120 pp RT is an amazing price, and for me it would be worth driving 90 minutes.

Yes the 480.00 is for all 4 of us....sorry... I should have said that

 

[d1sneyf4n]

What airlines are you flying? I received an email from airtran where the airfare is 69 dollars one way from Philly to Orlando. I did not check into all the specifics as we already have our flights but if you have not checked airtran you might want to unless you do not like flying with them.

 

[Darcy03231]

I book at the lower price and drive the 90 minutes.

 

[disneynuts777]

Even at 800.00 I would be happier than a pig in mud.
In order to get decent airfare we drive 2.5 hours to Buffalo and even then it is close to 1000.00 for the four of us to fly during prime times.
To fly out of Toronto 800.00 might cover the taxes on our tickets!!
Last spring break if we had flown out of Toronto to Orlando the price for the four of us was 2700.00!!!!!!

 

[Karenj2]

The BWI airport is AWESOME! The garage parking is safe, clean and WAY cheaper than the scary offsite parking near PHL... We prefer it, despite the distance, unless we're traveling with family in the Philly area.

Where do you live (just curious), 'cause we're about the same distance away from each airport. (I live near Kennett Square, PA). When we go down to BWI, we just take Rt. 1 to the cutoff to 95, then cruise down 95.

 

[wall*e2008]

What time of day does the flight leave?

 

[JB2K]

Should I just book Baltimore to Orlando? What would you do?

Don't forget, you also have an option slightly north of your location...

Allegiant Air flies from Allentown to Orlando-Sanford.

Do the math, if airfare from ABE-SFB plus round-trip ground transportation (sorry, no Magical Express at Sanford) costs less than the quotes from PHL and BWI, you already have a better option...

Another option is to check airfare to Tampa from either PHL or BWI and do the ground trans thing to WDW...

 

[minnie1928]

KarenJ is right, BWI is a great airport. We used to fly out of there all the time. If you do it, go for the long term parking garage. Check out BWI's website, they often have printable coupons for the garage which makes it virtually the same price as satellite parking but the garage is closer and much more convenient with luggage, etc. It's also a garage so you don't come back to a stinking hot car obviously.

 

[Gretchen3ajoshmom]

I'm in Springfield Delco and have only used Philly- with four kids and all of our stuff it is always a nightmare and they keep raising the price of parking! Thank you for thinking of/ checking BWI- I may use it for any travel.... Thanks to the person from Kennett Square- I wouldn't have thought going to BWI would be that easy... Oh, I think you should use BWI- can't beat the price!!

 

[Lovinminnie]

Hi,

Airtran is starting nonstop flights from Allentown to Orlando next week. I already purchased my seats on Southwest ($59/ow) out of Philly months ago or I would be on Airtran. Allentown is great! Its quiet, no lines.

I think Allegiant will eventually stop their flights to Sanford. Who would fly to Sanford when you can go to Orlando?

Hope this helps.

 

[Bren's Mom]

I agree...if Allentown is drivable I'd do Airtran out of there to MCO. $129 pp right now if I've guessed your dates correctly.

 

[junebugs]

I'm driving alot farther to BWI (about 3 hrs) rather than flying out of Pittsburgh (2 hrs.) to get a much cheaper flight on Airtran ($680 RT/Nonstop for 4) than I can get out of Pittsburgh. The flight times were way better too. So I'd say it's worth it to drive for such a good rate!!.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Those are the 2 airports we fly out of as well. BWI is closer to us but we have driven to PHL to get the cheaper fares. To save that much we wouldn't hesitate to go to the further airport.

Which airline and what dates? The cheapest I can find for our Oct trip is $119 each way out of BWI.

 

[amshowers]

I certainly would hesitate to drive to save the extra money. We flown out of BWI many times and PHL twice and I think BWI is much better. Last time we flew out of PHL 2 years ago it took forever to find a parking space and we waited over 25 min. for a bus. It was their lunch hour, so I guess that means no buses. I was worried we would'nt have enough time to make our flight. Honestly I would not fly out of PHL again unless I got a really great deal, but it seems PHL flights are always more expensive than BWI. I would drive to BWI better parking, more helpful staff and you'll save alot of money.

 

[Disneyfan1977]

The BWI airport is AWESOME! The garage parking is safe, clean and WAY cheaper than the scary offsite parking near PHL... We prefer it, despite the distance, unless we're traveling with family in the Philly area.

Where do you live (just curious), 'cause we're about the same distance away from each airport. (I live near Kennett Square, PA). When we go down to BWI, we just take Rt. 1 to the cutoff to 95, then cruise down 95.

Hi Neighbor,
We live in Pike Creek Delaware. We are only about 20 minutes away from you. I did book the flight after everyones great advice so I am SO glad to hear how nice it is there. I flew out of there as a child but don't remember a whole lot.

We are flying Southwest to Disney and Airtran home. I am soooooo excited!

 

[Disneyfan1977]

What time of day does the flight leave?

I picked the 7am flight to get there early to get a full day in. Looks like we will be leaving the house around 3am ish.

Don't forget, you also have an option slightly north of your location...

Allegiant Air flies from Allentown to Orlando-Sanford.

Do the math, if airfare from ABE-SFB plus round-trip ground transportation (sorry, no Magical Express at Sanford) costs less than the quotes from PHL and BWI, you already have a better option...

Another option is to check airfare to Tampa from either PHL or BWI and do the ground trans thing to WDW...

Hi,

Airtran is starting nonstop flights from Allentown to Orlando next week. I already purchased my seats on Southwest ($59/ow) out of Philly months ago or I would be on Airtran. Allentown is great! Its quiet, no lines.

I think Allegiant will eventually stop their flights to Sanford. Who would fly to Sanford when you can go to Orlando?

Hope this helps.

I did check into this but when I mapquested it it was much further and the flight from Baltimore came in a bit cheaper. But thanks for the suggestion! Thats why I love these message boards...everyone is so helpful!

 

[Disneyfan1977]

Those are the 2 airports we fly out of as well. BWI is closer to us but we have driven to PHL to get the cheaper fares. To save that much we wouldn't hesitate to go to the further airport.

Which airline and what dates? The cheapest I can find for our Oct trip is $119 each way out of BWI.

Sept 28th we fly from BWI to MCO on Southwest. On Oct. 5th we fly from MCO to BWI. Both flights were 49.00 per person per way.

The flights were outrageous a few days ago but I kept checking a few times a day and surprise surprise they went way down......

Good luck!