What's the best way to save on airfare to Orlando?

[Chinita129]

Aiming to travel to WDW in Sept/Oct from New England. I've found great prices for our hotel and park tickets but I'm a bit clueless about how to score a good deal on airfare. It would be one adult and two children (5 & 7). I'd love any tips on best airlines to use, best site to use for booking, etc. Thanks!

 

[Flamingeaux]

Southwest has a special offer available until may 29. I have no clue about your region and best airlines to pick.

 

[captainjen]

I look at travelosity and expedia daily. I also check jet blue prices at their website to see if it is cheaper. Tuesdays seem to have the best dip in prices. Also I have been lucky when I check after midnight on Mondays or Tuesdays. Check every day, with a little luck you will catch a good price. I purchased two round trip tickets for late aug /early sept last week for 350 each round trip/no stops on jet blue. I noticed that the same tickets cost $100 more this week. I would not be surprised if the same tickets go down again to $350 next week, so it helps to check daily. BTW...I am also from New England

 

[Perditamarie]

We have had excellent luck w/Southwest out of Manchester, especially on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We are pricing various combinations of flights for August and just noticed that prices are trending up, so if you see a time/price that works for you, book it.

If prices go down, you can re-book and use the credit for the difference for another flight, within a year of when you booked. Also, you get 2 checked bags free, which is a significant savings compared to other airlines right there.

Happy planning!

 

[lions1995]

Fly mid week. Flights are typically cheaper.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Taking advantage of a good miles cc offer might be the best deal of all. Southwest seems to periodically give 50000 miles as a signup bonus. If you and your spouse each signed up that would get a family of 4 to Orlando I'd think.

 

[msmama]

In NE, it might be best to try out several different airports.

If you find a good deal, make sure you know what you're getting - are there extra baggage fees? Fees for picking a seat, etc?

If convenience is a factor (for instance, I only fly out of a specific airport even though I may get cheaper fares by driving an hour or more) keep that in mind, too.

 

[Ava]

This is not necessarily a money-saving tip, but make sure you preview seat availability and are able to choose your seats at time of booking. I only mention this because I notice you are 1 adult flying with 2 young children - if you don't select seats ahead of time, the airline is under no obligation to seat you together so you could end up with three seats scattered throughout the plane and no ability to move so you can sit together.

Also, as someone mentioned above, make sure you take extra fees for baggage or seat selection into account when comparing prices. I know Jet Blue gives you 1 checked bag for free, and I think Southwest is the same.

 

[kenly777]

Southwest gives you two free checked bags.

 

[cinmouse]

Depending on where in New England you are you can try Jet Blue from Worcester..they only have 1 flight each way but fairly cheap.
We just booked Jet Blue for Dec from Boston rt nonstop to MCO for $245 per person, which I thought was good since SW from MHT was almost double.

 

[stefplus3]

We're flying down to MCO in July and found that Providence was cheaper than Logan. We're paying $1200 for 5 people on Southwest, direct flights leaving and coming back on Saturdays. JetBlue was a few hundred dollars more.

 

[TwoAtDisney]

Southwest = 2 checked bags free, no change fee (that's a big one if you don't buy travel insurance), & no fee for booking via phone.

Also on Southwest, even though seats cannot be selected, can still sit together. Pay the extra for "Early Bird" checkin. We always get to board with the 1st group & we are always in line together.

Get a PNC credit card & all dollars charged earn air dollars. I'm sure there are other credit card companies with similar, good, or better programs. DH & I always get at least 1 trip a year round trip from Indiana to Orlando with free air from our PNC card. We charge everything we can to our card, even have utilities direct debited. BTW, any airline can be used, not restricted to 1 airline.

 

[fluffykalie]

Having flexible dates and checking rates daily has helped me. And knowing a good deal when you see it. Most nonstop fights from msp to mco are above well above 300 for a decent airline in oct. I was able to get tickets for 258 per person.

 

[wendybeth75]

We use Southwest almost exclusively due to the Rapid Rewards and miles we earn with the CC. That being said, be sure to check out smaller airports around you for flights going into Sanford, FL. Allegiant (no frills airline) has flights as little as $65 one way leaving from a small local airport. Sanford is about 45 minutes or so from Disney and Disney Magical Express doesn't operate through them so you would have to rent a car.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Book two one ways. I booked JetBlue to MCO and took Southwest back home. It was cheaper that way. To help out a little bit you can use Southwest giftcards purchased through a discount website (Check giftcardgranny.com) or buy through Target with your RedCard. Yes, you can only use two per transaction but just make sure to book a separate reservation per person. You save $5 per person if that matters at all to you if you buy from Target. Or if you can find a higher denomination on giftcardgranny.com, more power to you!

 

[Chinita129]

Thanks, everyone, for the great input! Lots of great stuff here!

 

[NotUrsula]

For the very best deals when flying, you have already made a mistake. The best method of all is to book the airfare first when you see a deal, then book the rest of the trip. Unless you are traveling solo, a deal on airfare is almost always going to save your more money than a deal on hotel rates, because you buy one hotel room but multiple airline tickets.

The other hard and fast rule is to never plan to fly on Sunday afternoon, Monday morning, or anytime on Friday; those are almost universally more expensive than other days of the week, unless those other days happen to be major travel days, like Xmas Eve.