Which Came First - the Package or the Flight?

[McFlea]

Which do you typically book first? I'm planning for April 2015 and saw a good deal on flights yesterday. I hesitated to jump on them, for fear of missing out on a good offer from Disney - free dining for example. I'd hate to book airfare and have free dining dates end the day before - or some scenario along those lines. I know there are many variables, but in general, what do you recommend?

 

[GigiDisneyfreak]

Which do you typically book first? I'm planning for April 2015 and saw a good deal on flights yesterday. I hesitated to jump on them, for fear of missing out on a good offer from Disney - free dining for example. I'd hate to book airfare and have free dining dates end the day before - or some scenario along those lines. I know there are many variables, but in general, what do you recommend?

http://www.mousesavers.com/historical-information-on-walt-disney-world-resort-discounts/

Check here for historical info on discounts offered.

 

[pixiepurls]

Which do you typically book first? I'm planning for April 2015 and saw a good deal on flights yesterday. I hesitated to jump on them, for fear of missing out on a good offer from Disney - free dining for example. I'd hate to book airfare and have free dining dates end the day before - or some scenario along those lines. I know there are many variables, but in general, what do you recommend?

To get the cheaper rooms at the best resorts I do the package first and way ahead of time, and then pick the flight later. Thats almost always how I've done it. new flights pop up, but its a lot harder to get the $120 room at a value resort if they are all sold out, in particular the room you want. We are doing Art of Animation and as much as the Aerial rooms would rock I am not interested in walking 15 minutes to the bus or from the bus every night. it was miserable at Pop Century, the walk was I mean. I didn't realize I should have been smarter and planned and gotten the right building.

 

[sethschroeder]

Book Southwest or Airtran:
http://www.southwest.com/html/air/airport-information.html

If they fly out of your location they likely are one of the cheapest and you can change all you want and only pay the difference in fair, there is no fee for changes of time or date.

I booked our DVC rental prior to airfare even becoming available for Southwest though.

 

[Meriweather]

I don't book a package................but always book my room before the flight.
Still waiting to buy air for our Dec. trip

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

We book the package first, flights are flexible

 

[chocovrdmicears]

I always book my room or package first (hello 2015 rates! ). That way I can make my monthly Mickey payments. Flights come later. If the flights are available (we always fly Southwest), I do check them and see what days/dates seem more reasonable. I know that if we fly on a Tuesday or Wednesday I will get a better price when I book.

 

[tinkerbella16]

Usually both are booked very close to one another with the package first. For this years trip, I had to book the flights first because we got them practically dirt cheap so I did not want to chance it and lose the great price! Our package was book days after.

 

[jco_direwolf]

I ALWAYS book my room first. But them I'm DVC, I want to know I got a room before I go figure out flights.

Plus DVC I typically book 8-11 months out, lot of airlines there is no reason to book before between day 28 and 21 before the flight (historically the lowest priced fares.)

 

[dchronister]

In the past I have always booked my package first because I book early so I can make payments on it and have it paid for before time to book the flight, usually I fly with SW and they don't publish airfare further out then 6 months, that may have changed now, but that's how they used to do it, maybe a little longer now. But this trip, I am going solo and am very flexible in my dates, so I am actually going Wednesday to Wednesday, never done that before. Anyway, I had an idea of when I wanted to go, but hadn't booked yet and came across a super deal with SW, like $69 each way, and I had some points to use, so I grabbed it, of course to get those rates you have to fly mid week, so I will, round trip cost me $75 with my points. Anyway I actually did it backwards this time to what I normally do. Of course now I'm waiting on a pin code or a % off, but if I don't get it I will just stay at AoA, Little Mermaid room, I haven't stayed there yet so, it really won't bother me if I don't get a discount. I have also booked my rooms before and then waited on an airline sale.

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

In the past I have always booked my package first because I book early so I can make payments on it and have it paid for before time to book the flight, usually I fly with SW and they don't publish airfare further out then 6 months, that may have changed now, but that's how they used to do it, maybe a little longer now. But this trip, I am going solo and am very flexible in my dates, so I am actually going Wednesday to Wednesday, never done that before. Anyway, I had an idea of when I wanted to go, but hadn't booked yet and came across a super deal with SW, like $69 each way, and I had some points to use, so I grabbed it, of course to get those rates you have to fly mid week, so I will, round trip cost me $75 with my points. Anyway I actually did it backwards this time to what I normally do. Of course now I'm waiting on a pin code or a % off, but if I don't get it I will just stay at AoA, Little Mermaid room, I haven't stayed there yet so, it really won't bother me if I don't get a discount. I have also booked my rooms before and then waited on an airline sale.

Yes! We are doing a Wednesday to Tuesday and got $69 fares. woot woot

 

[1911]

flight first for us,we don't live near a major airport so finding the flights that work for our schedule and are not outrageously expensive can be a chore.

 

[Disneylover99]

Always book a package or room first. It's much easier to play with the dates once flights become available. And if flights are just too high, it's easy to cancel our package/room.

 

[Suvadoo]

I used to book the trip first and then search for airfare, but last month I booked my flights for travel in April 2015 .

I'm always searching for good airfares and over the past 3 years it's been really difficult to find anything for less than $500 pp round trip from Phoenix, but this fare was $300 roundtrip.

I'm coming to the conclusion that airfare is one of my biggest expenses, and the old recommendations of waiting until 8 weeks from your travel dates no longer apply.

I'll book the rest of the trip in January, at the earliest.

 

[denisecolby]

Most airlines don't even come out with thier prices and flights till at least 6 months ahead. I'm surprised you already see flights for April! That's awesome! We know about a year or more ahead when we are going back. We book a room only reservation a year ahead. At the 6 month start of when tickets come out, we start to look for a good price. I snagged good flight tickets on southwest as soon as they came out and paid 129 each wat. I'm glad I booked them when I did because the whole price of our flights has already gone up $199 each since I did. As soon as we have our flight, I turn our room only into a package and felt good to snag the free dinning knowing I had a way to get there

 

[McFlea]

Thank you all for your responses. JetBlue just extended their schedule until April 30, 2015, hence why I was looking. I'm still on the fence, but leaning towards waiting to book room/package, then looking for airfare. It's a tough call, because flights can fluctuate so much, and when you see a good one, it's very tempting. Now, if Disney would just release 2015 rates/packages, I could get on with it!

 

[Mikie]

We always have a pretty good idea of our general window (school schedule) and use frequent flier points for airfare, so for us the flight is the less flexible date. We book flights 8-10 months out and add package in time for 180 day ADR window, keeping an eye out for discounts we can apply after the fact if possible.

 

[g-dad66]

I've tracked air fares every single day the past 6 years, and when the price plummets, I grab the tickets (usually about 90 days out, but several times I have booked March tickets during the previous June or August).

Then I book the room or package (usually).

The huge variations in air fare makes this worthwhile for us (sometimes we are a group of 6 or more).

But this might not work for other folks' situation.

OP: I think Free Dining is highly, highly unlikely in April. Other discounts will probably still be available if you wait to book airline tickets about 90 days out.