Which would YOU do?

[MyZoeJane]

1. Book a flight on United, fly out of your preferred airport (O'Hare) and ay $250 per ticket (including taxes)

or

2. Wait for Southwest fares to come out and hope for a hum dinger of a deal ($39 each way would bee nice!) for June 10-17th and fly out of your not preferred but doable airport?


Seriously, if I book now I'm not going to miss out some highly likely "June Fare" that I might not know about, am I?

 

[mrscoobs]

I generally wait for about 6 weeks to 21 days before I book travel as there are those last minute deals that you can snag, but if $250.00 is doable in your budget and it is your preferred airport and you would like to knock another item off the pre-trip planning list then go for it. The key is just to NOT LOOK once you book so that you are not upset if the price does drop.

Also, if there is a travel insurance option for where you could cancel your flight for only a $15 fee then if there is a screaming deal you could book the deal and cancel the expense tickets. HTH

 

[beccasmom]

That's always a tough question. We almost always visit WDW during the same time period and rarely pay over $200.00 r/t, usually much less, on either SWA or USAirways (which match each other's fares in my area). Personally, I would wait. You have to decide for yourself a deadline to make a decision one way or another. Be extremely vigilant about checking DING! often and jump on a good fare fast. Also, check out the competing airlines which might match a DING! fare in your area.

 

[tinaluis]

If it helps any, the lowest DING I've seen from MDW to MCO in the past year has been $44 each way. Haven't seen a $39 DING in a long time. (I know it's only a $5 difference, but for our family of 5 that translates to $50 RT). How will you get to MDW? Don't forget to factor the added expense into your plans. Personally, I'd wait for a DING, but MDW is my preferred airport and we never pay more than $125/RT. If you do decide to book with United, stop checking ads/prices (as someone else suggested) because all you'll do is aggravate yourself if you find a lower fare. Good luck with your decision!

 

[DVC Grammy]

No matter where we travel to, if SWA flies there, I wait until their dates open for our trip. Then I book the tickets to guarantee me the trip, and since we know we'll be traveling again somewhere on a SWA route within the year, I wait for either an internet special or a Ding. Those Ticketless Funds that get credited always make the next trip a "bargain" .
Gotta' SWA!

 

[bavaria]

Well, I would fly United, no questions asked. But I am a United 1k flier who books vacation 0-10 days in advance, and won't fly without a seat assignment.

So asking me is probably pointless!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

If it helps any, the lowest DING I've seen from MDW to MCO in the past year has been $44 each way. Haven't seen a $39 DING in a long time. (I know it's only a $5 difference, but for our family of 5 that translates to $50 RT). How will you get to MDW? Don't forget to factor the added expense into your plans. Personally, I'd wait for a DING, but MDW is my preferred airport and we never pay more than $125/RT. If you do decide to book with United, stop checking ads/prices (as someone else suggested) because all you'll do is aggravate yourself if you find a lower fare. Good luck with your decision!

same here. I love swa and can always use those credits for some other trip.
I don't really care where we sit as long as my boys are with me! So funny, ds9 knocked on the bathroom door to say, "Mom- you just got a ding!"
Yes, I'm creating a monster!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I would fly United over SWA any day. That said, I wouldn't even be thinking about buying an airline ticket so far out for a destination with lots of availability and frequent sales.

 

[MyZoeJane]

same here. I love swa and can always use those credits for some other trip.
I don't really care where we sit as long as my boys are with me! So funny, ds9 knocked on the bathroom door to say, "Mom- you just got a ding!"
Yes, I'm creating a monster!

Okay, now you can come wipe the Diet Rite off my computer screen.

Okay,thanks guys. You've given me the courage to hold it out. I can afford the $250 tickets, it's in the budget, but who wants to pay more than they need to, you know?

Thanks being said, I guess my biggest fear was that the rates would only go up and up... and then I'd be stuck with some crummy flight times on SWA with not that much savings...

Is SWA like United in that they keep a pretty similar flight schedule to and from certain airports? I guess I'm just curious about the times they fly out of O'Hare and back. With United, both times we went this year we left on a 3:45pm flight and returned on a 7-something pm flight.

And if they ARE predictable like that, what do the time tables look like? For example, it seems American Airlines flies out at the buttcrack of dawn both on departure and return flights.

Okay, now I'm just being too needy, huh?

 

[disneyeveryyear]

SW doesn't fly out of ORD just MDW.

I booked our Spring Break trip the day they opened up the schedule. We paid $59 each way for a total of $135 r/t. It's almost a 3 hour drive to MDW, but to save $200/person it's worth it.

 

[tinaluis]

Is SWA like United in that they keep a pretty similar flight schedule to and from certain airports? I guess I'm just curious about the times they fly out of O'Hare and back. With United, both times we went this year we left on a 3:45pm flight and returned on a 7-something pm flight.

And if they ARE predictable like that, what do the time tables look like? For example, it seems American Airlines flies out at the buttcrack of dawn both on departure and return flights.

Southwest generally keeps the same flight schedule from MDW to MCO. You can research your dates now and pretty much be guaranteed that those flight times will stay the same. Lately, I've noticed the DINGs getting a little more specific, say $44 for a certain flight number (surprisingly, it's not always the very early or late night flights, it's kind of in the middle of the day), or $54 for other flights on that day not restricted by number.

We always "plan" to drive, but usually SW comes out with fares so low that even I can't justify driving.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[canwegosoon]

In my market I would do United(since unless you are extremely flexible on dates, the SWA dates get snapped up, and there are no bargains)...but in your market-there are so many carriers it would be hard not to find a deal.

Do you use www.itasoftware.com to look for lowest priced seats?
I also came across this recently on Flyer Talk...and I love the site, great to look at what is still available. http://publicbackup.com/shared/flyertalk/availability/

I think it will help you decide.

 

[FlyingBelle]

Is SWA like United in that they keep a pretty similar flight schedule to and from certain airports? I guess I'm just curious about the times they fly out of O'Hare and back. With United, both times we went this year we left on a 3:45pm flight and returned on a 7-something pm flight.

And if they ARE predictable like that, what do the time tables look like? For example, it seems American Airlines flies out at the buttcrack of dawn both on departure and return flights.

united.com has recently changed the way you can search for fares on their website now. You can search "flexible dates" which shows you what the price options for days right around your search days (The price includes all taxes and fees). I just did a quick search of late June 2007 and I see prices around $211. Usually the time of day makes a difference too - that first flight out of O'Hare (around 7am) is usually the lowest.

www.united.com

I've flown United, American, and Southwest from ORD-MCO... I'll fly United ANYTIME! (Ok... I'm biased, but it was too stressful not getting a seat assignment from Southwest - DH is very picky about where he sits!)