Airfare

[mkfan1992]

Hey everyone!
I'm going to WDW in May with my college buddies and i'm wondering if anyone knows where I could get a good rate on airfare?! ..Suggestions?
-Rob

[Wizzard419]

I'm not sure where you're flying from but generally speaking buying direct from airlines will get you a better rate (from past experience) than trying to go through sites like travelocity since you most likely won't be booking hotels and cars.

Also, if you have the choice, fly out of an airport that Southwest works (or just fly southwest or jetblue), there was a finding that airports that southwest serves have lower airfares than airports they don't serve becuase of the competiton.

[boilerbabe]

We always get great rates on Southwest. If you book far enough in advance, it's usually cheaper. I guess it depends where you're flying out of, like Wizzard mentioned.

[Wizzard419]

I'm trying to think if there is any time that the airfare by itself is cheaper on a 3rd party site rather than on the airline itself. One option that you can do, but I don't reccomend, would be to travel standby, that would be cheaper/cheapest but you would really have no idea if you're going to get on a plane until right before takeoff.

If you have any family with lots of air miles you can try them and see if you can buy a ticket off of them as well.

[GeoffS]

The airline will always have cheaper than a third party site. Bid sites will get you cheaper as time runs out, but that's a dangerous game to play depending on time of year.

[Len90]

I always book direct from the airlines. On our past trip I actually booked us on two one way tickets since I was able to get cheap fare coming home, but had to wait for the price to drop on the airfare going. With some airlines like JetBlue, there is no difference in price if you book a one way or two way. Other airlines like Continental will charge you more for the one way. I noticed that JetBlue's airfare would usually go down in price during the weekdays and would be higher during weekends. Secondly, you should always compare the price for one person vs your entire travel party. The airline might have one or two seats left at the lower price. If you are a family of four, it will book you all at the same fare class. I ended up booking my dad on his own reservation for our flight going down since it saved us about $20. Also, be flexible with your dates. Have a range of dates that you want to fly on. This will allow you to choose the date with the cheapest airfare (usually a Monday-Wednesday).

Finally, always look at the other fees each airline has. If Continental is coming in $20 cheaper than JetBlue, it might still be cheaper to fly JetBlue. This is because Continental charges $23 for the first bag and then $32 for the second bag. JetBlue has first bag checked is free and second bag is $30. I personally favor JetBlue, but will fly whoever offers me the cheapest airfare.

[Amy]

I always book direct from the airlines. On our past trip I actually booked us on two one way tickets since I was able to get cheap fare coming home, but had to wait for the price to drop on the airfare going. With some airlines like JetBlue, there is no difference in price if you book a one way or two way. Other airlines like Continental will charge you more for the one way. I noticed that JetBlue's airfare would usually go down in price during the weekdays and would be higher during weekends. Secondly, you should always compare the price for one person vs your entire travel party. The airline might have one or two seats left at the lower price. If you are a family of four, it will book you all at the same fare class. I ended up booking my dad on his own reservation for our flight going down since it saved us about $20. Also, be flexible with your dates. Have a range of dates that you want to fly on. This will allow you to choose the date with the cheapest airfare (usually a Monday-Wednesday).

Finally, always look at the other fees each airline has. If Continental is coming in $20 cheaper than JetBlue, it might still be cheaper to fly JetBlue. This is because Continental charges $23 for the first bag and then $32 for the second bag. JetBlue has first bag checked is free and second bag is $30. I personally favor JetBlue, but will fly whoever offers me the cheapest airfare.

I find it quite fascinating that you do all the travel planning for your family Len...I hope they realize how much effort you put into everything!

[Len90]

I always book direct from the airlines. On our past trip I actually booked us on two one way tickets since I was able to get cheap fare coming home, but had to wait for the price to drop on the airfare going. With some airlines like JetBlue, there is no difference in price if you book a one way or two way. Other airlines like Continental will charge you more for the one way. I noticed that JetBlue's airfare would usually go down in price during the weekdays and would be higher during weekends. Secondly, you should always compare the price for one person vs your entire travel party. The airline might have one or two seats left at the lower price. If you are a family of four, it will book you all at the same fare class. I ended up booking my dad on his own reservation for our flight going down since it saved us about $20. Also, be flexible with your dates. Have a range of dates that you want to fly on. This will allow you to choose the date with the cheapest airfare (usually a Monday-Wednesday).

Finally, always look at the other fees each airline has. If Continental is coming in $20 cheaper than JetBlue, it might still be cheaper to fly JetBlue. This is because Continental charges $23 for the first bag and then $32 for the second bag. JetBlue has first bag checked is free and second bag is $30. I personally favor JetBlue, but will fly whoever offers me the cheapest airfare.

I find it quite fascinating that you do all the travel planning for your family Len...I hope they realize how much effort you put into everything!

LOL the best part about it is I thoroughly enjoy doing all of this. Mom still does the hotel and is the one who makes the call to WDW dining. I take care of airfare, rental car, and figuring out which dates we should eat at each restaurant.

[viking245]

May be "a day late and a dollar short", but here's an article titled "Best Time to Buy Airline Tickets to Orlando".
http://www.farecompare.com/articles/bes ... y-orlando/

Some key points:
"...the best time to buy domestic airline tickets is Tuesday at 3pm Eastern"
"Cheapest days to fly to Orlando are Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday..."

[momeja]

Viking, do you know why Tuesday 3 pm Eastern? The other rule makes sense to me. People fly on Thurs, Fridays, Sundays and Mondays. But why Tuesday 3 pm Eastern????

[viking245]

I had to dig a couple articles deep but found it. Kind of interesting.
http://www.farecompare.com/articles/whe ... el-advice/

* Airlines typically file their airfare sales late Monday evening (at 8pm Eastern)
* Usually only one or two airlines kick off a sale on any given week
* During the morning hours of the next day (Tuesday) other airlines scramble to match the new lower prices on the routes of the initiating airline(s) (during domestic airfare feeds at 10am and 1pm Eastern)
* So at about 3pm Eastern time is when all the matching discounted seat prices hit reservation systems for domestic travel — this is when the maximum number of cheap seats are available to consumers
* Even more interestingly these airline sales tend to last for only 3 days, so late on Thursday the sale prices are yanked, so if you are shopping on the weekend your likely paying too much for a domestic airline ticket.

[Amy]

I had to dig a couple articles deep but found it. Kind of interesting.
http://www.farecompare.com/articles/whe ... el-advice/

* Airlines typically file their airfare sales late Monday evening (at 8pm Eastern)
* Usually only one or two airlines kick off a sale on any given week
* During the morning hours of the next day (Tuesday) other airlines scramble to match the new lower prices on the routes of the initiating airline(s) (during domestic airfare feeds at 10am and 1pm Eastern)
* So at about 3pm Eastern time is when all the matching discounted seat prices hit reservation systems for domestic travel — this is when the maximum number of cheap seats are available to consumers
* Even more interestingly these airline sales tend to last for only 3 days, so late on Thursday the sale prices are yanked, so if you are shopping on the weekend your likely paying too much for a domestic airline ticket.

That is very cool viking!

[mindflipper]

LOL the best part about it is I thoroughly enjoy doing all of this. Mom still does the hotel and is the one who makes the call to WDW dining. I take care of airfare, rental car, and figuring out which dates we should eat at each restaurant.

I don't know if you're aware of this, but you don't have to call to make WDW dining ADR's anymore. You can go on-line to make dining reservations. Last time I went with my family I did the ADR on-line at the Disney website.

[Amy]

LOL the best part about it is I thoroughly enjoy doing all of this. Mom still does the hotel and is the one who makes the call to WDW dining. I take care of airfare, rental car, and figuring out which dates we should eat at each restaurant.

I don't know if you're aware of this, but you don't have to call to make WDW dining ADR's anymore. You can go on-line to make dining reservations. Last time I went with my family I did the ADR on-line at the Disney website.

That is how I got our Via Napoli ressies for this past trip. It was very simple to do online!

[momeja]

Viking, my Rafiki bows to the superior knowledge of your viking Mickey. That was really informative and helpful information. Thank you!