On pins and needles waiting for a better fare. I HATE this!

[pfalcioni]

Well, I finally pulled the trigger and paid for our outgoing flight for our Feb 4th through 12th trip. Every flight tracking site has been saying "wait" until today. Southwest (our fave) has had a $168 pp price tag for the outgoing flight for a few weeks now, but the return flight is a wallet-burning $276 pp, which hasn't budged since, oh, probably a month ago.

After checking everyone else, I almost booked through American, but I just can't deal with their poor reviews. So, I booked the $168 outgoing flight with Southwest and will wait another week to see what happens with the return flight prices.

I am really scrimping and saving to make this trip happen, and I just wish Southwest would be kind and give me a freakin' break already!

Anyway, if Southwest doesn't drop their price, I think I'll have to either to American or Frontier for our return flight - what is everyone's thoughts on these two airlines? Seems both are not really well thought of, although Frontier gets slightly better reviews - help me make up my mind here!

[josh]

I flew Delta from Seattle to Orlando last month and Continental/United this past trip. *Knock on wood* but everything went just fine. At this point, it's just an uncomfortable seat on a bland aircraft as far as I'm concerned. I don't require a whole lot else.

[pfalcioni]

I wish Delta was an option - it's more expensive than Southwest right now, not even factoring in our luggage cost.

I agree, it's all just a cramped seat on a (hopefully) bland aircraft. I guess I'm just wanting the best possibility of an uneventful flight!

Like those U-Haul trucks that say "Adventures in Moving" - and I'm thinking, the LAST thing I want during a move is a freaking ADVENTURE. Same with flights, just get me and my luggage to the correct spot at or near the appointed time and I'm a happy camper.

[AmeliaPond]

I flew American from Omaha to Orlando with a stop in Dallas (and back) in 2008 and 2010 and we had no problems. We're doing Delta this time because the times were better for the same price.

I've flown Frontier from Omaha to Santa Ana with a stop in Denver (and back) a bunch of times and never had any problems.

I honestly think it's a crap shoot with any airline. You could end up with lost bags and delays with everyone. So I always just pick the best times/best price I can get and hope for the best. It's really out of my hands anyway, unfortunately.

We'll be in the parks some of the same days as you. Where are you staying?

[bnoble]

Honestly, most of the carriers are indistinguishable from one another. If something is going to impact you, it is more likely to be weather than anything else, and that's independent of carrier, more or less.

[MichaelColey]

Those seem like pretty outrageous fares. Are there alternate cities you could fly in and out of? Have you looked into other airports near Orlando? (Tampa is close and there are several others within a couple hours.) Is there a reason you booked one way instead of a round trip? (With some airlines, there's no difference in fares piecing it together like that, but with others it's MUCH cheaper to do roundtrip.) Do you have ANY flexibility on dates? (Sometimes a day earlier or later makes a big difference.)

We're able to "play chicken" with airfares a bit easier here, since Orlando is drivable (although certainly not a quick or easy drive). I would hate to do it from further away, as airfares USUALLY go up considerable in the final 30 days.

It looks like United has an MCO-PDX flight on 2/12 for $187 and AA has several for $189. Those may be your best bets.

If I were flying to Orlando from a city that regularly had such high airfares, I would set up an alert and schedule my trips based on airfare. Hotels are ALWAYS available reasonably, park tickets don't vary in price, and there's not really a bad time to visit WDW (except perhaps the summer, but we enjoy it then as well).

[pfalcioni]

Jill, we'll be at Pop - Looking at your ticker makes me nervous, I can't believe we're just over a month out!

Mike, I tried to juggle our return date, but there's currently no availability at Pop on Sunday the 12th so we could get the cheaper return fare on Monday. This would have been "Disney Math" anyway, as my DH would have had to take a day off without pay, and that would have definitely cost us more than the $200 price difference in the flight.

We use ME for transport, so MCO is the cheapest Florida location by far because of that. DH drives for UPS - his favorite part of our Disney vacations is that he gets to leave ALL the driving to someone else!

Portland Oregon is the only major airport "nearby", and it's 3 hours away! The next closest would be Seattle at around 5.5 hours drive. This is with good weather, factor in our usual snowstorm over the pass (the drive is by two-lane twisty mountain road) and Portland is really our only option.

And to add icing to the cake, my hubby's vacation time is chosen in November for the following year, then it is set in stone. So, no way to be flexible! On the plus side, he does get 6 weeks of vacation a year, so I will NOT complain :RpS_smile:

[AmeliaPond]

Jill, we'll be at Pop - Looking at your ticker makes me nervous, I can't believe we're just over a month out!

Mike, I tried to juggle our return date, but there's currently no availability at Pop on Sunday the 12th so we could get the cheaper return fare on Monday. This would have been "Disney Math" anyway, as my DH would have had to take a day off without pay, and that would have definitely cost us more than the $200 price difference in the flight.

We use ME for transport, so MCO is the cheapest Florida location by far because of that. DH drives for UPS - his favorite part of our Disney vacations is that he gets to leave ALL the driving to someone else!

Portland Oregon is the only major airport "nearby", and it's 3 hours away! The next closest would be Seattle at around 5.5 hours drive. This is with good weather, factor in our usual snowstorm over the pass (the drive is by two-lane twisty mountain road) and Portland is really our only option.

And to add icing to the cake, my hubby's vacation time is chosen in November for the following year, then it is set in stone. So, no way to be flexible! On the plus side, he does get 6 weeks of vacation a year, so I will NOT complain :RpS_smile:

We're at Pop Century too! I'm getting excited!

[nolarookie]

I just took the plunge and booked a flight on southwest. $136 pp each way. Now hopefully WDW will let me change my room to POR ... I have confidence.

[pfalcioni]

We ended up adding two more days (like Michael mentioned) and we'll be flying back out of Tampa. Snagged a $148 pp fare, so we're happy. If we'd stuck with the Sunday option, the cheapest it got was $228. Not really enough of a savings to cover the two unpaid days off of work - but hey, it's Disney Math!

[Fireflies]

Pam, I hope this doesn't sound like I'm stickin' it to you, but I got $79 each way. Also, it's non-stop from Milwaukee. Ohhh, life is good at times...rare times, but times.

[MichaelColey]

Wohoo - bonus days at Disney! ;)

[pfalcioni]

Not being on the complete opposite coast definitely means cheaper flight prices - especially with Southwest. They price their flights by sections - and our are always at least two sections, no matter how you slice it. Excellent price for you though!!!

Thanks Michael, we're taking the extra days and going to Busch Gardens :)

[Fireflies]

Oh, I missed that post about your two extra days! That's great. I didn't realize you were flying from Oregon (even though it's right there by your name). I think $148 is a really good price this close to your trip and going all the way across the country.

I haven't been to Busch Gardens since about 1995. It was really a lot of fun.

[Canwegosoon]

Pam- if it makes ou feel any better a great SWA fare for a school break week is $258 each way. We need comptition in our airport

[brassellc7994]

I am freaking out too for our April 11-15th trip PHL-MCO we are only going 5 days so I want to maximize our time there. Fares are up hundreds over what I was expecting! I am waiting one more week and then I am booking. this is killing me!