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Flights

klholland07klholland07 member
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in Honeymoon Discussions
I need help finding a decently priced flight. I have been looking for weeks and have been driving myself crazy trying to get the best deal. We will be going from Pittsburgh, PA to Orlando, FL (MCO) on June 9-15. I have tried kayak.com, and all of the websites that are like kayak. I have never had to buy plane tickets before, so I am pretty clueless on all of this! Any tips or tricks on getting a decent price? Prices have jumped over $100 more in the past week! Thank you for any help!
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Re: Flights

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    Futuremrsds2015Futuremrsds2015 member
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    Based on my past experience I received the best price when I booked on Tuesday evenings after 5pm. I also found the best price with southwest and us airways when I flew from the northeast area to Orlando.

     

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    delujm0delujm0 member
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    Orlando is starting to get busy in mid-June because school is out...and you're within 2 months now, which is why prices have gone up recently. Around the two month mark for domestic fares, prices generally increase, and then there is another increase around the 3-week mark.  It may decrease slightly between those two dates, but it's doubtful.  Book ASAP.

     

    Try Southwest, any other airports near you, and any other airports near Orlando (Daytona, Gainesville, Tampa, etc - though the rental car cost from any of those places may cancel out your flight savings if you weren't planning to rent a car in Orlando in the first place).

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    Maggie0829Maggie0829 member
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    I would book with Southwest.  They are the cheapest by far and they don't charge for luggage.

    To save on some cash you will most likely have to pick a flight where you either have a layover and change planes or you have a stop over at another airport (you stay on your plane but some passengers get off and new passengers get on)

    Of June 9th there is a 8:05am flight that is $159/ticket and gets in at 1:05pm with a stop in Atlanta to change planes (it gives you an hour and a half layover but that is really nothing when stopping over in Atlanta because that is a huge airport)

    There there is another flight at 11:25am on the 9th that is $141/ticket and gets in at 6:15pm with layover in Baltimore.  This layover is pretty long (about 4 hours) so for $18 more per ticket you can do the one that gets in at 4:35pm that has about a 2 hour layover.  BWI is a good sized airport but all southwest flights tend to leave from the same area so it isn't hard to get to the appropriate gate.

    Your return flights are going to be higher because you are flying out on a weekend.  But if you don't mind getting in way late on Sunday (even midnight Monday morning) there are two non-stop flights that leave at 6:30pm ($187/ticket and gets in at 8:50pm) and 9:50pm ($162/ticket and gets in at 12:05am).

    Also, the prices listed on southwest already include any and all fees/taxes so what you see is what you are paying.

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    climbingsingleclimbingsingle member
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    I've always found that flights are cheapest on Tuesdays. 
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
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    edited April 2014
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    Maggie0829Maggie0829 member
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    @redaxelna - What is up with all the deletes?

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    AprilH81AprilH81 member
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    There are three airports around Orlando that you should check.  MCO (main Orlando airport), SFB (Sanford, which is where I think Southwest flies into) and MLB (Melbourne, FL, which is a about 40 minutes away but can be a big price difference).

    Also, try flying out of Cleveland or another regional airport instead of Pittsburg...

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    Maggie0829Maggie0829 member
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    AprilH81 said:

    There are three airports around Orlando that you should check.  MCO (main Orlando airport), SFB (Sanford, which is where I think Southwest flies into) and MLB (Melbourne, FL, which is a about 40 minutes away but can be a big price difference).

    Also, try flying out of Cleveland or another regional airport instead of Pittsburg...

    Southwest flies into MCO as well.

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    cruffinocruffino member
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    edited April 2014
    Right now united is $272. Seems to be the cheapest, cheaper even than southwest. You might get a lower price if you return on the 16th, rather than the 15th. Not sure if your travel dates are flexible.
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    cruffinocruffino member
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    edited April 2014
    FYI: southwest has a non-stop from Akron to Tampa. It's pricier, but I personally prefer to pay more and not stop.
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    klholland07klholland07 member
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    Thanks for all the tips everyone! I will have to continue to play around with different airports and times..our dates are not flexible..it's our honeymoon to Disney world! :) We want to fly into MCO because disney provides a bus from the airport to resort.
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    delujm0delujm0 member
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    If you want to do MCO and not rent a car, my suggestion is to look at Southwest.  They are usually the cheapest into MCO (though often times you will have a layover to get their best price).  I will usually book with US Air or United for a little bit more money so that I can avoid layovers and get a better selection of flight times (from Charlotte NC).
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    dolewhipperdolewhipper member
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    klholland07 said:
    Thanks for all the tips everyone! I will have to continue to play around with different airports and times..our dates are not flexible..it's our honeymoon to Disney world! :) We want to fly into MCO because disney provides a bus from the airport to resort.
    As a native Orlandonian and currently works at an on property hotel for Disney, please do yourself a favor and get a rental car and don't take the Magical Express. The bus is horrible IMO (definitely not magical) and many guests have problems and hate it. Plus, when you have a rental car you can get off property to see more/do more, which can lead to cheaper (and better) meals and access to other parks without charging $50+ each way.

    Check out the airlines that fly in and out of Sanford. They can be very affordable (that is, if you decide on the rental car).


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    delujm0delujm0 member
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    edited April 2014
    shannonmaya said:
    klholland07 said:
    Thanks for all the tips everyone! I will have to continue to play around with different airports and times..our dates are not flexible..it's our honeymoon to Disney world! :) We want to fly into MCO because disney provides a bus from the airport to resort.
    As a native Orlandonian and currently works at an on property hotel for Disney, please do yourself a favor and get a rental car and don't take the Magical Express. The bus is horrible IMO (definitely not magical) and many guests have problems and hate it. Plus, when you have a rental car you can get off property to see more/do more, which can lead to cheaper (and better) meals and access to other parks without charging $50+ each way.

    Check out the airlines that fly in and out of Sanford. They can be very affordable (that is, if you decide on the rental car).

    I agree with this.  If you can get a cheap rental car for the week, and you are staying on-property at a Disney hotel, parking will be free at the parks/hotels.  The Magical Express is kind of the worst.  If i'm only going for a few days, or the people I'm traveling with are all coming/going at different times, i do it.  Otherwise I rent a car. 

     

    Basically when you get off the plane and on the bus, you have to sit there and wait for the bus to fill up.  They won't send it at a peak time if it's not full.  After finally leaving the airport (which is less than 45 minutes away; more like 30 really), it will make as many as FIVE stops at different hotels to drop people off.  Somehow i am NEVER at one of the first few stops.  Combine all of this, and what could have been a 30 minute drive has now taken 1.5-2 hours.

     

    The worst thing for me though is on the way home.  They make you get on the bus THREE HOURS before your flight departure, because they don't want to be blamed if you miss your flight somehow.  And if you miss your bus, you can't get on the next one - you have to pay for a cab.  I have spent HOURS sitting at the airport because of this.  I mean that is at LEAST an hour earlier than you really need to leave.  which also means you're missing out on the parks that day.

     

    There are a lot of good things off-site to see/eat as well - and the restaurants are much more reasonably priced off-property.  Additionally, i HATE the park busses personally (they take so long) and would rather drive to the parks on my own time.  Normally I stay at the Contemporary (so i walk to MK and take the Monorail to Epcot - but for the other parks, i drive myself).

     

    Do yourself a favor and at least price rental cars - seriously you'd be surprised how cheap they can be for a week.  And totally worth it in my opinion.  But if that's not an option and you need to deal with the busses, just be prepared for the worst.

     

    And i second checking Sanford - some smaller airlines, like Alegiant Air fly in there on the cheap.  Their schedule aren't veyr flexible though.  However, you could potentially get your flights and rental car into a smaller airport for cheaper (and easier) than flights and the Magical Express into MCO.

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    klholland07klholland07 member
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    Thanks for the heads up about the bus. My fiance has been to Disney a few times and never mentioned anything about the bus being horrible.. must just depend on the time of day or something? I finally found a flight last night through Southwest. Not as cheap as I would like, but now I can stop checking flights 4 times a day! Thanks again for all the suggestions..you ladies are the best! :)
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