Group Airfare

[IMA*WDW*ADDICT]

I am planning a trip to WDW in November with family. There is a total of 9 people. 8 adults and 1 child (age 4). I have been keeping tabs on the airfare for about a month now. My one issues is I personally have never planned a trip for this size group. We are all leaving Denver and return the same exact times.
So I am wondering if I can get some help and pointers. Should we book our flights all together? If so, online or call the airline and book that way? Also, should we be getting the tickets soon or wait some time?
Like I said I have never booked airfare for this size of group and I don't want to have to pay a ton for tickets and I also don't want to risk not getting everyone on the same flight!
Any info would be extremely helpful! Thanks!!

 

[DisneyJoe]

Either call the airline or use a travel agent that specializes in air; the agent will most likely charge a fee per ticket, but that is because the airlines don't pay agents any commission; many will also have access to bulk fares that could possibly lower the cost.

Going online and trying to get 9 tickets on the same set of flights is the riskiest thing to try.

 

[Monty]

A lot of Travel Agents won't book air-only travel because, as DisneyJoe says, the airlines no longer pay commissions on flights. Many agents will book your air in addition to a hotel/ticket package as a value-added service for little or no extra charge.

I generally book flights on-line and have had no problem getting everyone on the same flights when booking all at the same time [note that you'll have to pay for everybody at the time of booking]. If I select a large number of flyers, the on-line system offers flights they'll all fit on first, if everybody won't fit on the same flights, it'll still offer the split-party choices as single-booking options. I suspect it may depend on the Airline.

 

[sring]

Many airline will charge a fee if you call them (rather than booking online as well). But that's only if you ticket. I think you may be one person lite (ie you need 10 ppl) for a group fare, but it may be worth a call to the airlines group desk anyway just to ask what they can do for you. A TA can be very helpful in this regard.

 

[yensid67]

If your area has access to AirTran airlines, they are prolly gonna be the cheapest for a group of 9! As the other posts clearly stated, call the airlines direct and ask what kind of deal they can give you. Even call AirTran for a group deal, to see what they can offer!
As to when you should make the ressies, I would not make them until you are 6 months out...so if you have a trip planned for November, I would make ressies in June. Most seats are available whenere you all can sit either together or in the same area of the plane!
Now if you would be willing to do a flight with stops compared to non-stop flights, a stops flight might be a little less! I hope you find your preferred flight!

Have a Magical Time!

Will
:wave: from PA!

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

I would call the airline directly for a group that size. If you try to book them online you may only be able to book X amount at a time and you may run into a different pricing in the tickets from what you paid for the first groups. If you call you should be able to get them all the same pricing.

Pam