I'm getting killed on airfare!!!

[redfive13]

I finally figured out my 5/1-5/7 trip to WDW (nothing like waiting till the last minute!)

But the airfare from Boston to Orlando is NUTS!!!! I feel like I've tried every option, but can't do much better than $1060.00 for 3 tickets.

Anyone have any tips or tricks for finding good airfare? I need to book it today...

 

[magic1]

Ok, its booked. I remembered that I had some unused United miles, so I cashed them in (paid with miles & $$) for 2 tix and bought the 3rd.

About $700 total for 3 tix, I feel better about that than the $1108 I was contemplating from JetBlue.

Hi Redfoive13, I live in near by Leicester. Next time you travel to WDW you might want to try Hartford. When my wife and I book airfare for WDW we look at the rates from Providence, Hartford and Boston.
I went to Southwest and punched in your dates for three people and came back with a price of $757.00. both ways non-stop.
Glad to see another Disney fan is near by. Have agreat trip.

 

[amontpet]

I waited until the last minute before and was told the same thing about not getting assigned a seat. The airline I traveled on had online check-in 24 hours in advance. As soon as I entered the 24 hours in advance window I checked in and was able to choose a seat. If I would have waited until I reached the airport my chances would not have been as good to get a seat of my choice. Good luck!

 

[amykissangel]

So the drama continues...

Booked my tix from United, bought 2 with miles and the 3rd with a credit card, 2 separate transactions.

When we go into choose our seats for our flight to Orlando, its saying that NO SEATS ARE AVAILABLE, AIRLINE WILL ASSIGN SEATS AT AIRPORT!!!

Are we screwed? Why would they be doing this?

I tried calling United, they were useless. Do families with infants have any sort of privileges when it comes to getting bumped?

My sister just returned from Washington DC. LEGALLY they are obligated to put you on the plane if you bought a ticket (if there are no limitations placed on using your miles). She and her choir were on the plane, and the flight attendant came on saying someone needed to get on the plane and they had overbooked. She was offering two free tickets. No one moved.

They went back to whoever needed to get on the flight, and this person said under no circumstances were they taking a million free tickets if they were offered - they needed to get on this flight. So the attendant came back and offered 3 free tickets. Finally a woman got off the plane and took the deal.

My father (who flew for 20 years all over the world) informed me that, as they said above, they overbook every flight, knowing 10-20% will not show up. But if you don't have assigned seats, you will most likely not be sitting together. People are sometimes very friendly and will move in an instant if you ask - or they are unfriendly or cannot move and you're stuck.

But legally, you can demand three seats on that plane.

 

[Raven66]

I have to say that I would take a 3 free tickets (one for each of us) to catch the next flight.

When we flew Dec 08 our seats were not together. I sat with our daughter who was 11 at the time. My husband sat about 5 rows in front of us. It was really no biggie. But of course our daughter wasn't an infant, but if you can't sit together you could switch the baby back and forth and that might actually help with fussiness. A change of scenery and all.

Don't forget a pacifier or a bottle for the baby. That will help with ear popping taking off and landing!! Have fun on your trip!:wave:

 

[coltow]

No need to worry over it yet. My mom works for airline and I know how some things work there. Airlines save a bunch of seats to be distributed on departure day. Make sure you just get to airport ahead of time. They will do their best to get you seated together.

 

[Ghall]

I feel for you. I'm going to WDW in July and for the 3 of us 2x adults 1 x child I'm being quoted from Dublin to Orlando direct €2,500 or that's US$3,350 with Aer Lingus.com . I'm hoping they have a summer sale because I've to book by the end of the month.

That sounds expensive. Last summer we travelled direct with Aer Lingus to Orlando in July and it only cost €2800.00 for 5 of us. As two of my kids are teenagers, we had 4 adults and 1 child. We booked earlier in the year so I suppose all the cheaper fares go first. We also went out and back on a Thursday as the fares were cheaper than the Saturday flight.

 

[cemeb4dk]

On one of our flights, a few years back when my daughter was smaller. This happened to us, 2 seats together and 1 a few rows back. I explained my situation at the counter and then again to the flight attendants, and they asked if anyone would switch seats with me. SOmeone did, lets face it most planes are 3 seats across, and if your wife and daughter are in two, I don't think that 3rd person would mind switching with you, one so they dont have to sit next to a baby and 2 hopefully they would be compassionate enough to let a family sit together.

 

[glee]

Sometime if you look at a few flights its cheaper. Maybe not to were your going though. Worth look.:animwink:

 

[amykissangel]

Yes - get to the airport early. If you're the first people there, and beat the others who are in your same situation, you'll have a much better chance of getting on the airplane first, thus getting your seats near eachother.

 

[fosse76]

LEGALLY they are obligated to put you on the plane if you bought a ticket (if there are no limitations placed on using your miles). But legally, you can demand three seats on that plane.

Actually, I don't believe that to be true. Otherwise they wouldn't be allowed to oversell the seats in the first place. They are legally obligated to give you a refund if you are bumped and if you refuse to take another flight. Congress has been trying to get an Air Traveller's Bill of Rights passed for years now, but the industry has been able to thwart it. Even the new tarmac delay regulations have a ton of loopholes, and the airlines are threatening to cancel flights to inconvenience travellers in the hopes that it will create a backlash against the regulations and initiate a repeal.

That said, the OP shouldn't overreact. If he gets to the airport early enough they have to assign him a seat. Once he's checked in with a seat assignment they won't bump him.

 

[Korfar]

I booked our flight from Milwaukee about a month ago for $735 round trip for 4 in September. Non-stop with morning flight times. I looked at it the other day and it is $1,100. Good thing I booked when I did. Although I could have had for $670 a mont before I booked. Oh well. $735 is still great. I haven't even booked the Disney part yet. Waiting on deals to come out. I knew I couldn't wait to book the flights becuase they would keep going up. Once you find a good one jump on it. Don't wait.

 

[RickyMouseMom]

I would try calling United and see what they say about seating nd the possibility of overbooking.

I am going through the same problem with the high cost of air travel. We may be flying Jet Blue for our trip in aearly December this year. It all depends on the price when the dates are finally opened up.

The prices have gone insane over the past 3 years. We flew Southwest from Albany, NY to Orlando for $49 each way in June 2007 which was a ding fare and $79 each way in May 2008 which was the standard internet rate for quite a few years. Now the cheapest rates are $144 one way on Southwest.

The cheapest I have found for Southwest is out of Islip Long Island, but that is way to far for me.

It is going to come down to driving that long 20+ hour trip. I really dread that

I just booked a flight for my mother and father out of Albany to MCO in July for $139each one way. $300 total ONE WAY!!! I think it is ridiculous. DH and I drive to FL (21 hours) twice a year. We figure we can either go TWICE a year by driving or ONCE a year if we fly. No brainer! We drive now with the kiddos. My parents are flying to FL, but driving back with us!!!! :lol:

PLus, the hassle of baggage (over weight fees, amount of pieces, etc ) just isnt worth the hassle. I feel nickle and dimed to death! DH and I used to fly all over the place throughout the year. Now we only fly once every couple of years to CA to see my brother. Thats it. Its driving for us now. Plus the airfare out of Albany is ridiculous. IF we have to fly, we drive 3 hours to NYC and catch a flight....ALWAYS cheaper.

 

[minbrad]

There have been many times where we didn't have seats together. My husband just goes to the check in desk (at the terminal) and asks if they can get your three seats together. They'll as passengers flying alone if they'll change seats with you. We've never had a problem if we get there early. Don't worry too much, it will be fine! Good luck, have a great trip!

 

[Victoria]

We decided tonight to give up on airfare. We are taking the Amtrak Auto Train for several hundred dollars less than flying plus the cost of a rental car and baggage for 5 people. I hate the thought of not flying, but I'm just not willing to pay these insane prices to fly. :shrug:

 

[SeaBreeze]

Like other posters have said, you don't need to panic yet. Last minute bookings often don't have assigned seats but that doesn't mean you won't get on the flight. The two adults may be split up though but there's also a chance someone will be willing to swap seats with you. A lot of people are willing to do that if a young child is involved, both out of kindness and the fear of having an unhappy kid next to them.

As for airfare, the amounts I've seen posted are ridiculous! I flew from Florida to Australia last year for less than a thousand dollars so to think domestic airfare is as much as it is blows my mind.