2020: Time to see the West Coast (but still find time to go to Orlando too)! complete 10/22

[Ngwira]

100%. I can not believe the cost of an AP now compared to what it was when we first got them in 2015.

Same, we decided to skip the APs and just get park hoppers for our March and November trips.

 

[Ngwira]

Sounds like a great trip! I never considered amtrak from San Diego to Anaheim instead of renting a car.



Oo I will look into that one!

it's a two hour train ride so not bad.

 

[amazingact21]

That is a bummer that the airlines have changed their fares. Plane tickets are brutal to begin with. I got spoiled when I lived in Florida and drove to WDW. Since moving to Europe I realized that transportation is a huge chunk of a vacation cost!

 

[Raeven]

When Southwest first came to Newark, the flights were cheap and the nonstop options were great. Slowly, the prices rose and there were fewer nonstop options.

We've only flown Southwest from our airport since it's the only airline with more than one direct flight to MCO a day, but I have noticed certain flights going up in cost, and ever since the Boeing issues they've been cancelling/having the most issues with the a lot of the cheaper/direct flights. It's annoying, and I'm hoping once they resolve the issues with their fleet they'll go back to offering more direct ones.

 

[pkondz]

You make very rational points. I mostly believe you.

You do?
You're the first!!!

I'm not either but I'm a sucker for a good hard cider or a specialty drink and they've got some on the menu that interest me!

I like ciders and specialty drinks too. Depending on what's in them, of course.

I do have a long-winded tirade about flights and airlines.

<buckles up seat belt>

When Southwest first came to Newark, the flights were cheap and the nonstop options were great. Slowly, the prices rose and there were fewer nonstop options. Now, they only fly out of Laguardia (which I despise) and there's never any nonstop flights to MCO.

Well... shoot.
What's wrong with LGA? I've flown into/out of there once, so don't really have much to say about it.

So, Jetblue went back to our go-to. Alas, they've gone the way as the others and included less and less in their fares and introduced the "Blue Basic" option that just about all the others have too where you have to pay for everything including picking your seats.

Anyway, to make this a productive post, instead of me just whining- tell me your "go-to" airline!

Easy. WestJet. Plus I get points for it whenever I use my credit card. So there's that too.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I am so upset at the current state of flights from our area to MCO! I hate that they got rid of Southwest in Newark. And JetBlue is just NOT what it used to be!

Ugh me too! I feel like we used to have SO many good options are now we have like none.

Can I ask why you despise LGA? I've never flown out of there and just curious because there are some flights I'm considering out of there for August.

I haven't flown out of there since 2015 but when my sister and I flew out of there last time it was a disaster. It was overrun by homeless people sleeping there and since we had an early flight, there was no staff around when we got there and it just felt super sketchy. With that said, Mike and i are flying out of LGA at the end of the month to Denver, so hopefully we'll feel differently after that lol

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I think we're just entering the era of reasonably priced flights being few and far between.

I think you're right.

Frontier from Trenton has a few direct MCO flights every day. The fights area super cheap, but then you're once again paying for every little thing. Same with Spirit out of AC. I haven't tried either yet because the seat selection is a must with my kids, but it might be worth giving a shot if you're traveling as a party of adults who can handle not sitting together for the flight.

I looked at Frontier and Spirit and even with just paying for a carry on bag and nothing else, the price ends up not being that far off from the other airlines.

We got good rates direct with Southwest from Philly to MCO in Feb/March but they have been much higher since.

I honestly thought about flying out of Philly because there were decent flight prices with Southwest, but Mike raised the point that by the time we pay for gas, tolls and parking, we probably won't save much.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

We had a flight on Southwest to to Newark that we canceled due to weather, we wound up using the credit to fly into Philly. It was crazy.

Yikes! That sounds like a mess.

My husband flys a lot for work, he only uses American Airlines.

Oo good to know. I've never flown with them but I'll look into it!

Last time we flew Jetblue out of LGA it was in the marine air terminal, so other than the lack of food options it was fine.

Maybe it's gotten better! We haven't flown from LGA since 2015 but we're flying out of there to Colorado this month so hopefully it'll go smoothly.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Fellow NJ girl here. I am sitting on over 100,000 Jetblue points but you are right, flights have gotten so outrageous. And SW is even worse as we fly out of PHL alot. I am not loyal though. Whichever is cheapest. This year we are trying a few "new to us" airlines including Emirates, Frontier, Delta and Alaska. We have trips booked on AA as well.

They really have! It's disappointing.

Same, we decided to skip the APs and just get park hoppers for our March and November trips.

I think I'm going to give in and just get an AP again since I'll get 3 trips out of it but it's still a crazy price.

it's a two hour train ride so not bad.

That's not bad!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

That is a bummer that the airlines have changed their fares. Plane tickets are brutal to begin with. I got spoiled when I lived in Florida and drove to WDW. Since moving to Europe I realized that transportation is a huge chunk of a vacation cost!

It is. I'd be more okay with paying so much if we still got the same "stuff" for our money but paying more and getting less bothers me. I can only imagine how much flights from Europe are!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

We've only flown Southwest from our airport since it's the only airline with more than one direct flight to MCO a day, but I have noticed certain flights going up in cost, and ever since the Boeing issues they've been cancelling/having the most issues with the a lot of the cheaper/direct flights. It's annoying, and I'm hoping once they resolve the issues with their fleet they'll go back to offering more direct ones.

That's what happened here too. They started having fewer direct flights- then none and now they don't fly out of Newark at all! It would be nice if they resolve their issues and come back lol

 

[lvcourtneyy]

You do?
You're the first!!!

It had to happen eventually!

I like ciders and specialty drinks too. Depending on what's in them, of course.

Same! Someone at work told me about a pear cider at Rose and Crown and now I feel I need to try it.

What's wrong with LGA? I've flown into/out of there once, so don't really have much to say about it.

My sister and I flew from LGA in 2015 and it was super sketchy. Our flight was early so the counters weren't open yet and it was overrun with homeless people sleeping and we felt unsafe. But Mike and I are flying from LGA to Denver this month so I guess we'll see if it's any better now.

Easy. WestJet. Plus I get points for it whenever I use my credit card. So there's that too.

Smart.

 

[pkondz]

It had to happen eventually!

Same! Someone at work told me about a pear cider at Rose and Crown and now I feel I need to try it.

Oh? Thanks for the tip!

My sister and I flew from LGA in 2015 and it was super sketchy. Our flight was early so the counters weren't open yet and it was overrun with homeless people sleeping and we felt unsafe

Ah! I never left the security side, so that's going to make a difference.

 

[Raeven]

That's what happened here too. They started having fewer direct flights- then none and now they don't fly out of Newark at all! It would be nice if they resolve their issues and come back lol

I'm hoping it's just until they resolve the issues with the Boeing planes that were grounded, but it's a pain.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Oh? Thanks for the tip!

I have plans to try it in May! If I do, I'll let you know how it is lol

Ah! I never left the security side, so that's going to make a difference.

Ah fair enough. Yeah once we were through security, we had no issues. I've heard there was a lot of construction and changes recently so I'm hoping to feel differently about it this time.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

WDW May Flight Plans

So we booked our flights! We spent the last week scouring different airline prices and what their fares include and I had a lot of headaches as a result.

In our research, we were able to find flights much cheaper by flying in the day before we planned to start our trip (so May 13 instead of 14). I'm all about extra vacation time and figured that even by adding a night to the Rosen Inn near Universal, we'd still come out ahead.

Tonight, I noticed prices dropped on flights I'd been eying on United so we decided to officially book.

Our plans now are flying out of Newark at 12:15 on 5/13, landing in MCO at 3 pm and then coming home on 5/20 at 9 pm! We ended up paying around $200 a person round trip which isn't too much more than usual. If we'd decided to go the basic economy route, it would've been $97 round trip!! But I wanted the option to choose seats and bring a carry out so it made sense to upgrade.

I'm not sure yet if we'll rent a car because prices are kinda high right now or just rely on uber/lyft but either way our plan for the first afternoon is to check in to the hotel and relax. Then at night, we'll get some kinda dinner and hit up Cocktails and Screams, the Halloween themed bar in Orlando! We were dying to try it in the Fall and somehow never made the time.

This is the first time flying to Orlando that we haven't taken a flight at the crack of dawn and spent the first day running around exhausted so I'm pretty excited to have an actual relaxing start to our trip!​

 

[pkondz]

I have plans to try it in May! If I do, I'll let you know how it is lol

Sounds good.

I've heard there was a lot of construction and changes recently so I'm hoping to feel differently about it this time.

I don't remember any, but... I didn't venture very far either.

So we booked our flights!

Yay!
I need to start looking at that too.

Then at night, we'll get some kinda dinner and hit up Cocktails and Screams, the Halloween themed bar in Orlando!

Cool! Might have to take a look at this...

This is the first time flying to Orlando that we haven't taken a flight at the crack of dawn and spent the first day running around exhausted so I'm pretty excited to have an actual relaxing start to our trip!

Interested to see what you think.
1. "I lament the loss of time!"
or
2. "It was so nice taking things a bit slower!"

 

[missangelalexis]

Wow $200 roundtrip is awesome! And getting an extra day is not a bad thing!

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Glad to hear you found something manageable for your flights. I think coming in at a normal time will be a nicer start to your trip.

 

[disneyAndi14]

It is so difficult around my neck of the woods to find decent airfare.
$200.00 is a steal to me,
I am super happy if I can keep it under $400.00 a person
It is fun to have an extra day to relax!