New question...is this a good deal on airfare from Seattle? Book now--WWYD?

[imjen]

Hey everyone. We're starting to plan our next Disneyland trip and I'm hoping they will do the kids fly free thing again soon. Do they usually offer that in the fall or is it only for the spring? We were thinking of going Nov 18-22. When do you think they will release the kids fly free deals if they are going to do it? Should I go ahead and book hotel now with the 4th night free deal or wait until I get plane tickets and book as a package? TIA!


***New Question...looks like we're gonna go either the beginning of December or mid November instead. Alaska Air is now offering $237.10 Round trip per person for a grand total of $1185.50 vs. Southwest's $99 each way plus tax per person which is a grand total of $1153.50. I think Alaska Air's is better b/c it is a non-stop flight so travel time is 1-2 hours less plus it flies into Long Beach vs. Ontario or LAX. Is this a good enough deal that I should snatch it up now or wait? I haven't shopped airfares in a long time so I'm not sure what a good deal is, especially from Seattle. What do you guys think?

 

[hlbtimes2]

I doubt you'll see kids fly free for those dates. Those are the days leading up to Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving in the #1 day for flying during the year. Typically the kids fly free is offered in the spring.

I would keep an eye on the internet for deals- travelocity, orbitz, etc. Dont forget to check the airlines directly as well. South west often has good rates, but you can only get them from them. MIght also check Jet Blue if they fly in and out of your area. Dont forget to check other CA airports too- we've had good luck using Long Beach Airport. On our last trip we flew in to long beach- it was cheaper then the others, gave us a direct flight, and the airport is an easy drive to DL.

 

[imjen]

Thanks hlbtimes2! We actually just moved to Seattle, which it looks like is where you are from. So if you have any specific tips on getting good airfare from here that would be great. It seems southwest's prices have gone up quite a bit lately. We won't actually be flying home the day before Thanksgiving but sometime over the following weekend. I know, busy. But we figured we could stay in a hotel for a couple days and do Disneyland, then stay with my grandparents in Huntington Beach for a couple days over Thanksgiving and fly home on Sat or Sun. So would you be looking for package deals on expedia, etc. or just flight deals alone? I need tips on the cheapest way to do this.

Also, you wouldn't happen to know the cheapest way to fly my parents out here (Seattle) from SLC would you? We're disappointed that Southwest's prices have gone up to $120 each way. Hoping for a better deal than that for their visit end of August/beginning of September.

 

[victorandbellasmom]

Also, you wouldn't happen to know the cheapest way to fly my parents out here (Seattle) from SLC would you? We're disappointed that Southwest's prices have gone up to $120 each way. Hoping for a better deal than that for their visit end of August/beginning of September.

Ds usually flies to SLC every summer for a couple of weeks to visit grandparents and the $120 each way seems to be the best deal going on right now. I remember flights being as cheap at $79 each way last summer. Ds is going again in the beginning of Aug and we're looking for deals too. Sign up for southwest's DING. It'll alert you to their current fare sale. Last week, they had SEA-SLC for $99 each way, or SLC to Boise and then Boise to SEA for $39 each way. I also use the travel search engine. www.kayak.com to find out what the cheapest fare are on different airlines.

 

[hlbtimes2]

The best thing to do at this point, is just hang tight and keep checking prices. I've heard Wednesdays are a good day to check, but I'm not sure there is any truth to that. I like travelocity, because they have an easy to use fare finder, if your dates are flexible. Its still early, you have some time to find a good fair. The gas prices have really driven flight costs up.

The good new is, the onsite hotels are offering 4th night free right now. So you might be able to take advantage of that.

 

[imjen]

Ds usually flies to SLC every summer for a couple of weeks to visit grandparents and the $120 each way seems to be the best deal going on right now. I remember flights being as cheap at $79 each way last summer. Ds is going again in the beginning of Aug and we're looking for deals too. Sign up for southwest's DING. It'll alert you to their current fare sale. Last week, they had SEA-SLC for $99 each way, or SLC to Boise and then Boise to SEA for $39 each way. I also use the travel search engine. www.kayak.com to find out what the cheapest fare are on different airlines.

Thanks! Because of your suggestion I downloaded DING and have been faithfully checking prices on Southwest daily. Did you see that they just started a special today from SLC-SEA for $79 each way? Just booked tickets for my parents!

 

[SeansMom]

I've priced out the "Kids fly free" vs. a package with AAA or booking the hotel/air/tickets seperately. It always seemed to come out higher with the kids fly free. I think perhaps "free" is not so free. Try pricing things out so you can compare it if they do offer it again.

 

[victorandbellasmom]

Thanks! Because of your suggestion I downloaded DING and have been faithfully checking prices on Southwest daily. Did you see that they just started a special today from SLC-SEA for $79 each way? Just booked tickets for my parents!

Thanks for the heads up. Unfortunately ds is leaving for SLC in the beginning of Aug before $79 rates apply. We just got his tickets for $131 one way

 

[calena]

Who offers kids fly free?
Deb

 

[PapaLR]

imjen - noticed that you said you now live in the Seattle area, like a lot of us. We visit the Southern Cal area yearly and found Alaska Airlines to usually be the cheapest when all things are considered (assigned seating, flight times, airports, etc). We also sign up yearly for the Alaska visa card (signature or platinum only) for $75 a year, which gets us a $50 companion airfare coupon. So if the flight to SoCal is $250 roundtrip, your companion would only pay $50 (the coupon is good anywhere AA flies). In fact I used it for our married daughter's airfare for her DL trip this coming September. More info on AA website.

 

[SunshineOR]

Back to OP, we flew early Nov. last year and really hoped for kids fly free and never saw any. It seems to always appear in the spring, but there's no guarantee of it in the fall.

 

[imjen]

Thanks for all the replies and helpful information everyone! I will definately check into Alaska Airlines PapaLR.

 

[drag n' fly]

It is very rare to see any deal in the fall. After January 1st the spring fares come out and all the kids fly free deals come out until April 30th. It is usually Alaska Air that offers these deals however it is usually purchased with a package and their is very little to no flexibility eg: choice of hotel you want and personal room selection. You usually have little or no choice of flight times. It is usually a small list to choose from no exceptions. If you can manage with the few restrictions, you can save quite a bit on the kids fly free deal. Alaska Air will also sometimes impose restrictions as far as ages of the kids and also one paying adult for each free seat. As I recall they dont impose it all the time just read the fine print carefully and most of all have fun

 

[imjen]

Question for those in the Seattle area. SW is offering $99 each way right now through Dec 12. Should I go ahead and try to book with that or hope that there will be a DING for less? Have you seen SW offer cheaper prices from Seattle? TIA!

 

[PapaLR]

Never have seen it that cheap and since seats are limited you might want to jump on a sure thing! Sure beats AA's price right now, especially with the uncertainity of the oil prices and the airlines raising their prices to cover the additional costs! Good Luck

 

[imjen]

Bumpity bump for a new question...

 

[disney-super-mom]

Question for those in the Seattle area. SW is offering $99 each way right now through Dec 12. Should I go ahead and try to book with that or hope that there will be a DING for less? Have you seen SW offer cheaper prices from Seattle? TIA!

I would absolutely book this fare! With oil prices continuing to go up, you most likely will not see a better fare in the future. Also, the more tickets that are sold and the less seats that are availabe, then the higher the prices will go. Book it now and enjoy a great Disney trip!

We live in Spokane and booked the SW $99 each way deal to Ontario for our DL trip in October!

 

[imjen]

Thank you Disney-super-mom! Now we just have to figure out our dates for sure. LOL It's so hard to decide!

 

[hlbtimes2]

Yep, I would book it now. Anything under about $250 is decent.

And we found that with the kids fly free specials (combining your two questions) you dont get to use those on the cheapest fares. We had to pay about $350 for each adult, so still a good deal, but its not like you can use the $240 fare and get kids free on top of it.

We love flying into Long Beach- and the direct flight really makes it nice.

 

[hambirg]

I've priced out the "Kids fly free" vs. a package with AAA or booking the hotel/air/tickets seperately. It always seemed to come out higher with the kids fly free. I think perhaps "free" is not so free. Try pricing things out so you can compare it if they do offer it again.

I've found this too. It's always been cheaper to pay airfare and book my own hotel.

I wish I could remember what we paid last year for air from Seattle to Long Beach. I think it was just a little over $200 each. We flew Alaska in Oct. I would definitely recommend this. Getting in and out of Long Beach was so quick. I'll never do LAX again.