Here are some tips on how to save on flights to Disneyland:
Book Online – Airlines now charge an extra fee if you book over the phone. Book online when you can.
Book on a Tuesday afternoon – This is when airlines post their best prices for the week. Never book on a Friday or weekend if you can help it! – Megan
Book Around 2 Months Out – Flights are typically cheaper between 6-9 weeks before your flight.
Check Other Airports – If you live close enough to drive to another airport, check the price of the flights there too. It might save you a couple hundred dollars to drive a hundred miles to another airport.
Fly During Off Peak Times – People don’t want to fly early or late in the day, which makes the tickets for these ‘red eye’ flights cheaper.
Fly on Tuesday or Wednesday – Flights are typically cheaper on these 2 days.
Check Online Deal Sites – Sites like Expedia and Travelocity sell flights cheaper than the airline’s website. Just keep in mind that Southwest does not sell through these sites.
Newsletter – Sign up for your airline’s newsletters to be notified of upcoming sales.
Price One Flight First – Regardless of the size of your party, always search for the prices for one traveler first. Airline search results show you the lowest price available for the number of people in your party, so even though there may be two seats left at $250 per person, they’ll jump to the next price point where all the people in your party will fit. I booked 2 of our tickets on one order and 2 on another with a different site. – Holly
Price Both One Way and Round Trip – It’s never a bad idea to check if the one-way prices are cheaper. We flew to Florida in March for our Disney cruise and we booked both flights separately. Flying to Orlando from Seattle is always expensive, but we saved $164 each by booking Alaska one-way for the flight down and Frontier on the way back. That’s a HUGE savings for our family of 5. – Jennifer
Yapta.com – They will email you when your flights reach the price point you want, and after you purchase the tickets it will email you if the price drops, and you’re owed a voucher from the airline for the difference. – Amber
kayak.com – You can pull up a little chart on past prices for that time you want to fly. We changed out itinerary by flying one day earlier and saved 75 dollars per ticket. – Chris
Check Airport Hotels for FREE Parking – Some hotels will offer FREE parking for the duration of your trip if you stay with them the night before your flight departs. This might be a huge savings verses what you would pay for parking at the airport.
Southwest Tips
Southwest is my favorite airline. Not only do you get 2 FREE bags per passenger (under 50 pounds each), but they also run there flights on sale constantly. In order to make sure you never miss a sale announcement, make sure you sign up for the Southwest Newsletter.
Southwest does not assign seats. It is first come, first serve. You can pay $10 extra per person per way and be allowed to board ahead of other passengers. The first to board a Southwest plane is those needing assistance, followed by business members and frequent flyers and those that have paid a fee to board early. Then comes the families with children 4 and under followed by the rest of the passengers in order of when you checked in. So if you don’t qualify for early boarding and don’t want to pay the fee, make sure you check in online as soon as they allow you to.
If a better price comes out for your flight on Southwest, they will issue you a credit between the sale price and what you paid. You will have one year to use this credit. You will have to keep an eye on the sale prices though because they won’t do it for you.
Also keep in mind that if you are flying Southwest, they only sell through their own website. You won’t find them listed on Expedia or Travelocity.
Reader Tip
If the next flight is in a 2-3 hour window we will ask them how full the flight is and if at the boarding desk they are looking to bump a couple of seats we will do it. What do you get if you get bumped you ask? Well the airline will usually comp you tickets to fly anywhere in the USA for free for each seat and they will keep families together so if you have 2-6 seats you all can wait for the next plane. They are open ended and good for a 1-2 years (depends on airline how long) with no black out dates. If you have the chance to do this you have your airfare paid for your next trip!
If you have tips on how to save on flights, please let us know.
Read more about tips on how to save at Disneyland.
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