Here are some tips on how to save on flights to Walt Disney World:
1. Book Online – Airlines now charge an extra fee if you book over the phone. Book online when you can.
2. Book On A Tuesday Afternoon – This is when airlines post their best prices for the week (sometimes it’s as specific as 3:30 am on Wednesday morning). Never book on a Friday or weekend if you can help it!
3. Book Around 2 Months Out – Flights are typically cheaper between 6-9 weeks before your flight. The current tip is that 54 or 47 days before take off is the cheapest.
4. 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.
Did you try leaving from a different airport? We live in OH, and I found airfare for a guest to Germany for about $800 less out of PA. For her, it was worth the 4-hour drive and overnight in a hotel the night before to save that $800. – Carrie
5. 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.
6. Fly on Tuesday or Wednesday – Flights are typically cheaper on these 2 days of the week. Plan your vacations for Wednesday to Wednesday. Your resort stay will be cheaper too because you’ll only be staying on one weekend instead of two if you normally travel Saturday to Saturday.
7. 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.
8. Newsletter – Sign up for your airline’s newsletters to be notified of upcoming sales.
9. Price One Person’s 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
10. Price Both One Way & 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
11. 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
12. 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.
13. Bring Your Own Snacks – Instead of paying the high price for airport food, pack your own snacks and even sandwiches. Both are suitable to go through security. You’ll just have to buy beverages at the gates.
14. Pack In A Carry On – If the airline charges per bag, pack as much as you can in a carry on. There are multiple videos on Youtube that show you how to fit everything into a carry on sized bag. Also remember to pack an outfit for each person in the carry on(s). This way if your luggage is lost, everyone will have an outfit.
15. Invest In A Luggage Scale – Amazon sells some great luggage scales. Buy one so that you can make sure your bag doesn’t exceed the 50 pound limit. We store our luggage scale inside our suitcase when we aren’t traveling.
16. Pre-Book Airline Parking – If your car will remain at the airport while you travel, check the prices at the various parking lots ahead of time. We have saved money by pre-booking airline parking and one trip we even found a Groupon deal for a parking lot that was close to the airport.
17. Avoid Traveling on Friday and Sunday – These 2 days of the week are the busiest days to travel. Avoid departing or returning on these days.
18. Fly Two Different Airlines – It might just be cheaper for you to book your one-way flights on two different airlines. When you price your tickets, look at the cost of one-way flights and the departure and arrival times. Sometimes it is cheaper to fly out on one airline and return home on another.
19. 24-hour Refund – You technically get 24-hours after you book a flight to change or cancel your ticket, even if it’s non-refundable. Watch the fares for 24 hours after buying and if the price drops, call the airline and cancel and then rebook at the lower price.
20. 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
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 in group A. The first to board a Southwest plane are those needing assistance, followed by business members and frequent flyers and those that have paid a fee to board early (this is all group A). Then comes the families with children 4 and under (if the plane is full, they usually only allow one parent and the child to board) followed by the rest of the passengers in order of when you checked in. 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.
Sign up each person for Southwest Rapid Rewards. You’ll earn points for flights that can be used to save on future airfare.
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.
You might even consider getting the Southwest Chase Credit Card. Depending on the promotion you find, you might get 2 flights for FREE when you sign up. Then you can earn free flights based on how much you charge throughout the year. Remember to pay it off every month in order to really reap the savings.
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.
Learn more about traveling to Walt Disney World and the perks of using a Disney Travel Agent.
Ginger morrisette says
I’ve never learned all the ins and outs of airline travel! These are great tips!