Saving Money on Flights (Updated)

Some of you will go ahead and skip reading this post because you are driving, and have no intention of ever flying to Orlando.  But if you are like me and my family, you may have good reason or reasons to fly, but still want to do so in the most affordable way possible.   In our situation, the choices get more complicated because we live in Canada, just a two hour drive from the US border.  US airfares, especially on the discount carriers, are often cheaper, but the biggest saving is on the taxes and extra fees that are much higher in Canada, even with the difference in the dollar.  Our particular situation also involves the use of credit card points to pay for about three base fares out of four.

In the United States, you have three main options if you are flying.  You could fly on a regular full service airline such as Delta or United.  You could go on a discounted airline such as Southwest or JetBlue.   Or you could fly on a basic pay for a seat and everything else is extra carrier such as Allegiant or Spirit.  Some of these "no frills" airlines fly out of smaller airports in order to cut costs.  It could also mean that they don't fly into Orlando International, as there are two other smaller airports, Orlando Sanford and Orlando Melbourne in the metropolitan area.  If you are staying in a Disney Resort, keep in mind that the free Disney Magical Express only services the largest airport.

So I took a look at a variety of possibilities, considering convenience, cost, travel time, and flight times.  The Canadian airlines flying out of Toronto Pearson were first, and although Westjet had good fares, both checked baggage (which we likely will have three) and seat selection were extra, along with the taxes and surcharges.   We could have departed at 8am, but that means being in the airport at 5am, and waking up at 5am.  It was doable, but based on past experience, not at all ideal.  But you don't have to drive 2 or 3 hours to get to and from the airport.  The charter airlines didn't have flights on the dates that I wanted, as they only have one or two flights a week to Orlando.  And one that I priced out of interest was more than Westjet.

So then I  looked at Spirit, which flies out of Niagara Falls, New York, and both Southwest and JetBlue out of Buffalo.   I have already flown Southwest and really liked it, including the priority boarding option to pick your seats, as well as the two free checked bags.  I also was very impressed with the speed at which we passed through the airport security and boarded.  It was only an hour spent in the airport.   Southwest also had a scheduled departure of 10:30am.  I figured we would drive down the night before and stay near the airport to leave our car.  This meant we could even eat breakfast before being shuttled to the airport. This is exactly what we ended up doing.  We chose to stay at the Days Inn by the Buffalo airport at a very reasonable rate, including 15 says of gated parking.                                                                  
And while the base fare including the exchange rate was slightly higher than Westjet, the very low taxes, along with the early boarding fees still had the tickets come in at at least $400 less.  You have the option on Southwest to pay $15 per person per flight for Early Bird Check In to board ahead of others and get to choose your seats on the aircraft.  If you have children 7 years old or younger, you automatically get to board earlier.  Even if you throw in an extra $100 to get to Buffalo, it is a significant saving.  Jet Blue had only one flight each day but they were at decent times, and three different fares offering zero to two free bags.  The airline also offered free snacks, drinks, and seat selection for standard seats, and price wise was in between Southwest and Westjet with the exchange rate.  But another advantage Southwest ha over the others was no change fees, other than possible flight price increases.

I looked at Spirit, but the fare actually came out much higher, especially with the extra baggage fees.  Another option would have been to fly Spirit out of Detroit, but since I was comfortable with both Southwest and Buffalo, and many Facebook group members also recommended the airline, Southwest was the choice.  We also decided to take advantage of one of several stay and park deals at nearby Buffalo airport hotels.  This way we can drive down relaxed, and not worried about traffic or the border wait.  It took quite a bit of research, and asking questions, but the savings was worth the effort!

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