Booking your flight to Florida can seem like a daunting task; you have countless airlines to choose from and Orlando technically has two airports.
I'm going to go through the process of booking our flights: where we looked, what we took into consideration, where we're flying to and from etc. I hope it helps as some kind of starting point if you feel as overwhelmed as I felt when I was booking mine!
As you already know your dates, I would say your first port of call is probably SkyScanner. You're able to get a rough idea of general prices, airlines and routes. Don't be fooled however, into thinking that SkyScanner will give you the best price or amazing deals; often it ends up being cheaper to look at the airlines own website.
If you're lucky enough to be under twenty five, check out STA Travel. You can get some great deals and it offers a wide range of airlines; often with stop overs which can lower the price but lengthen the journey (both significantly!). You need to be honest with yourself and your priorities - are you happy to save pounds but lose an awful lot of hours and sleep? I know I'd rather pay a bit more for a direct flight than worry about finding my way around an airport etc. I found that, as an oldie, STA really didn't offer very good value for money but it's worth a look.
We now arrive at the big chartered vs scheduled flight debate. My preference is scheduled flights: less chance of your flight getting cancelled, and often direct flights with reputable airlines. We looked at British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Delta, and United for scheduled flights. The prices were pretty much the same across the board; they didn't have any amazing deals, but that could well be because we are flying at the peak of peak season (August). I have however got great priced flights with those airlines in the past. I didn't really expect to have much luck with the chartered airlines, but they came up trumps. We looked at the usual package holiday outfits- First Choice and Thomson, as a flight only option to Orlando, but they (surprisingly) don't fly there. It was Thomas Cook who had some great prices, and one way too!
When we started looking, we were expecting a return ticket to be cheaper, and then having to pay to change our flight dates home. However, Thomas Cook had one way flights which worked out half the price of a return with all the other airlines. We don't have to worry about changing the date of our flight back to England, and as Disney give you an allowance to fly home with, it made sense to get the one way. the fact that it worked out cheaper anyway was a bonus! If you're considering coming back to England for a week or two at any point during your program, a return will probably be worth the money; but if you're planning to stay out there for the entirety (like us), a single was the most economical choice.
What we have learnt so far: shop around; look at chartered airlines; and don't be hasty!
Two pieces of advice which will which help before you decide to actually book after pondering for ages are : Secret/incognito browsing. I'm not sure if this is actually true or not (I'm not that technologically minded), but apparently websites store your searches and whatnot in your cookies, so if you keep returning to a page and putting in similar dates/times, the airline will slowly increase the price of the flight. I think it's true: every time we returned to SkyScanner etc, it would remember our search info. One way to get around this is to open an incognito browsing tab so you appear as a "new" customer on the website.
The second genius, money saving tip is for checking how quickly your flight is getting booked up. If you're waiting on a pay check, it can be a nervous business if you've found a great deal; so top tip is to try and book 10 (or whatever the highest amount you can put in is) seats. If it lets you potentially book ten seats, don't worry, you have time, the flight isn't very full. However, if you can't, that means the plane is getting booked up so you might need to whip out a credit card/beg for a loan/busk Disney songs in the high street (if you opt for the latter, please put it on YouTube) to ensure you get the cheapest price possible. As the flight gets fuller, the price is likely to rocket. Simple supply and demand.
So there you have it. A strangely simultaneously stressful and exciting part of the Pre-Disney Cultural Representative Program. Booking your flight really does make it sink in that you are going to Florida and you will be working in the Happiest Place on Earth.
Good luck; if you have any other tips or questions, let me know!
No comments :
Post a Comment