End of January airfare Boston area airports to MCO

[JennSaint]

This will be my first trip to Disney going at the end of January. I have access to several airports from where I live. We will possibly be a group of up to 9.
From those of you who have been or go often at that time of year when do you usually book your flights? Want to make sure to get best price possible for our group.
Thanks!!

 

[jec6613]

Nearby enough that I can and sometimes do use BOS as a nearby airport, and the best bet is about 9 months out to book in January generally. People will post a lot of travel, "Hacks," about booking on days of the week and so on, but they really stopped working after US swallowed up AA as there just isn't much competition in the major markets, and fare bucket ticket almost never go down as you get closer to flight time.

If you're very price sensitive, consider Avelo out of HVN - a bit of a hike but they're direct on a LCC. And with nine people, keep in mind that your seats will be spread across several fare buckets, with some people potentially paying twice what somebody else in your group is paying, even if all booked at the same time.

One other thing to consider about flying in January out of the Boston area is to always build your schedule around the possibility that your flight just won't fly due to weather. If I need to be somewhere in January, I always book an extra day or two into the schedule to make sure I can get there. I also pay close attention to which connection airports are in use and what the alternate connection airports are, if not flying nonstop.

 

[sam_gordon]

I can't help you with your specific requirements, but I'll tell you what I tell everyone looking for the "best price possible"...

1) Start stalking airfare prices now. I'm going to suggest using google.com/flights. They can look at multiple airlines, and multiple airports. Just know, often the fare they return is a "basic economy".
2) Know that the price for nine might be different than the price for one. I always do my checks based on the price for one, knowing that when more people are added, it MAY increase the cost per passenger. In which case, I also know I can make multiple bookings (maybe one for four, and another for five, with the second one in a different "fare bucket"). If I do multiple fare buckets (I haven't had to, but I know the possibility is there), I'd make sure there's at least one adult in each fare bucket. That's just in case of flight changes when not everyone can get onto the same new flight.
3) Set yourself a target that if the prices get to, you'll purchase. This shouldn't be the "ideal" price, but a "comfortable" one. If you book with an airline that doesn't have change fees (SW, Delta, Alaska), keep watching the prices after you book. If the price drops, do a "change" and get at least flight credit. If you book with an airline that does have change fees, and will be upset if you've spent more than you need to, don't look again.
4) Also know that non-stop flights and those departing between ~8a-5p will be more expensive than the early flights or later ones. Accepting a layover and/or leaving early/late could save some money. We're talking the family on a cruise in July. The flight I *WANTED* left at 10:30a, had a connection, and got in at 3:30p. However, it was $600pp. The flight I BOOKED was 6:30p-1030p, and was $377pp (big difference, especially with 8 people). Delta changed flight numbers for the 6:30p so I was able to move everyone (at no charge) to the 10:30a flight. That flight is now selling for almost $1k.

@jec6613 has a good idea about the weather.

 

[jec6613]

One thing I just checked that you may want to keep in mind, is that Amtrak sleeper service for the end of January sits at around $450 per person right now, so I'd set that as a hard cap on how much I'd be willing to spend all in, including airport transportation, checked bag fees, parking, and so on (and given airport parking prices and the massive baggage allowance, Amtrak often ends up being cheaper even with sleeper accommodation). Yes, there's an extra day of travel, but in the eastern US Amtrak provides an excellent verification of what a reasonable price is for a route.

 

[JennSaint]

Thanks for all the replies. I do travel alot so I know to constantly check etc, I was just looking for others who have traveled to Disney frequently at the end of January to see if they have seen a consistent sweet spot let's say 6 months out etc.
And this trip is only 5 nights so no train for us. I do love train travel especially in Europe. It's awesome!

 

[EACarlson]

If you're very price sensitive, consider Avelo out of HVN - a bit of a hike but they're direct on a LCC. And with nine people, keep in mind that your seats will be spread across several fare buckets, with some people potentially paying twice what somebody else in your group is paying, even if all booked at the same time.

Does Avelo fly HVN-MCO daily? Or multiple times a day? That is my concern with LCCs and ULCCs. If your flight gets cancelled what is the plan then. My wife is flying to DEN in June on Allegiant, they only fly twice a week, not going to be much of a trip if she can't be on that flight for whatever reason. I would think even harder about it for Disney. At least with the majors I can almost always find a way there the same day, somehow.

 

[jec6613]

Does Avelo fly HVN-MCO daily? Or multiple times a day? That is my concern with LCCs and ULCCs. If your flight gets cancelled what is the plan then. My wife is flying to DEN in June on Allegiant, they only fly twice a week, not going to be much of a trip if she can't be on that flight for whatever reason. I would think even harder about it for Disney. At least with the majors I can almost always find a way there the same day, somehow.

They fly 6 days/week, every day except Tuesday. The bigger issue with Avelo so far hasn't been their dispatch rate out of HVN, which is really outstanding, it's that as they're flying ex-WN 737-700's the runway is too short for landing safely in poor conditions, so they divert to BDL fairly often.

I've found that when I run into IROPs on a major out of one of the NYC airports, it's virtually always going to leave me in about the same place as a LCC with a daily. Yes, there's more capacity, but the load factors are so high on the majors that it's usually a next day reschedule at best, anyway, unless you're on a high traffic route like LGA-ORD or JFK-LAX.

This is why I carry a couple of rail schedule PDFs on my phone, because I can get to any airport from IAD through BOS within a few hours, and it's pretty rare that the entire east coast has IROPs at the same time. Most people don't think about taking alternate airports over a hundred miles away, but being in the part of the US with fast, frequent rail service makes it possible to get direct from HVN to EWR in about 2.5 hours (and that's over the slowest section of the NEC).

 

[sam_gordon]

One thing I just checked that you may want to keep in mind, is that Amtrak sleeper service for the end of January sits at around $450 per person right now, so I'd set that as a hard cap on how much I'd be willing to spend all in, including airport transportation, checked bag fees, parking, and so on (and given airport parking prices and the massive baggage allowance, Amtrak often ends up being cheaper even with sleeper accommodation). Yes, there's an extra day of travel, but in the eastern US Amtrak provides an excellent verification of what a reasonable price is for a route.

I disagree with that. Time = money. I'm willing to spend more in order to reach my destination quicker.

 

[BuzzLightyr]

Jetblue out of Worcester (ORH) and Providence (pvd) are generally really reasonable. Manchester (MHT) is getting breeze service which should lower prices. In January, I'd avoid a connection in case you get a storm.

 

[JennSaint]

Jetblue out of Worcester (ORH) and Providence (pvd) are generally really reasonable. Manchester (MHT) is getting breeze service which should lower prices. In January, I'd avoid a connection in case you get a storm.

Yes planning on nonstop only. The JetBlue flight out of Worcester is the one we are eyeing! Right now they want $343 for blue fare which I think is really high.

 

[mzozzietj]

I also live in MA and typically fly out of BOS or PVD. My latest trick is to play jetblue shuffle. I compare costs with all the airlines and try to book right when they release the fares. What I usually do is book the least expensive fare for the date range I'm looking for, from any of the boston area airports. In my experience, they shift their schedules very often. When they adjust flight times more than 60 minutes you can change your flights to a new one anytime 24 hours before/after for one of the three airports considered "Boston Area" For example, I had booked our flight for April school vacation week of 2024 back in July 2023. I selected a non-stop Thursday afternoon flight from Worcester to Orlando as they were only $143 one way per person for Blue fare. (I always book one-way flights so I can adjust to better days/times/prices as needed). In September they had changed the flight time about two hours earlier. This was enough time to allow me to change for no fee (and no increase in fare price). I changed us to flights out of Boston on Friday afternoon. The Friday flights were drastically more expensive so I saved a lot and my daughter only missed a half day of school.

Is it a gamble? yes! But I always pick a flight I *could* do in the hopes of getting a better one and saving money.

I check all the airlines for any of the local airports. BOS, PVD, ORH, MHT, sometimes even BWI and ALB. One year we saved over $800 r/t for three of us by driving the 3 hours to Albany. Well worth it as it was an easy drive out the Mass pike and the airport is so easy to navigate.

 

[sponica]

For context for NH February school vacation week this year, we paid about 700 dollars round trip per person from Manchester. So that's probably where I start from (and why we're not doing a school vacation week trip again if we can swing it)