Airline Shopping

[OhMari]

I need a new airline. I know Sunshine's has Travelocity, but can someone tell me who to trust?

Midwest Express can get me to Orlando from Milwaukee, but they can't get me home. I would be stuck in Indy. So my only solution was a refund, or pay $440 per ticket extra to fly home with a different carrier. I took the refund.

I am so hesitatant to start over-I don't know which airline to trust.

Airtran would be $260
DELTA-$182
Those 2 are out of Milwaukee

If I flew out of O'Hare, prices are running in the $300-$400 and above. Even Southwest out of Midway in Chicago is over $300 a ticket.

[SunshineGirl]

I fly both Delta and AirTran. AirTran does move flights sometimes, but I always end up getting them to give me an even better flight for the same price when that happens. Delta has a hub near here, so I used to fly them all the time. That's actually where SG has most of his frequent traveler miles.

I would say to look at baggage costs. I'm not sure if either of them is now charging for first bags, but I know that AirTran is charging for second bags. They also charge extra if you want to pick your seat. So factor in any of those types of things as well before you choose.

[m4travels]

Because of the amount of flying we're doing in 2008 / 2009 we definitely went shopping for the lowest fare on all of our travels during this time. In September we're flying US Airways, October is Southwest, and January is a combination of US and Air Tran.

If I had my choice of airline it would be Delta. If I wasn't flying as much and I had a bit more discretionary money, I'd choose Delta every time when flying to MCO.

OhMari, looking at the options available to you, I would choose Delta. They don't charge for the 1st bag (though they were the first to charge for the 2nd bag, I believe). The ONLY concern I might have would be your connection (if there is one). Do you have to connect or change planes in Atlanta? We never have but I understand that can be a pretty tough airport to navigate to other gates if you have a small window of time.

When are you traveling? If it's still a ways out there will still the possibility of both AirTran and Delta tweaking their schedules. If you're within 2 months or so they'll probably be pretty well set. Air travel is no longer the way we knew it when you could book 330 days out and plan on it being there on your travel day.

[disney_girl]

I agree that with Delta, it might make a big difference if you have to change planes in Atlanta. We flew Delta a few years ago and had to change planes. Luckily that was before kids because we barely made our connection and that was with practically running a portion of it!

We fly Airtran, but as Tricia said you have to make sure you are allowing for all the fees (2nd bag, selecting seats, etc).

Good Luck!!

[OhMari]

We are leaving November 7. Delta has a layover in Atlanta. If you are flying with Delta, and Delta takes you the rest of the way to MCO, wouldn't it be in the same area?

When are you traveling? If it's still a ways out there will still the possibility of both AirTran and Delta tweaking their schedules. If you're within 2 months or so they'll probably be pretty well set. Air travel is no longer the way we knew it when you could book 330 days out and plan on it being there on your travel day.

I made my reservations in February. I am actually surprised I received a refund. I really thought Midwest was going to go Bankrupt.

I can't believe how expensive it is to fly out of O'Hare. O'Hare in Chicago was always the cheapest.

[m 'n c]

We are leaving November 7. Delta has a layover in Atlanta. If you are flying with Delta, and Delta takes you the rest of the way to MCO, wouldn't it be in the same area?


I made my reservations in February. I am actually surprised I received a refund. I really thought Midwest was going to go Bankrupt.

I can't believe how expensive it is to fly out of O'Hare. O'Hare in Chicago was always the cheapest.

I remember trying to navigate the Atlanta airport growing up. You would think that the planes would all be in the same area but Delta has multiple terminals and a quick layover will be tight. You need at least 1 hour between flights to navigate that airport.

Out of your choices, as much as I don't like Delta, I'd go with them. No matter how bad financially they get Congress will not allow them to go under because they are too big and too important in the airline industry here.

[mirandag819]

I have a similar issue right now, I don't mean to highjack this thread, but it is related to the suggestions other are offering. Airline didn't cancel my flights, but I had to. My sister got married last week and is moving cross country. I had booked all of our flights together and now I need to book her flight from Kansas and not NC. I wasn't able to just cancel her flight, I had to cancel everyones! Which sucks because I had an awesome price, less than 100 per person round trip from Southwest.

Okay my question is about carseats and strollers. I know with southwest they don't charge for the first 2 bags and you can have 1 car seat or 1 stroller person. We need to take 1 carseat and 1 stroller with us (there were 5 people so we could do this for free with southwest). Now that I am looking around at flights I think I am going to go through priceline. Does anyone know how other airlines handle carseats or strollers, do you pay the full fee for each as if it is another bag ? It looks like if we go through priceline it will be delta, united, or NWA.

Thanks for any advice you guys have.

[OhMari]

I have a similar issue right now, I don't mean to highjack this thread, but it is related to the suggestions other are offering. Airline didn't cancel my flights, but I had to. My sister got married last week and is moving cross country. I had booked all of our flights together and now I need to book her flight from Kansas and not NC. I wasn't able to just cancel her flight, I had to cancel everyones! Which sucks because I had an awesome price, less than 100 per person round trip from Southwest.

Okay my question is about carseats and strollers. I know with southwest they don't charge for the first 2 bags and you can have 1 car seat or 1 stroller person. We need to take 1 carseat and 1 stroller with us (there were 5 people so we could do this for free with southwest). Now that I am looking around at flights I think I am going to go through priceline. Does anyone know how other airlines handle carseats or strollers, do you pay the full fee for each as if it is another bag ? It looks like if we go through priceline it will be delta, united, or NWA.

Thanks for any advice you guys have.

Instead of going through Priceline, why don't you go right to those airlines and save yourself the fee Priceline charges. Plus, than you can read about their individual policies concerning carseats and strollers. I know Midwest did not count a carseat or stroller as a carry-on. I don't know about those you are interested in.

[mirandag819]

Instead of going through Priceline, why don't you go right to those airlines and save yourself the fee Priceline charges. Plus, than you can read about their individual policies concerning carseats and strollers. I know Midwest did not count a carseat or stroller as a carry-on. I don't know about those you are interested in.

Pricline doesn't have a fee.... and the prices actually look lower then when I went directly. It looks like priceline is having us fly 1 airline 1 way and another the other way, but the one way fares on their own direct from the airlines would be much more. I guess I will just have to go look at each airlines policies before I book.... was just hoping someone already had done this before and knew which airlines handled it differently, since it isn't the easiest thing to find on each of the airlines sites.

Plus I get a few dollars in SR rewards through Priceline !

[bellanlivismom]

We flew Airtran out of Milwaukee 2 years ago when we went to Disney. It was GREAT, the plane left 15 minutes early and arrived at MCO 40 min early. The direct flight was a must for us with the small children. We liked them and would fly them again. I have no opinion on Delta as I have never flown with them. Good luck with your decision. we flew Midwest this time around...never again.