PDA

View Full Version : Kids Fly Free Promo - Why so expensive?



JosieGirl71
03-25-2005, 03:32 PM
I just went on AlaskaAir's website and priced a 2 night stay and a 4 night stay for my youngest son and myself. No way was his airfare half price as the prices were $1100 and $1200 respectively. Is that normal or am I doing something wrong?

siamese1975
03-25-2005, 05:18 PM
Being a travel agent, I have noticed that when I price out a "kids fly free" package the air pricing is always "adjusted" accordingly by the airlines....making the adults flights more expensive than they usually are. What I usually do is price out flights without the "kids fly free" and compare the difference:) If all else fails, call Alaska airlines and get them to quote you and question why it is still so expensive.

Terri
03-25-2005, 06:08 PM
It all depends on when you're going, where you are staying, times you are flying, etc. Did you accept their flight times, or did you choose your own? Which airport are you flying into and from where. What extras?

I scheduled my flight for memorial day weekend, flying from ANC to SNA on 5/26 and returning on 6/1, staying at the DLH and a 3-day package in the park. We also chose the shuttle and not the bus for airport transportation = approx $2400. The same trip but staying at HJ came in at around $1400. So, yeah...they do raise the price of airfare, but coming from Alaska, it's what we would pay anyway. The way I get around it is to use a mileage ticket for my husband to fly and pay individually for his DL ticket and airport transportation. This comes in less that $200 total so, for $2600 we have a trip for 3 to the happiest place on earth! ;)

Yeah...kids fly free is jacked up, but sometimes it's still cheaper than other packages...

MommyTo3Boys1Girl
03-25-2005, 09:48 PM
Those fly free packages off no discount on the airfare for the person who is actually paying for their seat. It is basically a last minute walk up fare, as far as price goes. You can usually book something for each of you, ahead of time, and save money. People tend not to research it and think they are getting a good deal, because it sounds good, when they actually are not.

tinafromidaho
03-26-2005, 07:03 AM
I have tried a couple of different times to make the kids fly free program work but they charge full fare for the adult so it ends up costing more than if you find "cheap" airfare for each of you. Best Tip I know of, check with orbitz or that kayak.com and then see which airline has the cheapest rates then go to that airlines website and you can sometimes find it even cheaper.

JosieGirl71
03-26-2005, 01:52 PM
Thank you for all the info everyone. So much for a quick weekend trip for me and DS. :(

miss_sonja
03-26-2005, 06:42 PM
I too did the math when we were planning our trip for next month. We did some research using the Disney travel site and got what seemed like high prices, considering it had both kids fly free and play free (or maybe it was adults at kid prices) Anyway, luckily we didn't actually book because I found the same items for hundreds less booking separately.

Try some of the discount travel sites for prices--you might find a deal!

kurtztk
03-27-2005, 07:33 PM
We were able to get a good rate through this promotion back at the end of January, but only by talking to someone over the phone. I was never able to duplicate the rate online - I'm not sure why.

Our 4 night package was $1250 for 2 adults + 2 kids. Normally, airfare alone would be at least $200 each including taxes for a total of $800. $450 for 5 day park hoppers and 4 nights hotel seems like at least a decent deal. Online, I wasn't able to get the total lower than around $1,600.

We were told only specific dates and flights have the lowest fares, and only a certain number of seats are availabe. Since the promotion has been running since December (???), I'm sure most dates and flights are gone resulting in higher fares. For us, the cheapest package was leaving Friday and returning Tuesday.

Sebastian
03-28-2005, 08:05 AM
I think we got a pretty good deal using them. We are departing from PDX on June 3rd and staying 8 nights at the best western park place inn. We got 7 day park hoppers for 3 kids ( my dh and I are Ap holders) airfare for 5, shuttle to and from SNA, knotts berry farm tickets and transportation for all 5 of us, 5 day meal plans for all 5 of us all for $2500.

If I booked everything all by myself airfare and hotel alone would have been over $1900.

We also booked this back in January and thru AAA .

SF MANNY G
03-28-2005, 10:21 AM
2 adults 2 kids leaving SFO 4/01, returning 4/06. Staying at the Crowne Plaza hotel. 4 nights hotel, 4 4-DAY hoppers. 4 roundtrip airfare. All this for 950.00!!!! I don't think there's anyway we could have beat this billing everything seperately. I'm happy. :D