Disney on a Budget, Part 1 Getting There

Congratulations,you have decided to go to Disney World!! Now how are you going to get there?
If you are like me you will need to travel quite a distance to make this journey and it comes at a cost.

Flying: If you are flying there are many ways to get there, and almost no one on the plane paid the same price.

EXPEDIA
Log into ebates.ca first, then search for the Expedia store. You will earn cash back and once $5 is in your account you can redeem as a cheque!
Or: airmilesshops.ca and search for the Expedia store and you will earn Air Miles on your flight.

Each time you go on Expedia, make sure that you clear your cookies, it remembers what you looked at and the prices rise a bit each time.

AIRMILES:
Air Miles allows you to choose redeeming Air Miles for flights.   You can redeem your Air Miles for a ticket and there is a charge to you for the taxes. For example, my family redeemed 3,000 miles per ticket and $160 in taxes. 12000 Air Miles and $640 we will be going to Orlando.

WORD OF CAUTION:  my flight that was booked with Air Miles had 5 changes, including the connection city.
Also, in my experience Air Miles flights often are the “milk run” with at least one lay over.  I suggest checking into how long the layovers are and if your time is worth more to pay for your direct flight.  For example, when I went to New York last year it cost $435 for the flight or it would have been 2100 Air Miles and $145 in taxes with a 3 hour lay over each way.  I felt that my time was worth more than 6 hours down time and paid for the flight.   Due to the time of year there isn’t a direct flight to Orlando and I redeemed Air Miles.

Air Miles also has an option to purchase cash tickets.  SOMETIMES these tickets are affordable.

WESTJET MasterCard: this credit card offers a companion flight for $99 with the purchase of a regular price ticket.   Also, with every purchase charged WestJet points are earned and can be redeemed towards your flight.

Aeroplan Miles: redeem your Aeroplan Miles for your flight.  This hasn’t worked out for me because I am a teacher and there are usually black out dates.  Our friends redeemed for a flight and didn’t have any issues with their flight.



DRIVE:
Driving may be an option to get to Disney World if you have time.  When driving try to stay loyal to a particular gas station. Many gas stations provide rewards for your purchases.  Taking advantage of these loyalty programs will earn you cash back rewards or can be combined with other rewards.

Credit cards and debit cards often earn more points at gas stations.

When driving gas,hotel and meal costs need to be calculated. We have friends that always drive, and they told me they would stop at the tourist bureau or at McDonald’s for hotel coupons.   They usually found them for under $50 and were usually between 2 hotel chains.  Again, stay loyal to a chain and earn points towards a free stay.


COMBO: Another alternative to get to Disney World is to drive to an airport in the United States and fly from there.   Sometimes it works out to be cheaper this way with the fares from American airports to another American airport. 

It pays to be frugal.
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