Book now for Easter or wait for August flights?

[Allisonjane]

So my plans for next year have changed completely. We were going to do 3 weeks in August with no Disney but my DH has had a lot of changes at work and is no longer allowed 3 weeks off, but on the upside he got a good bonus and a pay rise so our budget has increased.
The new plan is to hopefully go for around 16-17 days in August, and do Disney and universal, Coronado Springs for 14 nights and hopefully 3 nights at a universal hotel, but this is still dependant on flight prices.
We will also have a holiday in the school Easter holidays for around 10 nights. So I was looking at flights prices for Canary Islands, Cyprus etc. and realised I can get Orlando flights for only slightly more. I thought if I bought the Universal tickets ready for the Easter holiday and upgraded them to an annual pass, we wouldn't actually need to buy any extra tickets, so would actually be quite a cheap holiday if we stay off site.
My dilemma is do I book the Easter flights now, they are indirect, which we've never done before, for £342 each, and then hope I can get flights in August for a good price aswell (budget will be around £2000 for 3 of us) Or shall I wait until I know I've got the August flights booked (as that's our main holiday) and hope I can still get cheap flights for Easter?

[3disneykids]

When are you going in August and where are you travelling from... Have you checked Thomas cook and Tui for their August flight prices yet?
£342 seems very cheap for Easter...Wish I could afford both

[Tweety1]

Originally Posted by 3disneykids

When are you going in August and where are you travelling from... Have you checked Thomas cook and Tui for their August flight prices yet?
£342 seems very cheap for Easter...Wish I could afford both

See more...

I’ve seen Easter flights for this with Virgin indirect. TBH I was tempted myself!
For what it’s worth if you can afford it go for it. This is how I justify hols as if you get AP you will have a cheaper hol

[Allisonjane]

Thank you for the replies.
The Easter flights are indirect and go on 3rd April, so missing 3 days off school, we wouldn't actually be there for Easter but DDs school has the 2 weeks before off, that's probably why they are cheaper.
We can afford to do both if I can get the August flights for around £650-£700 each. But obviously I won't know that until the end of September when they do on sale.
I have looked at Thomas cook and tui, but they are around £1000 each for our dates, we will be looking to go around 10/11th til 27/28th August.

[shawny122]

Originally Posted by Allisonjane

Thank you for the replies.
The Easter flights are indirect and go on 3rd April, so missing 3 days off school, we wouldn't actually be there for Easter but DDs school has the 2 weeks before off, that's probably why they are cheaper.
We can afford to do both if I can get the August flights for around £650-£700 each. But obviously I won't know that until the end of September when they do on sale.
I have looked at Thomas cook and tui, but they are around £1000 each for our dates, we will be looking to go around 10/11th til 27/28th August.

See more...

If I found a bargain and knew I could afford both I’d book it!

If you don’t mind me asking where did you find those flights? And where are they flying from? I can’t find anything near those prices but would happily go on 3rd April indirect

[Allisonjane]

I found them on skyscanner but booking direct with United, although they now seem to have gone up on the UK website, still roughly that price on the US website though, $1336 for 3 of us, including luggage, meals and seat booking. The flight times on 3rd aren’t great, there’s a lot more choice on 2nd April.

[cornishfrogboy]

You can pretty much book August now and within budget if you go early. Just skip the search engines (330 days only) and go straight to the Norwegian Airlines site.

Norwegian have released until 05 August as of this morning on their own website.
LGW to Fort Lauderdale is showing at £344 on 17 July, rising to £377 per adult in the days afterwards.
Fort Lauderdale to LGW is showing at £224 per adult on 05 August. Not sure what your family make up is daughters age) but you obviously take passenger duty off, if appropriate at time of purchase.

We have bought our outwards for 18 July LGW -Boston at £314 plus a further £25 to select seats (and that includes exit row). If we had gone to £50, then we could have had this plus hold baggage and a lousy in flight meal.
We are anxiously waiting a few more days until our return journey from Florida (MCO or FLL) gets released, but are expecting £224 per adult from FLL.

The above suggests that you can get your tickets LGW return into Fort Lauderdale at £564 per adult or £664 with food, exit row seats (if 16 yrs) and hold baggage both ways. Of course you may not rate airline food and may not need hold baggage for all of you and in addition, one of your party may be exempt Passenger duty.

P.s Those Easter flights look good.

Hope it helps!

[Allisonjane]

Thanks for the info on Norwegian, we went with them this year and although their customer service is shocking, the actual flight was good, so I would consider using them again.
Our dates are later in August, 10th-27/28th, so still another few weeks until they are released, but the August dates on sale already are £748 return or £848 with the extras, which is more than I'm prepared to pay, Fort Lauderdale isn't an option for us, think I'd rather go indirect than have a 3-4 hour drive when we arrived, and also that would add to car hire costs as we plan on using Magical Express.