We are fortunate in the Northeast Ohio to have two large airports within a 45 minute drive.  I can drive to the Canton-Akron airport within about 20 minutes and to the Cleveland Airport in about 45 minutes (with no traffic).  With these two airports our selection of airlines is quite extensive, however I love flying on Southwest Airlines.

1. No Frills Flying–  Southwest airlines are able to keep their flights relatively inexpensive because of the lack of frills.  There is no first class and coach option on these airlines.  You get your snack and your drink and that’s it.  Personally for me, I am all about saving a few bucks rather than a bunch of perks that I don’t need.
2. Direct Flights to Orlando daily- Every day from our nearest airport there are direct flights to and from Orlando!   It’s great when you can catch those too!  It’s so nice being able to have an 2 1/2 hour flight straight to Orlando without having to deal with layovers. If the time isn’t convenient there are usually other flights offered with a connecting flight in Atlanta.  It’s slightly more inconvenient, but at least you’re heading in the right direction!
3. Two Free Checked Bags- Yes you heard right, with Southwest Airlines you get two free checked bags plus a carry on per each ticket.  When traveling to Disney, it’s wonderful to pack an extra bag for the return home for souvenirs!  I sometimes buy some more fragile items, and it’s nice to have that extra bag on the way home to pack them up safely, and not have to pay for that extra bag!
4. Great for families with children- While I myself don’t have children, I can imagine there is a bit of anxiety associated with flying with younger kids. If you’re traveling with younger children you get better boarding.  You may not necessarily get first pick at seats because they will board the A group first (generally the business select group) but you will get to board before the B group.  This will allow you to make sure your family can sit together during the flight.The above picture is a screen shot of the rules about boarding as a family.
5. No Change Fee– If for some reason you need to reschedule your flight or change flights there is no fee to change.  You simply pay the difference, or get the difference back.  This happened to me a few years ago.  I had to reschedule my Disney vacation because of an unforeseen conflict.  I was able to do so with EASE because of Southwests simplicity and lack of fees.
6. Fuel Perks– If you are in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana, or Maryland you may have a Giant Eagle near by.  If you do, chances are you already know about their fuel perks program.   If you’re unfamiliar, fuel perks rewards you for shopping at Giant Eagle stores.  For every $50 you spend on groceries or gift cards you’ll receive $.10 in fuel perks (which means 10 cents off per gallon up to 30 gallons at GetGo stations.)  So let’s say you are a family of 4 purchasing round trip airfare and it’ll cost $950.00.  Purchase the Southwest gift cards for that amount and you’re looking at $1.90 in fuel perks.  $1.90 x 30 gallons = $57.00 in free gasoline.  PLUS sometimes they will run specials where you get double fuel perks on gift cards, so you could be looking at saving even more!  ***Be warned though, southwest only accepts 4 forms of payment per transaction, so if you’re purchasing gift cards make sure that you get the ones where you can preload up to $500 on the card to ensure that you can do it all on one transaction!***

If you’re making the trip to Disney or any location, be sure to contact Ashley@charmingtravelsllc.com to book your travel needs!  Ashley is able to book cruises, hotel rooms, all inclusive packages, and of course all of your central Florida attractions!

ashley@charmingtravelsllc.com