Florida,  Travel,  Travel Tips

How Our Family Of 5 Flew Roundtrip To Florida For Less Than $325

August 23, 2019 / 60 Comments
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Since we are a family of five, and we love to travel, I always keep my eyes open for cheap flights. Don’t get me wrong, we love a good road trip, but if I can get to a destination in a few hours versus a few days, sign me up! One of these instances was when I stumbled upon roundtrip tickets to Florida for all five of us, for less than $325!

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I know what you’re thinking…

“How did you get roundtrip tickets for that cheap?!”

I’ll tell you how.

We booked our flight through Frontier Airlines, a low-cost airline.

Photo Credit: Frontier Airlines (Newsroom: media images)

What is a low-cost airline?

Glad you asked! 

A low-cost airline is an airline that doesn’t offer some of the traditional services many other airlines offer. That results in cheap flights. To make up for the lower ticket prices, many low-cost airline may charge for extras such as baggage, choosing your seat, and priority boarding.

Low-cost airlines also usually fly in to smaller airports that might be just outside of the major city you are traveling to.

How our cheap flight purchase was broken down!

Our cheap flight purchase was broken down as follows:

  • Airfare for all five of us was $9.30 total.
  • Both adults had $0 seat fees.
  • All three children had $12 seat fees ($36).
  • First checked bag was $30.
  • Options were $66.
  • Taxes and carrier-imposed fees were $182.70

That adds up to a grand total of $324. When I saw the total on the screen, I knew I would be crazy NOT to book it. Plus, it was winter in Michigan. Need I say more?! Florida, here we come!

How did we keep it cheap?

Knowing that our Sand & Sea vacation rental we were staying at in Florida had laundry, we could pack less clothes and just do a load of laundry during our stay. Each one of my children had their own backpack which held their clothes, snacks for the plane ride, and stuff to keep them busy on the plane. They wore their “heavier” clothes and shoes to the airport and the lighter stuff was in their backpack. 

We interrupt this post to bring you a life changing discovery!

Over the years as our family has grown, and we continue to travel more and more, I have discovered something that makes life easier AFTER the vacation. Prepare to have your mind blown…

I do laundry the evening before we head home.

I know, right?!?

That way we are not coming home with suitcases full of dirty clothes waiting to be washed. We’ve all been there, when that feeling of back to reality hits after a vacation. Laundry is the last thing anyone wants to do and doing this one small thing has helped this Momma keep her newly refreshed sanity after arriving back home after a trip.

Now back to our regular scheduled post!

Since we would be doing laundry at our vacation rental, we only paid for one checked bag that would be shared between my husband, our youngest child, and myself. As with any airlines, the maximum weight for a checked bag is 50 pounds, so don’t guess the weight of your luggage! If you do, and it exceeds the 50 pounds, it will set you back $75 when you check your bag. I highly suggest owning a luggage scale, especially if you travel frequently.

Overweight luggage doesn’t just mean more money out of your pocket, but it also means difficult lifting for airline employees. Heavier luggage means more fuel is used for that airplane to fly to its destination.

Baggage

During your initial booking online, or on their app, the first checked bag is $30. It jumps to $38 after booking and up to 24 hours before your flight departs. If you wait until you are checking in, the rate goes up to $40. If you waited to purchase a checked bag until you were at the check-in counter, or kiosk, it is now $50. And if you like paying double for things, purchasing a checked bag at the gate will set you back $60.

All passengers are allowed to take one personal item, not to exceed 18″ x 8″ x 14″, on-board the aircraft at no additional charge. For me it was my purse, and for the kids it was their backpacks.

Deciding to only purchase one checked bag, actually made the trip through the airport a lot easier. There was less stuff to haul around and more hands to keep our family together. We checked our carseat and booster seat at the check-in counter and our stroller at the gate. At our departing airport we were given a large bag to put the carseats in. It was great because, for one, they were together in the same bag, and two, they weren’t damp from the Florida humidity when we picked them up at the baggage terminal.

Seating

When it came time to choose seats during the booking, I looked for seats that were free and booked the seats next them ($12 each). That way our family would be sitting together and we wouldn’t have to worry about being separated. Frontier tries to make it as smooth as possible for traveling families. That includes allowing families to board directly after Zone 1/Priority boarding.

Now Boarding!

Inside the Frontier airplanes you will notice a few things that are different from other airlines. There are no t.v.’s, and the seats are not as “big.” They are modern, pre-reclined, but do offer plenty of room for each passenger. Our flight was about two and half hours and both my husband (6 feet tall) and myself were still comfortable when we landed.

During booking, they do offer the choice of “Stretch Seating” which includes extra legroom, full comfort recline, first to get in-flight service, and they are laptop friendly. That basically means the tray table is big enough to fit your laptop. If you are in the regular seating, you will notice that the tray table is considerably smaller. It does have a groove on the edge, which was perfect for holding the iPad while the kids watched movies.

The in-flight service, food and drinks, are extra. I didn’t think the prices were too bad compared to other airlines I have flown on. We pack our own snacks, due to allergies, but I was impressed with how many choices they had to offer.

Upon exiting the plane, the flight attendants were handing out trading cards that had the animal that was on the outside of the plane on them. Our kids thought it was fun to collect them.

Would we fly Frontier again?

Absolutely! Every employee we encountered was pleasant and very helpful. Even though our departing and returning flights were late in departing, less than 30 minutes, the money we saved booking with Frontier made it that much less painful.

Can it get any cheaper?

Sure! Frontier offers their DISCOUNT DEN℠ subscription which will give you exclusive access to Frontier’s LOWEST available fares. Better yet, the savings continue all year long! Also included with the Discount Den is that children currently fly free.

Yes, you read that right, CHILDREN FLY FREE! For example, one child under the age of 15 can fly for free for every adult Discount Den fare purchased on valid Kids Fly Free flights.

Bottom line is yes, they are a low-cost airline, but they get you to where you want to go. Believe it or not, they also offer the same view out the window as any other airline.

PERHAPS for your next family adventure you should give Frontier Airlines, a chance. But I’ll warn you now, once you see those cheap flight totals appear on the screen, it will be hard not to book every flight they offer!

Don’t forget to check out our Florida adventures:

Also be sure to check out our Top 30 Gift Ideas for Travelers. It is full of unique gift ideas for those in your life who love to travel… or to add to your own personal carry-on.  We’ve even included the one item we won’t go to Disney without! It might surprise you!

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