Brit needs help with flights Vegas to Florida

[heatherbelle]

I've just been reading these threads and getting myself tied in knots with all the different airlines you guys have.

We are hoping to fly from the UK direct to Vegas and stay a few days next August.

Then we need to get to Florida, I don't mind if we fly to MCO, Stanford, Tampa, Firt Lauderdale or even Miami or any where else inbetween.

Could someone help me with airlines that fly from Vegas to Florida and rough estimates of prices. Also do you guys have to add extras onto the prices for luggage and seat allocation like we do with budget airlines here in the UK.

Also anyone airline better than another? Food, seats, price drops. Is it best to book as soon as flights are released or wait a bit. Here in the UK August is prime travelling time, so the earlier you book the cheaper.

From Florida we will be taking a cruise and hopefully getting a Mickey fix.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

If you are traveling in August, book now. Prices are not likely going to drop from what they are now.

Chose an airline which is an affiliate of any frequent flyer program you may belong to, if that is important to you. You can see what airlines fly this route by using a site such as expedia.com (keep in mind they don't include Southwest Airlines), as well as get flight information. You will have to go to the individual airline web pages for specific seat selection info and baggage fees.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

To compare prices and schedules, try http://www.hipmunk.com/ and http://www.kayak.com/

Las Vegas ia LAS
Orlando is MCO
Miami is MIA
Ft. Lauderdale is FLL
West Palm Beach is PBI
Tampa is TPA

Also try http://www.southwest.com/ separately because Southwest Airlines doesn't work properly with the Hipmunk and Kayak comparison sites.

Domestic flights in the United States typically provide free non-alcoholic beverages in the main (economy) cabin. Food and alcoholic beverages are usually available for purchase in the main cabin. I prefer to eat in the airport before flying (although I had a terrible sandwich at FLL recently).

I would avoid Spirit Airlines. In addition to having very tight seating, Spirit has earned a reputation for terrible customer service, especially when things go wrong. I've experienced this personally.

Southwest Airlines has its own passenger-friendly way of doing business -- including its baggage policies (first two bags per passenger checked free), flexibility in changing tickets, and how boarding works (no pre-assigned seats) -- which is quite different from the rest of the United States airline industry. It's a good airline.

JetBlue and Virgin America have reputations for superior service. I can vouch that this is true for JetBlue. I've never flown Virgin America.

The rest of the major carriers (American, Delta, U.S. Airways, and United) are all about the same -- perfectly adequate, reliable, safe transportation, but nothing to get excited about. They all charge for checked bags and for preferred seat assignments. I fly a lot on American (which means I don't have to pay for checked bags or preferred seats).

If you have status with an airline, try to fly with an airline that's in the same global alliance. For example, if you have status with British Airways, you'll be treated as an elite passenger by American (but you still won't get lounge access for domestic flights).

If you're doing a cruise, there's a lot to be said to flying to the airport closest to your cruise terminal -- trying to arrive at least 24 hours before you sail. You'll want a cushion in case your flight is cancelled, delayed, or you miss a connection. And all the Florida cities with cruise ports have fun things to do.

I hope this helps. I'm sure others will offer more opinions and suggestions.

Enjoy your trip to the United States! (We like folks from the UK here.)

 

[flipfloppershopper]

The best way to get from Vegas to Florida is Allegiant Air. They are a charter company and fly nonstop and are generally the cheapest. You can book your flight at Allegiantair.com

 

[Lewisc]

Also price your flight LHR-LAS-MCO-LHR Use the multi city option on kayak.

 

[jsilvers]

The best way to get from Vegas to Florida is Allegiant Air. They are a charter company

According to Allegiant's route map (http://www.allegiantair.com/aaRouteMapStatic.php), the airline doesn't offer any nonstop flights between Las Vegas and Florida - and Allegiant doesn't support connecting flights. Theoretically, one could buy two separate tickets to make such a trip on Allegiant - but it is quite possibly the worst choice among scheduled airlines for getting between Las Vegas and Florida given the inconvenience and risks involved.

They are a charter company

Allegiant has authority to operate charters (for example, for casino-related tour packages), but the vast majority of its operations are regular scheduled flights.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I've just been reading these threads and getting myself tied in knots with all the different airlines you guys have.

We are hoping to fly from the UK direct to Vegas and stay a few days next August.

Then we need to get to Florida, I don't mind if we fly to MCO, Stanford, Tampa, Firt Lauderdale or even Miami or any where else inbetween.

Could someone help me with airlines that fly from Vegas to Florida and rough estimates of prices. Also do you guys have to add extras onto the prices for luggage and seat allocation like we do with budget airlines here in the UK.

Also anyone airline better than another? Food, seats, price drops. Is it best to book as soon as flights are released or wait a bit. Here in the UK August is prime travelling time, so the earlier you book the cheaper.

From Florida we will be taking a cruise and hopefully getting a Mickey fix.

Where does the cruise start and end? Are you doing Mickey before or after?

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Where does the cruise start and end? Are you doing Mickey before or after?

Delta has nonstop from LAS to Orlando Might be a good option

 

[flipfloppershopper]

Oops sorry for my false info. We have used Allegiant to fly to both LasVegas and FL. I just assumed it would take you from to both places. Again sorry!

 

[malibuconlee]

For Southwest you will have to check prices and schedule directly with the airline, their prices will not show up on sites like expedia or travelocity like the other major carriers.

Southwest will give you two free bags, most others the first bag starts around $25 and the second roughly $50.

As a reminder there is a 3 hour time difference between Florida and Las Vegas.

As for food, most airlines provide a snack and beverages, but you won't find a real meal on most. Sometimes an airline will provide a meal for a fee, but the selection is limited as is the quantity. I haven't been on a flight that offered one in several years tho as I have flown SW the majority of the time the last 5 years due to the locations I have been living.

 

[HoosierDisneyDad]

The lowest price I could find for non-stop flights from Las Vegas to Orlando for random dates in August was $204 on Southwest. That seems like a decent price since it includes 2 checked bags (I'm assuming you'll have a fair amount of luggage because you're coming from the UK and taking a cruise). Delta also has a non-stop flight, but it was more expensive and you'll have to pay for checked bags on Delta.

One extra fee Southwest has is EarlyBird check-in for $12.50 per ticket which gets you a better number to board the plane earlier. You'll probably get a wide range of opinions on this forum regarding whether it is worth paying for EarlyBird or not. And some Southwest planes have WiFi onboard for $8.

 

[heatherbelle]

Wow, lots of relies have come back, thank you.

We are hoping to visit in August 2014, sorry I should have been more clearer in my first post.

I have looked into connecting tickets before, but it is too expensive to purchase all the flights on one ticket.

We will be flying either Manchester UK via LHR to Vegas or direct from Manchester, depending how I can use my VA miles or BA/AA miles. In August it is very difficult to get reward seats here, as it is our school holidays and most airlines don't need to sell reward seats most flights sell out. We will only have two suitcases between us and three carry on's we travel light.

The only route into the states that I have seen lots of reward availability is to NY, but we will still need to fly to London Heathrow and that's not cheap here, around $500. Even though it's only a 4 hour drive we just wouldn't drive down due to the jet lag coming home and our roads are horrendous, think central NY and that is what our freeways are like.

As for the cruise, I do plan on arriving a few days before the cruise and we don't mind driving from as far away as Miami to Orlando because your roads are lovely to drive on. I haven't decided where we are cruising from or where to. Although I do have a DCL Fantasy placeholder booked. The main issue at this time is sorting out flights and then I can work around it.

We love coming to the states and this will be my DS's 6th visit and my 7th visit. We usually stick to Orlando, but we have been to LA and San Diego too.

I will start trawling through the airlines so I can get an idea of prices for the internal flights. The flights to and from the states will cost us around $1500 each, unless a delta glitch comes along again. This year there were flights available for around $750 each, but I had already booked our Med cruise

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

If you aren't flying until August 2014, you will have to wait several months before any airlines open their schedules for that time period. All you can do now is check out prices for this August for some idea of what to expect to pay next summer.

 

[CPT Tripss]

As you are not flying until 2014, there may be additional airlines flying the route you want . . . And possibly some flying today will not be. Be sure to check back.

 

[N365PA]

Flying out of Manchester to LAS, then to MCO, then back to MAN should be pretty easy to find under multi-stop on Expedia. United, British (with American), Virgin (with Delta), and US Airways all fly to those cities. Its a little far out now to buy tickets (most airlines don't let you till 6-12 months out anyways).

Southwest and Delta both fly LAS-MCO non-stop. That can change between now and next summer though. Every other major US carrier flies to both cities with connections. If you are connecting from the UK to a US carrier, I would stay away from Allegiant, Frontier, Spirit, or even Southwest on your MAN-LAS or MCO-MAN legs. They do not partner with other airlines in the event that their airplanes break down, you'll be stuck. On the LAS-MCO legs, no problem using Southwest (great carrier, flown them a lot!) but I would stay away from Allegiant or Spirit (our versions of RyanAir).

Clint
Former Pilot / Flight Attendant / Gate Agent / Ramp Rat

 

[manning]

I've just been reading these threads and getting myself tied in knots with all the different airlines you guys have.

We are hoping to fly from the UK direct to Vegas and stay a few days next August.

Then we need to get to Florida, I don't mind if we fly to MCO, Stanford, Tampa, Firt Lauderdale or even Miami or any where else inbetween.

Could someone help me with airlines that fly from Vegas to Florida and rough estimates of prices. Also do you guys have to add extras onto the prices for luggage and seat allocation like we do with budget airlines here in the UK.

Also anyone airline better than another? Food, seats, price drops. Is it best to book as soon as flights are released or wait a bit. Here in the UK August is prime travelling time, so the earlier you book the cheaper.

From Florida we will be taking a cruise and hopefully getting a Mickey fix.

Wow, that was a close one. At least the misspell was an "i" and not an "a".

 

[NotUrsula]

You probably will be best off buying the whole thing as an excursion ticket package via a UK travel agent; UK & EU flag carriers will codeshare the US domestic flights if you do the over-the-water leg via BA. (BTW, What you are looking for is called an open-jaw ticket in the industry.) As both LAS and MCO are holiday destinations, you can probably get the whole thing as a package. Have you looked at doing a charter straight to MCO, and doing another holiday package between MCO>LAS? (As MCO is on the US east coast and has a lot of flights to LAS, it might be worth it to take that extra flight as nested returns.)

I used the ITA matrix to price out just flights for a trip in August of this year, and I come up with a current price of GBP1,010 per person for the entire open-jaw itinerary (MAN>LAS>MCO>MAN). There is essentially no way to get from MAN > LAS non-stop; your choices are to change at LHR for the long-haul, or change in NYC, DC or Chicago. If you want to return via the same route, don't choose Chicago; you would have to backtrack westward from MCO.

I live in the midwestern US, and I fly from the US to MAN on occasion. My personal preference is to change on the US east coast, because that makes the length of the flights more equitable, and gets you out of the plane to walk around a couple of hours sooner.

 

[heatherbelle]

Wow, that was a close one. At least the misspell was an "i" and not an "a".

 

[heatherbelle]

You probably will be best off buying the whole thing as an excursion ticket package via a UK travel agent; UK & EU flag carriers will codeshare the US domestic flights if you do the over-the-water leg via BA. (BTW, What you are looking for is called an open-jaw ticket in the industry.) As both LAS and MCO are holiday destinations, you can probably get the whole thing as a package. Have you looked at doing a charter straight to MCO, and doing another holiday package between MCO>LAS? (As MCO is on the US east coast and has a lot of flights to LAS, it might be worth it to take that extra flight as nested returns.)

I used the ITA matrix to price out just flights for a trip in August of this year, and I come up with a current price of GBP1,010 per person for the entire open-jaw itinerary (MAN>LAS>MCO>MAN). There is essentially no way to get from MAN > LAS non-stop; your choices are to change at LHR for the long-haul, or change in NYC, DC or Chicago. If you want to return via the same route, don't choose Chicago; you would have to backtrack westward from MCO.

I live in the midwestern US, and I fly from the US to MAN on occasion. My personal preference is to change on the US east coast, because that makes the length of the flights more equitable, and gets you out of the plane to walk around a couple of hours sooner.

I don't want to ticket it all the way, because I am hopefully going to use Avios miles (BA/AA) to get to Vegas and VA miles to get home from either Miami or MCO, to save money, or the other away around, depending on what is available.

If we have to pay over £1000 each, we won't be coming. I had looked at the ticket all the way. But thank you for the suggestion.

VA do fly to Vegas direct from Man on Thursdays and Sundays, and for this August there are reward availability going out but nothing coming home from MCO, Tampa, or Miami. Loads of availability from NY home to LHR and then if we come home with BA I get the free connection if using points.

I will keep monitoring and hit the phone as soon as flights go on sale in September. Meanwhile I will follow the Southwest prices and JetBlue.

 

[NotUrsula]

I don't want to ticket it all the way, because I am hopefully going to use Avios miles (BA/AA) to get to Vegas and VA miles to get home from either Miami or MCO, to save money, or the other away around, depending on what is available.

If we have to pay over £1000 each, we won't be coming. I had looked at the ticket all the way. But thank you for the suggestion.

VA do fly to Vegas direct from Man on Thursdays and Sundays, and for this August there are reward availability going out but nothing coming home from MCO, Tampa, or Miami. Loads of availability from NY home to LHR and then if we come home with BA I get the free connection if using points.

I will keep monitoring and hit the phone as soon as flights go on sale in September. Meanwhile I will follow the Southwest prices and JetBlue.

You might also want to check Dulles for your return flight availability on VA. SWA flies into Dulles, whereas they don't fly into JFK. (JetBlue does use JFK; just wanting to give you more options.)

Just FYI, be aware that as August is hurricane season, there is a good possibility of weather-related flight delays on the US East Coast. If I were you I wouldn't absolutely count on being able to make a non-interlined same-day connection from a US-domestic discount carrier to your international flight. Your best bet is to to book your flight out of MCO as the first one of the day, even if that leaves you kicking your heels for quite a while at your departure airport.

(FWIW, if you have a long overlay at Dulles, you would be in a great position to visit the Udvar-Hazy Center, which is right next-door. This is the Smithsonian's enormous "extra" Air & Space museum facility, and it includes a space shuttle and a Concorde on display, along with the Enola Gay. Admission is free, but there is a fee for the shuttle to get over there.)