Calling all Miami experts and anyone else who cares to join in.

[heatherbelle]

I've posted on CC, and a fellow Brit suggests I ask you guys for help too.

Basically I have booked everything back to front, but I'm not bothered. Flights have been booked with air miles/VA miles and I had to grab what I could otherwise we wouldn't be going. Flights are set in stone, unless more availability opens or the glitch ones appear and then I can cancel what I have and get the miles back and rebook everything a more appropriate why to save all the back and forth travelling.

So fly into MCO 15/08/14 around 6.00 pm with VA I got PE seats with miles plus 810.00 taxes, for three.

Now cruise departs from Miami 16/08/14. So two options, drive or fly down.
If we drove I would use the turnpike and pay the tolls. One way rental with Budget is around £30.00, plus fuel.

Flights with AA are currently £89.00 each one way. No availability with miles.

Anyone any experience of either flying down from MCO into Miami or FLL?

Anyone any experience of driving and car rental experiences recommendations that they could share?

Now we would rent a car to drive back to MCO, but at the moment our return flight home is out of Miami, I know you are all groaning. so would we be better getting a transfer from the ship to the airport to pick up the rental, or just pick up in Downtown and return to Miami airport?

The flight home again paid for with miles is MIA-Madrid-LHR-MAN 549.00 plus miles for three of us one leg in Business the rest in EC.

During our stay in Orlando we are staying at the Yacht Club. We're sailing on the Breeze. The Yacht club is nearly 1,000 cheaper staying the last week of August compared to the week before.

 

[chmurf]

Anyone any experience of either flying down from MCO into Miami or FLL?

Anyone any experience of driving and car rental experiences recommendations that they could share?

can't help you much with the whole story, but flying will be more expensive, and might even require more time than driving down, and might also cause issue with delayed or lost luggage. (which is always a possibility)

also remember that domestic flights in the US do not include a luggage allowance. You'll need to pay for checked luggage on top of the fare.

If I had to choose, I'd drive. No brainer for me.

but at the moment our return flight home is out of Miami, I know you are all groaning. so would we be better getting a transfer from the ship to the airport to pick up the rental, or just pick up in Downtown and return to Miami airport?

The flight home again paid for with miles is MIA-Madrid-LHR-MAN 549.00 plus miles for three of us one leg in Business the rest in EC.

I know what I'm about to say is not going to help.
But I wouldn't do a MIA-MAD-LHR-MAN at the end of a vacation, even if they paid me to fly that itinerary.
Especially since transatlantics will probably be operated by Iberia, which must rank in the top5 crappiest airline in europe, and on jets that don't have Inflight Entertainement (no personnal TV) ... thankfully for you, you're in Business class on the return Transatlantic leg, so you'll have personnal TV, but what about the MAD-MIA ?
Madrid Barajas is also notorious for being a zoo

If you have the opportunity to change flights, do it. But if you're paying with miles + money, you're stuck with AA and most probably Iberia ...
I hope you will at least be able to get a MCO-europe flight, that would avoid the need to go back again to Miami


sorry if I've made matters a bit worse, but I had to speak up here, even if your flights are set in stone, because that's a pretty scary itinerary you've got here.

 

[mackay_j]

Hi again, I think you'll get more help over here as the cruise forum is brill for cruise stuff, but not so great on UK to Florida info. As I said over on the cruise one just make sure and get the sunpass for that journey as we got caught out without it. On the way back you could do the everglades, it would make the travel day more interesting for your children.

 

[shaun&miranda]

I'm a bit confused about your itinerary after the cruise, but we have driven between Orlando and Miami several times (in both directions) over the years. It's an easy drive, approx 4 hours drive taking it easy, door to door, depending where you actually start and finish.

There's not much to stop at along the road since you're basically on a motorway, but there are plenty of places you could come off the highway to have a meal or a walk around if you wanted.

We have hired cars one-way as well as returns on different trips, and have just taken the best price deal around each time. Since you've booked through Virgin, see if you can get any cheaper prices through the flying club/my bookings pages on their site for car hire. Sometimes it's cheaper by a few pounds in the end, other times it's cheaper to book direct.

Just check where the depots are for each brand for pick up and drop off and make sure that they are convenient for you to get to or move on from. Also (in case you don't already know) Miami airport is nothing like as nice as MCO. It's a lot older, a lot more confusing, and a lot less friendly. Fort Lauderdale airport is smaller and therefore a bit less confusing, but the traffic routes around it got us really, really lost!

In your shoes, I would drive every time. Just make sure you get a car that has a big enough trunk for all your luggage!

Hope this is helpful
Miranda

 

[heatherbelle]

Thanks, now I will look twice a day to see if any availability opens up on the homeward stretch and cross everything. Iberia sounds scary.

AA haven't released that far out and there are a few alternative routes out of MCO we could switch to if needs be, via New York or Orlando. Also nothing released homeward bound by VA for the whole of August so that's a possibility.

I have more or less decided we will drive. Over on CC a couple of people have suggested we drive as far as Melbourne after landing, stay there and then drive to Miami.

 

[Funky_dino]

When we used to do Miami and Orlando, which was about 20-15 years ago! We would fly into Miami and drive down that day usually. Was about a 4 or so hour drive with maybe 2 stops at the plaza's. Although this this part will sound bad, depending on your feelings. If there was a hurricane or bad storm warming, you don't pay the tolls lol

 

[heatherbelle]

When we used to do Miami and Orlando, which was about 20-15 years ago! We would fly into Miami and drive down that day usually. Was about a 4 or so hour drive with maybe 2 stops at the plaza's. Although this this part will sound bad, depending on your feelings. If there was a hurricane or bad storm warming, you don't pay the tolls lol

So long as the storm hits when we are off the ship I would be okay with that.

 

[Funky_dino]

Lol. It was surprising how many warnings there used to be, and you would see no bad weather at all, so it turned out great for us