Do I just have to accept that flying out of MCO is always going to be bad?

[ajollyholidaywithjo]

So I have had TERRIBLE luck with MCO lately. and maybe I'm just extremely unlucky....I was flying home last week, and my flight was delayed FOUR hours. They never said why, but I missed my connection, got stuck with a three hour layover, and got home 7 hours later than originally scheduled.

I have a trip planned for January, and I'm flying out around 6:30 pm, because were doing a park on that day. I've done this before and it worked out park-wise. But, the last time I did it, my flight was also delayed like two hours. I thought maybe it was just a fluke thing, but after last week, I'm getting worried. I have a 45 minute layover in STL, which is a very small airport, and easy to navigate. Southwest is all in one terminal, so the walk between gates is like, 5 minutes, and that's walking slowly. Normally, if I was flying in from anywhere else, I wouldn't be concerned, but MCO has me worried.

I'm not sure what to do, since I already have the 4-day tickets purchased. My flight currently is the latest flight out, and there are no other flights that night. If I was traveling by myself, I would probably change my flight to the next morning, just in case. But I'm with friends, and I don't think that'll work for them, since they'll have to take another day off work.

Should I just hope for the best? I don't know what other option there is, other than getting an earlier flight, but then I could see people getting upset about that too since we'll lose park time.

Has anyone else had these problems with MCO or has your flight been on time?

 

[Captain UP]

So I have had TERRIBLE luck with MCO lately. and maybe I'm just extremely unlucky....I was flying home last week, and my flight was delayed FOUR hours. They never said why, but I missed my connection, got stuck with a three hour layover, and got home 7 hours later than originally scheduled.

I have a trip planned for January, and I'm flying out around 6:30 pm, because were doing a park on that day. I've done this before and it worked out park-wise. But, the last time I did it, my flight was also delayed like two hours. I thought maybe it was just a fluke thing, but after last week, I'm getting worried. I have a 45 minute layover in STL, which is a very small airport, and easy to navigate. Southwest is all in one terminal, so the walk between gates is like, 5 minutes, and that's walking slowly. Normally, if I was flying in from anywhere else, I wouldn't be concerned, but MCO has me worried.

I'm not sure what to do, since I already have the 4-day tickets purchased. My flight currently is the latest flight out, and there are no other flights that night. If I was traveling by myself, I would probably change my flight to the next morning, just in case. But I'm with friends, and I don't think that'll work for them, since they'll have to take another day off work.

Should I just hope for the best? I don't know what other option there is, other than getting an earlier flight, but then I could see people getting upset about that too since we'll lose park time.

Has anyone else had these problems with MCO or has your flight been on time?

You just need to hope for the best. If you can't go through St. L that's still early enough for them to try and book you through another connection.

And this isn't unique to MCO- it's basically everywhere.

 

[ajollyholidaywithjo]

I fly constantly, all over the country, and MCO (and LAX), are the absolute worse every time. I haven’t had these issues elsewhere, but maybe I just got lucky.

 

[The Foolish Mortal]

Why not just stay the extra night without your friends? They don't have to take off from work and you get the more reliable first flight out the next morning

 

[DisneyRobbie]

The last 3 times I flew out of MCO I was delayed at least 7 hours

 

[Mle8308]

Yep. Never fails.

 

[RogueX]

I've had a few delays in MCO, but usually it's TSA that's my nightmare.

 

[Maggie The Cat]

We always, always try and fly out of MCO before 9 am.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I've had more issues with TSA than with delays at MCO. The line is a nightmare, especially since MCO tends to have more families with kids and inexperienced flyers. With delays, I've had way more issues at Dulles, Newark and LAX.

 

[supersnoop]

Knock on wood; never a problem at MCO. I'm usually on a super-early flight or the last flight, and I can't remember any significant delay. I've had some issues in ALB and transiting MDW, but no issues in MCO.

 

[MrKnight]

IMHO there are a few strategies that I would strongly recommend you consider to mitigate issues especially when flying out of busy airports like MCO:

1. I typically try to book the earliest possible flights as morning flights have a SIGNFICANTLY lower chance of getting delayed/cancelled, something to consider when booking flights..
2. I always book direct non-stop flights even if the price is higher, MCO has direct flights to practically every major to mid-sized US city plus a handful of international destinations. I would avoid layovers if possible to mitigate the associated stress, especially when flying out of a large airport like MCO that has direct service to so many cities.. If you would like to provide your destination airport happy to provide you with dire

There are of course no guarantees but from my experience the above typically works in most scenarios.. Hope this helps!

 

[sam_gordon]

Of course, EVERY flight out of MCO (for that matter, any airport) is a direct non-stop. Whether there's availability to YOUR airport or on an AIRLINE you want to fly, or on a DAY you want to fly is a different story.

 

[ajollyholidaywithjo]

IMHO there are a few strategies that I would strongly recommend you consider to mitigate issues especially when flying out of busy airports like MCO:

1. I typically try to book the earliest possible flights as morning flights have a SIGNFICANTLY lower chance of getting delayed/cancelled, something to consider when booking flights..
2. I always book direct non-stop flights even if the price is higher, MCO has direct flights to practically every major to mid-sized US city plus a handful of international destinations. I would avoid layovers if possible to mitigate the associated stress, especially when flying out of a large airport like MCO that has direct service to so many cities.. If you would like to provide your destination airport happy to provide you with dire

There are of course no guarantees but from my experience the above typically works in most scenarios.. Hope this helps!

In a perfect world, of course we would avoid layovers! But we don’t live in a city of that size unfortunately, so nonstop flights are extremely rare.

 

[_19disnA]

If you fly one of the budget airlines, they typically have fewer planes/flights so in the event of a weather/mechanical delay, fewer choices for them to get you on anohter plane. Bad weather or a mechanical issue in some other city can cause your plane to be late in arriving so I don't assume earlier flights have any more/less chance of being delayed. The main advantage to reserving an earlier flight is more chance to get rebooked on a later fligh is there is a delay (assuming that airline has other daily flights).

Non-stop flights avoid connecting cities and mean less travel time, but clearly that only applies if flying to someplace where that is an option. Every airline doesn't fly to every city so you need to choose from what is available that works for your situation.

 

[Narcoossee11]

Flying is difficult PERIOD.
Airlines have the power.
Since you have to book with a layover, count on a delay. Know it will be 3-6 hours longer travel time.
If everything is on time, YOU WIN.

You can only control your view of traveling.

 

[MillauFr]

I don't like MCO at all. The Seattle daytime flights are close to $1,000 round trip. We always fly out of Tampa instead. The prices are closer to $500.

 

[cjlong88]

Delays are tough. I personally never had any issues flying home from MCO, but I would agree that the earliest flight out is usually the most reliable. Even knowing that, I'm like you and always grab the last flight out because I want to enjoy my last day doing stuff, not just traveling home.

It's tough. I would just plan for the worst, and when the best happens (or somewhere in between) then it's a bonus!

 

[xipotec]

We opted to drive this visit.

10 hours give or take.

Why?

2 hours to airport with direct service.
Have to get there 2 hours before flight.
Parking fees
2 Hour Flight
1 hour to get out of airport and get car rental (at least)
Add car rental or Uber fees anyway to get around.

So , at best, 7 hours if no delays and alot of stress and hassles, plus more expensive?

For 2-3 more hours, we save roughly 800 dollars.

 

[Stratman50th]

It was because of MCO 20 years ago that I no longer fly.

 

[RoseGold]

MCO is one of the worst in measurable things like baggage claim and security times. IMO, it's also one of the worst in organization, food, staff. It's bad. I actually haven't had a lot of issues with delays or moving flights around, I would say MCO isn't the worst at that in particular.

MCO is one of my least favorite airports I interact with. I don't check bags there. I've bought backup tickets twice. Once for a situation like you describe and my discomfort with a discount airline.

If I had to connect to go to Orlando, I would honestly go a whole lot less.