first choice from bristol

[eeyorefanuk]

hello

has anyone flown to sanford from bristol airport?

Is this a direct flight (I thought no but my sister says FC says yes)

 

[Ware Bears]

I looked into going with them once and I've got a feeling that they are direct (in that you don't get off the plane) but that you have to go somewhere to refuel before crossing the Atlantic. If I remember correctly Bristol runway is too short for the planes to take off with a full tank of fuel. I think it added a couple of hours onto the flight but if the price was right that wouldn't bother me.

 

[alexandra uk]

We flew on this flight last year.
It goes to Manchester first to fuel up then off to Orlando. As Ware Bears says it is because Bristol's runway isn't long enough for them to take off with a full tank. You remain on the plane while the plane is being filled and they don't switch on the entertainment systems until you leave Manchester.
All in all we were on the plane over 12 hours, however some people have reported not being grounded for as long as we were. Maybe we had to wait for a slot to take off I don't know
Bristol airport is only 40 minutes away for us but for this reason, even if the flights were cheap, I wouldn't fly to Florida from there again. I would rather travel to Birmingham or Gatwick and have the quicker flight.
I remember being absolutely fuming with First Choice at the time for not making me aware of the situation. After many ranting posts on various forums I found out they don't inform people of this upon booking It's a bit underhand isn't it?
Had they told me, they wouldn't of lost my booking, I would of just flew from another airport and been a happy customer.

Despite this the flight wasn't actually as bad as I thought it was going to be and time passed quite quickly. You'll fly direct to Bristol on your way home too which isn't so bad.
I think I had worked myself up into such a frenzy, worried about the kids on the longer flight etc, but it was the best behaved they were the whole fortnight

 

[karengr]

we did this in july 07 and will fly again this october. FC do state it in the brochure but it is in small print. It was easy for us as we are only about 20mins fron bristol.
The entertainment does not start until you have left Manchester though which is not a problem,after we refueled we had a slight delay but stayed on the plane.

 

[Just-Pete]

I flew First choice Gatwick to Orlando (sanford) so more or less the same as what you will be doing without the first little hop... But I have to say, it was a reall good flight.

I've only flown long haul twice, the above flight, and a Virgin flight to New York. And I totally preferred the flight/plane by first choice. The seats were much better and the plane in general seemed much nicer. The only thing is that all you drinks that you might order aside from your mains arent free. Which I believe they are with Virgin??

>Pete

 

[eeyorefanuk]

If we leave Bristol and go to Manchester, does that mean we have to go past Bristol again to get to america (as in adding more time to the journey because back and forth)???

Hate flying with a passion

 

[Hilary]

We've flown this route twice

The stop in Manchester is a bit of a pain, but I still prefer that to the drive to/from Gatwick. I also prefer the FC economy seats to Virgin's - they seem much roomier, and the 2-4-2 confuguration is good. The FC premium cabin has an on-demand entertainment system and, even if you fly economy, you can buy into the upgraded entertainment (it was £5 when we flew).

We like flying into Sanford because getting out and on your way is so much quicker that at MCO; yes, the drive to WDW takes longer, but it's an easy run.

I'm sure there was notification about the re-fuelling stop somewhere in the online booking process - pretty small print, if I remember, but definitely there last time I booked.