Flying indirect to Orlando, how do you do it?

[irongirlof12]

We have always travelled direct with virgin, but the prices are just getting higher and higher. I know quite a few of you go indirect and prefer this option. Can you tell me which is the best route to take, airlines you use and an idea of cost? We would be looking at August or October

 

[Barbie5]

We are going indirect in Aug from Birmingham via New York booked with Continental (now united airlines), i would look at Kayak this will show the indirect flights from your chosen airport, if you are watching a particular route you can set up a weekly email they will then send you prices each week.

We were lucky Continental had a glitch and managed to get our flights for £370 pp.

Hope you get a bargain.

Chris

 

[zippy99]

We have booked our first indirect route for our trip this August.

Initially we were looking at 20/08 to 03/09 but when searching on Kayak one day we found flights that went a day earlier but still returning on the same day with Delta/KLM - worked out at £489 each (LHR - MCO via Atlanta). Booked with Lastminute.com. Considering the cheapest direct option on our dates 19/08 -03/09 is sitting at over £1000 we are more than happy with our choice!

We would have preferred to fly from Gatwick and had seen some good flights with US Airways that flew via Charlotte for £470 but by the time I had enough money to pay the cost had gone up to £730 !!

For us we had certain criteria - we did not want to stay overnight at the layover airport and we also wanted to arrive in Orlando before 8pm. Many indirect options can see you arriving gone 10pm

 

[disneyholic family]

i agree- check kayak and look for the cheapest deal you can find..

once you have an idea on the connecting airport, you can come back here for advice as to what to do..

it's really very easy..

you'll clear immigration and customs in the airport where you enter the US, then the next flight to take you to orlando will be a regular domestic flight..

we always fly indirect, usually via new york....but that's just because it's the best connection for us..
check kayak for the best deals..

 

[Tony Toon]

it's really very easy..

you'll clear immigration and customs in the airport where you enter the US, then the next flight to take you to orlando will be a regular domestic flight..

.

... and the beauty of it is that having encountered the relatively short immigration lines at other entry airports you don't have to face the long lines you invariably find at MCO. After a long and tiring flight, the long line often seems interminable.

We have gone via Detroit, Philly, Atlanta, Washington and this year for the first time New York and there is not really a lot to choose between them. Atlanta as I remember, has a short rail link to negotiate between terminals which we initially found a bit confusing, but wouldn't allow that to put us off in the future. Cost is the only factor in our decision. (Any saving automatically becomes more spending money ) Although it cuts down the travelling time considerably travelling directly to Orlando the savings are well worth the extra time. (Any saving automatically becomes more spending money ) I suppose the extra strain of travelling with young children might also influence a decision but for us that is not an issue any more. And the savings ................ did I mention that already?

... oh and I forgot - £550 or thereabouts, hopefully less and from Glasgow we jump at. It is possible but becoming more and more difficult.

 

[Kath2003]

We have always travelled direct with virgin, but the prices are just getting higher and higher. I know quite a few of you go indirect and prefer this option. Can you tell me which is the best route to take, airlines you use and an idea of cost? We would be looking at August or October

The route doesn't matter to us though if we have a choice we would avoid Miami - just because the airport is dull. We've used it countless times though.

Airlines - whoever. America, Continental, Delta, United, Air Canada etc. Doesn't make any difference.

Cost - I'm cheap. My budget was £400 in the Easter hole, paid £425. I'd be looking at under £500 for my next trip but you won't get that in August. You can cut the cost by having longer connection times and flying on the least popular flights.

 

[zippy99]

Cost - I'm cheap. My budget was £400 in the Easter hole, paid £425. I'd be looking at under £500 for my next trip but you won't get that in August. You can cut the cost by having longer connection times and flying on the least popular flights.

As I said in my post above - we booked our August flights mid April and paid £489pp we leave heathrow at 9.45am and get to MCO at 6.50pm a couple of weeks before that we saw plenty USAirways LGW-MCO for £462 - £476 with a 2hr stop at Charlotte.

If you are looking later August I saw plenty of options under £500pp and with good connections & times. Choices are more limited now but I am not sure if you are looking at 2013 or 2012

 

[queendisney]

Can I just jump in and ask about luggage allowance?

Do the internal flights have less allowance then the trans atlantic flights? Or do you not have to worry about that if its just a connecting flight?

 

[paulh]

Can I just jump in and ask about luggage allowance?

Do the internal flights have less allowance then the trans atlantic flights? Or do you not have to worry about that if its just a connecting flight?

As you originate on an international flight you get the international baggage allowance,same for going home
Have always found the first day is all travelling anyway so prefer to save the money
Paul

 

[queendisney]

As you originate on an international flight you get the international baggage allowance,same for going home
Have always found the first day is all travelling anyway so prefer to save the money
Paul

thanks for that. I have always been put off with getting a connecting flight because of the travelling time involved. But yes you're right it is just a travelling day and its just getting so expensive to just look at direct flights that I think we may def look into the indirect option next time..

 

[disneyholic family]

the one problem with indirect is the chance of missing the connection, but the airline will take care of it if you miss the flight..

it happened to DD and me one year when it was just the two of us..
the airplane actually arrived in time, but they couldn't get the cargo door open and by the time they realised they weren't going to be able to get it open, we'd already missed our flight..
when we got out of customs, i went straight to the airline's info desk and they said, "oh - great, we've been waiting for you, we have a bus waiting outside to take you over to la guardia for the last flight to orlando out of new york..."

and so DD and i and another family (a teenage boy and his mother) got onto this huge bus which carried just the 4 of us over to la guardia to catch the last flight to orlando that day...
everything had been arranged for us...we just had to get ourselves to the gate and that was it....(our suitcases followed us to our hotel the next day - once they finally got that cargo door open)..

 

[WiganTony]

As well as indirect flights, it is worth keeping an eye on prices of direct flights from LGW to Tampa (with BA), and LHR to Miami (with BA/AA). As an example, our visit in 2010 was using AA from LHR to MIA which cost us £403 each. We booked Air Miles flights from Manchester to connect, and the drive up from Miami wasn't bad at all.

 

[paulh]

LHR to MIA which cost us £403 each. We booked Air Miles flights from Manchester to connect, and the drive up from Miami wasn't bad at all.

one thing we you would have to watch if going to Miami is all the toll roads are the automated ones,so you would have topay for the pre paid toll for car for the full stay.around Orlando and Tampa they still have staffed ones,even when we go to vero we avoid the toll roads as the 192 is quicker and shorter
Paul

 

[chmurf]

Just make sure that LGW-MIA is indeed cheaper.

At one point 2 months ago, I was trying to get the best prices.
I also tried to find out if flying direct really was better (there are no direct flights to MCO from France, except for one, and it wouldn't operate for our vacations)
And something funny hit me at some point

CDG-MIA direct was priced at £420 (roughly rounded and converted € to £)
I would have needed to drive, pay the tolls, and so on

CDG-MCO indirect through MIA was priced at a whoping £410

yup you read me correctly. At that particular time (glitch or perk) the airline actually "gave" me some money back to fly the second leg of my trip...

I didn't choose that route because I found a cheaper fare through CLT (and now PHL as routes changed)
But it was funny to note that, despite the fact that this was the same flight/same plane from CDG to MIA, it was cheaper to make the connection to MCO rather than getting off in MIA ...

once again, I don't know if it was a glitch, but it might be worth it checking if there are real differences in price.
Sometimes it's cheaper going through another city, sometimes it's not.

Airfare shopping can become pretty much time consuming if you look for the best/cheapest

 

[WiganTony]

one thing we you would have to watch if going to Miami is all the toll roads are the automated ones,so you would have topay for the pre paid toll for car for the full stay.

Ahhh - when we drove up from MIA, you could still pay at a good old fashioned manned toll booth - who says progress is always better!!!

And something funny hit me at some point

CDG-MIA direct was priced at £420 (roughly rounded and converted € to £)
I would have needed to drive, pay the tolls, and so on

CDG-MCO indirect through MIA was priced at a whoping £410

I don't think this is an uncommon occurrence. A few years ago, I was checking flights for trip to either New York or Chicago. The cheapest fare from MAN to Chicago was an AA flight via New York. Bizzarely, the cost of the same flight direct to New York was significantly higher. Just out of interest, I also checked for flight options MAN-MCO and yes, the flight with AA via Chicago was cheaper than the same flight just to Chicago

Who knows the workings of the airlines booking/yield management systems

 

[dixonsontour]

Agree price is my main factor.

Especially School holidays Virgin know those with young kids and first timers will pay £££.

If you are buying 3 or 4 flights you can save £1000 indirect.

First time we flew indirect with DD she was 5 and it was fine. We are going indirect again in October.

Agree airline will help if you miss a connection - they held the plane in Philly for example as there were 70 connecting.

You also get the chance to volunteer to be 'bumped' off the flight. We did this several years ago and got a free overnight in chicago, business class the next day and I think $500 each towards a flight next year.

You also get a different type of passenger on indirect - older people, not many small kids, repeat travellers. It just makes things like check in/boarding easier and usually a quieter flight.

I personally like the break in flight - chance to pop to a real toilet, maybe grab something to eat and clear immigration. Arriving at MCO as a domestic flight was a breeze - straight off and into the hire car.

 

[scottishgirl87]

Agree price is my main factor.

Especially School holidays Virgin know those with young kids and first timers will pay £££.

If you are buying 3 or 4 flights you can save £1000 indirect.

First time we flew indirect with DD she was 5 and it was fine. We are going indirect again in October.

Agree airline will help if you miss a connection - they held the plane in Philly for example as there were 70 connecting.

You also get the chance to volunteer to be 'bumped' off the flight. We did this several years ago and got a free overnight in chicago, business class the next day and I think $500 each towards a flight next year.

You also get a different type of passenger on indirect - older people, not many small kids, repeat travellers. It just makes things like check in/boarding easier and usually a quieter flight.

I personally like the break in flight - chance to pop to a real toilet, maybe grab something to eat and clear immigration. Arriving at MCO as a domestic flight was a breeze - straight off and into the hire car.

Completely agree with everything you said. Living in Glasgow we don't have alot of choice to MCO bar indirect and I actually enjoy it. I'm not all that fussed about flying direct and certainly wouldn't pay Virgin's sky high prices for the privilege (unless there was a good deal going, all about the price!).

 

[zippy99]

Just having a mess around looking at flights to MCO from other uk destinations

On our original dates 20/08 to 03/09

Southampton to MCO (via Amsterdam & Detroit) £550
(wondered what the cost was then from Amsterdam)
Amsterdam to MCO (via Detroit - using same flights) £860!

Honestly I swear you could fill your whole day looking at flight combinations