Flying indirect with 4 kids - Mental?

[scoobydooby]

OP. Bet you wish you'd never asked

Good luck with your decision. Hope it works out well for you.

 

[chmurf]

just FYI

(1) US airlines do not pay for hotels in cities due to missed connections if it's due to something out of their control like security, customs or weather.

as per the European Union’s Regulation 261/2004
Airlines, regardless of nationality (includes US carriers) for any flight originating from / or arriving in the EU is bound by the regulations noted above, which provides for cash compensation, rerouting or refunding and food/accomodation in case of delays, whatever the reason.

Refreshments, Communication and Accommodation

The airline is required to provide to delayed passengers, free of charge:

Meals and refreshments in proportion to waiting time
Two phone calls or emails
Hotel accommodation and transport between the airport and hotel, if a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary

The airline may only reduce or withdraw these entitlements if offering them would delay the flight further.

 

[robinb]

just FYI

as per the European Union’s Regulation 261/2004
Airlines, regardless of nationality (includes US carriers) for any flight originating from / or arriving in the EU is bound by the regulations noted above, which provides for cash compensation, rerouting or refunding and food/accomodation in case of delays, whatever the reason.

Thank you for the information!

 

[LeaversOnTour]

Wow I disappeared for a day!

I have to say I have revisted the direct option. Having previously attempted to do miles + money and the saving was stupid £40 over the entire cost I had more or less written the air miles off as a waste.

However, I looked today and managed to get a discount of £340 on miles + money so we will definitely be flying direct.

The potential of being delayed and missing the connection has always panicked me, which is why we have always flown direct, but the thought of saving £500 was enough to tempt us, this enough of a saving to consider it.

If we weren't flying at xmas maybe we would revisit the idea of flying indirect, but I really don't want to run the rick of being stuck in any airport with no access to food and somewhere for the kids to sleep. My kids are good but they're not that good!

Thank you for all the advise and information

 

[robinb]

Have a great trip !

 

[LeaversOnTour]

You seem to think that perhaps I have never been outside my own country's boarders. Stop for a second and read my signature. *tick-tock* Ok, done? I am well aware of how long it takes to get to the UK to Orlando. I have flown from London to Madison twice, plus another two times from Paris. The last time I went to Paris we connected through Amsterdam and then onto Paris (mostly so my DD could fly on the 2nd floor of a 747) and we had a long enough layover to visit the Anne Frank House. The two flights from Tokyo were even longer. There are no direct flights to Madison so I always need to connect at an International aiport.




And, yes, I also travel in the US around Christmas to go to Orlando. It's usually around the 12/20-12/23 but I have traveled on Christmas eve. Yes, it's busy. But I would say that it's really no different than any other day of travel in the US. When was the last time you flew on a plane with empty seats?

FWIW, I *totally* understand where both of you are coming from and I would be right there with you if the difference were not so great. Especially for a family that stayed last year in an I-Drive hotel. My guess is that £500 is a lot of money for her.

OP, can you come in a day earlier? That way you would have some wiggle room built in if you end up with a delay or missed connection and still make it to Sea World for Christmas. The price for an extra night in a hotel and food will be a lot less than $840.

I would add tho, that yes we did stay at Idrive and £500 IS ALOT of money, but we also stayed in a 2 bedroom villa at OKW for 2 weeks, so its not like £500 would break the bank, but its money I could be spending on something else, like shoes haha At the right time of year, and with the right connections and saving we would do it. You don't get rich by giving it away just ask Richard Branson. Although I am by no means rich!

 

[disneyholic family]

we've stayed off property in the past, and probably will in the future (due to disney's insane price increases), but i still would spend additional money to fly direct, or to avoid a particular airline, or to fly a particular airline..

the cheapest airline for us to orlando is Aeroflot (via Moscow)....it's at least $500/person cheaper than everyone else.....so for 6 of us that would be $3,000 (yikes)..

ask me if i'll fly aeroflot.....

 

[meldud]

We are family of 6 who has flown to Florida quite a few times - ALWAYS direct.

We have always considered this to be the better option get it over and done with in one fail swoop.

However, we can save £500 on flights by doing a connecting flight which extends our arrival time by about 3.5 hours.

If we fly direct it will be with Virgin the 13:30 flight which we normally get because its cheaper gets us in 17:25

The indrect leaves at 12:05 with US airways gets us to Orlando for 20:53.

Are we nuts for considering this?? I should add our children are 5, 4, 2 and 1 (well will be when we travel)

We did direct the 1st time and indirect the 2nd time we went to MCO. We saved £500 by flying indirect and hated every minute of it. Our kids were 11 and 12 and were so ridiculously tired by the time we arrived. There were delays in both directions leaving from MCO and Atlanta which meant the kids were asleep on the concourse floor at what was potentially midnight for us. And we still had another flight to do.
The only up side was that flying Delta to the UK from Atlanta, the plane was empty and the kids managed to spread out on other seats further down the plane to get some sleep. As they are older than yours it was less of a problem, although it did mean my husband and I didn't sleep as we had to keep an eye on them Soooooo tired by then!

We fly out again this year and are flying direct again. Thank goodness!

We felt that the £500 extra would be better spent going direct!

 

[wayneg]

Yesterdays Thomas Cook direct flight didn't go too well. Ended up in Tampa rather than Orlando. Quote from FB:
"Finally arrived at Orlando after a detour to Tampa and a landing in a thunderstorm .... Just off to sort out the car rental and drive to hotel it's a long day"
Even direct have issues.

 

[Elise79]

Yesterdays Thomas Cook direct flight didn't go too well. Ended up in Tampa rather than Orlando. Quote from FB:
"Finally arrived at Orlando after a detour to Tampa and a landing in a thunderstorm .... Just off to sort out the car rental and drive to hotel it's a long day"
Even direct have issues.

Landing in the afternoon in summer always has potential for disruption - we have been diverted in May before. The nice thing is you are not going to miss a connection and they have to get you to the destination.

 

[disneyholic family]

just FYI



as per the European Union’s Regulation 261/2004
Airlines, regardless of nationality (includes US carriers) for any flight originating from / or arriving in the EU is bound by the regulations noted above, which provides for cash compensation, rerouting or refunding and food/accomodation in case of delays, whatever the reason.

but if it's the domestic portion of your trip that you miss, they are not required to do anything for you (other than get you on another flight to your final destination).
They do not have to provide accommodations.
so say, if you fly into philly, but miss your domestic flight from philly to orlando - that has nothing to do with the EU.

 

[wayneg]

but if it's the domestic portion of your trip that you miss, they are not required to do anything for you (other than get you on another flight to your final destination).
They do not have to provide accommodations.
so say, if you fly into philly, but miss your domestic flight from philly to orlando - that has nothing to do with the EU.

Sorry Beth, can't agree, under European Union’s Regulation 261/2004 all Carriers are covered (incl US) if the flight originates in a EU country.

"In 2011, the DOT expanded this rule to foreign airlines operating in the U.S"

Here are the rights for EU travellers:

"You are entitled to care by the airline (phone call, refreshments, meal, accommodation, transportation to the place of accommodation) if the delay is:
two hours or more for flights of 1,500 km or less;
three hours or more for longer flights within the European Union or for other flights of between 1,500 and 3,500 km;
four hours or more for flights of over 3,500 km outside the European Union.
If the delay is more than five hours, and you decide
not to continue your journey, you are also entitled to have your ticket reimbursed and be flown back to where you originally started your journey.

If you get to your final destination with a delay of three hours or more, you may be entitled to identical compensation to that offered when your flight gets cancelled, unless the airline can prove that the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances. Additionally, airlines can be held liable for damages resulting from delays."

This only applies if you buy the whole journey as a thru ticket, buy 2 seperate tickets and the rule won't apply for the 2nd leg.

 

[disneyholic family]

Sorry Beth, can't agree, under European Union’s Regulation 261/2004 all Carriers are covered (incl US) if the flight originates in a EU country.

"In 2011, the DOT expanded this rule to foreign airlines operating in the U.S"

Here are the rights for EU travellers:

"You are entitled to care by the airline (phone call, refreshments, meal, accommodation, transportation to the place of accommodation) if the delay is:
two hours or more for flights of 1,500 km or less;
three hours or more for longer flights within the European Union or for other flights of between 1,500 and 3,500 km;
four hours or more for flights of over 3,500 km outside the European Union.
If the delay is more than five hours, and you decide
not to continue your journey, you are also entitled to have your ticket reimbursed and be flown back to where you originally started your journey.

If you get to your final destination with a delay of three hours or more, you may be entitled to identical compensation to that offered when your flight gets cancelled, unless the airline can prove that the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances. Additionally, airlines can be held liable for damages resulting from delays."

This only applies if you buy the whole journey as a thru ticket, buy 2 seperate tickets and the rule won't apply for the 2nd leg.

I'm pretty sure that Force Majeure is not covered. But maybe i'm wrong. It's happened before!!!
is that what they mean by "extraordinary circumstances" in the quote above? Force Majeure?

what happened when that volcano went crazy a few years back?
Were the europeans put up in hotels in the US for free?
i'm talking about the ones who got stuck in transit.
I remember a lot of people who were stuck in romulus, Michigan (where DTW is) waiting to get on a plane back to europe
i remember them complaining about being stuck (in that god forsaken part of the US), but i can't remember if they said they had to pay or not.

are they required to cover accommodations in a situation like that? (clearly force majeure in the case of the nutty volcano)

 

[chmurf]

apparently, you're covered on the way out (EU to US) but not on the way in

here's a BBC article regarding that volcano (don't ask me to type its name, it's a nightmare )

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13514190

 

[disneyholic family]

apparently, you're covered on the way out (EU to US) but not on the way in

here's a BBC article regarding that volcano (don't ask me to type its name, it's a nightmare )

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13514190

thanks for the article!!! though i still don't understand the rule regarding the direction of coverage!!!!
and also not regarding US vs EU airline...or codesharing airline vs non-code sharing...i find it all really confusing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
very challenging for my wee brain!!