how easy it is ?

[craigs bride]

we are in two minds about flying direct to Orlando or to get a flight which we will need to change over before getting to Orlando

we will be flying with two teens, one child of 4 and a baby of 9 mths ....how do we go about checking in on 2nd flight do we have to check in all luggage again ? can i get my buggy of for the baby ?
daft questions i know but i have only flown direct before with Virgin..any advice would be great

 

[jtlover]

A direct flight is like 9 hours whereas if you get a 2 flight it will be something like 7 hours +2 on a second flight, plus waiting around for the second flight.

We find Virgin good as they have things for kids to do so I think you should be ok on direct flights Unless you are going to stop overnight and then travel the next day, for example, I would go for the direct flight.

 

[cowza]

As long as you book the flights together and they show up in your booking as a connecting flight all your luggage will transfer automatically to your second flight without having to check it in again.

I've done this a few times. Flew to Rome via Amsterdam... and then I've flown from Orlando to the UK via New York before. The only thing you should do is ensure there is a good enough gap between flights as there can often be delays... and then if you miss your connecting flight you will have to wait for another one (which can be the next day sometimes :S).

It is often cheaper not to fly direct. I know my cousin came to Orlando via Bermuda. She didn't mind it. She felt it broke the flying time up a bit.

 

[UKDEB]

I know plenty of people do it and, if your absolute priority is to save money then I guess it's very doable, but I can't think of anything worse. The first few times we flew to Orlando was with charters which stopped off in Bangor, Maine for re-fuelling. All we had to do was get off the plane to clear customs and then re-board for the onward journey and that was bad enough. I couldn't even contemplate connecting flights with a 4 year old and a 9 month old baby.

We have flown to other US destination and then made the onward journey after a 3 night stay a couple of times, but that was because we actually wanted to visit the other destinations. The 9 hour direct flight is a big enough ordeal for me without adding further complications. I'm not saying it isn't possible, but you'll get plenty of favourable responses, so I just wanted to offer the alternative view.

 

[tink too]

As long as you book the flights together and they show up in your booking as a connecting flight all your luggage will transfer automatically to your second flight without having to check it in again.

That only works for your return journey to the UK. If you stop off in another city first in the US on your outbound journey, you'll have to claim your luggage and go through customs and immigration.

We did this when DD was 3 y.o. and I said I'd never take a flight like that again. Our landing into Chicago was delayed due to bad weather and we had a very tight connection time to catch our next flight to Orlando. Although we did get her buggy off the plane to use, it was no fun running through Chicago Airport to make that connection.

I must be a glutton for punishment though as we are taking an indirect flight next April - the price difference was just too good to miss - but as DD is now 7, it won't be such a hastle if we have to hussle!

 

[SuperFuzz]

That only works for your return journey to the UK. If you stop off in another city first in the US on your outbound journey, you'll have to claim your luggage and go through customs and immigration.

We did this when DD was 3 y.o. and I said I'd never take a flight like that again. Our landing into Chicago was delayed due to bad weather and we had a very tight connection time to catch our next flight to Orlando. Although we did get her buggy off the plane to use, it was no fun running through Chicago Airport to make that connection.

I must be a glutton for punishment though as we are taking an indirect flight next April - the price difference was just too good to miss - but as DD is now 7, it won't be such a hastle if we have to hussle!

so you have to get all your luggage? and check it in again?
I'm glad this question was asked because we are flying in-direct this year. whats the immigration like a chicago? is it atleast nice not having to do it in orlando?

 

[craigs bride]

the flights i have looked at are either for Atlanta or Charlotte with a 4 hr gap i think ? but its the running around the airport that worries me with the babe !

 

[disneyholic family]

we are in two minds about flying direct to Orlando or to get a flight which we will need to change over before getting to Orlando

we will be flying with two teens, one child of 4 and a baby of 9 mths ....how do we go about checking in on 2nd flight do we have to check in all luggage again ? can i get my buggy of for the baby ?
daft questions i know but i have only flown direct before with Virgin..any advice would be great

i've done it zillions of times, and it's not that big a deal, but for a group like yours i would recommend the direct flight to orlando..
save yourself a major headache and go direct even if it costs more..

while it's not usually a big headache to make the change, you've got a lot of stuff to worry about...
and let's look at the worst case scenario - what if you get stuck in the airport in between (weather etc)...that's not where you want to be with a crew like yours...

pay the extra money and go direct.....it's worth it...

 

[craigs bride]

ok ....which air carriers go direct :ie Virgin, BA ?

 

[Elise79]

There are Virgin and BA that go direct to Orlando International and then you have the charters that fly to Sanford.

I think you have made the right decision to go direct - I have done indirect as an adult and would never consider doing it with a young child. It turns an already long journey into a VERY long journey.

 

[tink too]

so you have to get all your luggage? and check it in again?
I'm glad this question was asked because we are flying in-direct this year. whats the immigration like a chicago? is it atleast nice not having to do it in orlando?

The immigration at Chicago was OK - the only problem we had with it was that the system had crashed before we arrived and it was going super-slow after they'd got it back online. The line was very long for non-US citizens, but that was just unlucky for us I guess - stuff happens.

However, it was a breeze when we arrived in Orlando! Because it was just classed as an internal flight, we walked off the plane, got our luggage really quickly and were good to go in about 30 minutes!

 

[cowza]

That only works for your return journey to the UK. If you stop off in another city first in the US on your outbound journey, you'll have to claim your luggage and go through customs and immigration.

Ah no I meant I had a connecting flight via New York. I didn't stop there over night haha. I didn't have to reclaim my luggage. It was transferred at JFK automatically to my virgin flight to Heathrow.
As long as you've booked the flights together and not separately/individually your luggage will be transferred.

 

[tink too]

Ah no I meant I had a connecting flight via New York. I didn't stop there over night haha. I didn't have to reclaim my luggage. It was transferred at JFK automatically to my virgin flight to Heathrow.
As long as you've booked the flights together and not separately/individually your luggage will be transferred.

I realised what you meant, but as I said, this only works on your return journey from the US. We usually hand our cases over in Orlando and then don't see them until we arrive in Scotland, even though we've had to stop off in Heathrow for a couple of hours.

However, on an outbound journey departing from the UK, the first airport you enter in the US is where you'll do customs and immigration, even if it is not your final destination.

 

[T16GEM]

I realised what you meant, but as I said, this only works on your return journey from the US. We usually hand our cases over in Orlando and then don't see them until we arrive in Scotland, even though we've had to stop off in Heathrow for a couple of hours.

However, on an outbound journey departing from the UK, the first airport you enter in the US is where you'll do customs and immigration, even if it is not your final destination.

Yes you are completley right, we flew from Birmingham to Newark and then onto Orlando at Christmas and we had to collect the luggage and run through the airport with everything re-check it at security clear customs and then go to the departures for the next leg of the flight, we had a 2YO and an 11month old with us - it was HARD and we had 6 adults to help carry everything - tbh I think that we would have been better had we had a longer connecting time - 90 minutes just wasn't enough with the kids, we literally ran over to the departure lounge. You can get help though if you let the cabin crew know that you are running tight on the connection and you have kids, buggies, car seats and luggage etc they will have someone waiting for you as you get off the plane to help you.

I did say that I would never do it again - but guess what - we are!! Oh well!

 

[Lizzybear]

We'll be taking our first connecting flight in 2 days time but only because we didn't have any other option for Manchester to San Francisco (Virgin do direct flights from London but it was way more expensive and we would also have had the extra time and expense of getting down there and probably more for the hotel and food) I think for Orlando it'd have to be a pretty substantial saving to convince me (like £100 per person) and i'm not sure I would do it with young children as you risk a tight connection time if the first flight is delayed.