legroom

[Eastender]

If American flew direct to Orlando, I think they would be very popular. They have 34" seat pitch. This is great compared with the pathetic 30" of Virgin. Just travelled with B.A, supposed to be 31". The seats looked close so I asked the stewardess who said the plane (777) was a "charter" configuration with less legroom! How annoying is that? It looked the same as Virgin, although the seat did feel a little wider. I really like Virgin (except the 30"). It's a shame we don't have more direct flights to choose from. Also I must admit seeing only 2 engines on that 777 didn't fill me with confidence, & it flew on a southerly route straight accross the pond!

 

[Olaf]

& it flew on a southerly route straight accross the pond!

That's weird. Wouldn't like that. I like American Airline's legroom too. DH is 6'1" and he needs it.

 

[Muppet]

I so agree.

Nic is 6ft2 and has had 4 car accidents so his back is in a right mess. He can hardly walk after being trapped for 9 or so hours. He also finds he gets the most terrible leg cramps aswell to point that hes nearly screaming.

We have vowed only to fly PE now (don't like the extra cost ) but as its just us then it will have to be.

 

[neilybealy]

we flew on virgin last month and were lucky to get bulkhead seats otherwise i would have been going mad being crammed right up against the seat in front.

we flew BA to Faro last year on a tiny 737 and the legroom was great in the "normal" seats

the legroom available on AA looks fantastic - we wouldn't fly indirect though as it takes too long

 

[Peebee]

We're leaving in 40 days now, and are flying American through Miami. Flight leaves Heathrow at 8am and we arrive at MCO at 4pm, so it is a little longer than direct of course, but we feel the extra comfort of the additional legroom is worth it. Your also get a 2-5-2 configuration for their 777s, so for a couple it works out nicely. The flights were at least £40 cheaper than Virgin when we booked in September.

Our last day is going to be 13th December, so we're getting the 9:20pm flight out of MCO, leaving Miami at 11.45pm(!) and get back to Heathrow 1:20pm the next day. This way we get a full day to end our holiday and will hopefully sleep properly on the plane with those nice seats...

Something else to bear in mind for the outgoing flights is that you get to clear customs part way through the journey, thereby avoiding the normal crush at MCO. When we've done this before it has made the airport part of the travel much less stressful.

One word of advise however - don't change airlines in Miami - we did this last year when flying in from our honeymoon in Barbados, and it's not an easy airport to traverse with luggage. Of course if you stick with American all the way this isn't a problem.

 

[Fantasia Sam]

That's a great tip peebee, thanks alot for that. I never knew about AA and I think I will consider them for next year - I'm not bothered about indirect flights.

 

[uksaint]

As Peebee is doing, we are also flying American Airlines via Miami. I always look to AA for my transatlantic flights wherever possible. As I am 6'4", those extra few inches of legroom make a massive difference to comfort on the longhaul segment, and more than makes amends for the inconvenience of an indirect flight. As an added bonus, with the recent two for one deals American have been involved with, its only costing £240 per person.

 

[Kevin Gale]

We flew United and they were excellent, 34" pitch seats, good food and free in-flight drinks. We went via Washington.

The Co-Pilot and most of the cabin staff seemed to be English.

It was also interesting to see the vast difference in quality/presentation between trans-Atlantic and domestic US flights.

 

[#1MMFan]

We just flew AA. Comfortable enough, but the cabin crew and captain actually requested (on every single one of the flights - 4 in total) that we remain seated unless getting up is absolutely necessary. So we couldn't really stretch our legs near the toilet area etc. Also, they left the seatbelt sign illuminated at one point for several hours, but there was no turbulence. Turned out is was a mistake, so I was sitting with a bursting bladder thinking there was no way I could make to Chicago without ... well you get the picture. Just check if they have done this on any of your future flights as I think they do it to get people to keep their seatbelts fastened when they are seated in general and not just in rough conditions.

John

 

[Scottish_Maleficent]

We are flying to Orlando with United next year also Kevin...
I flew with them last yeat to LA and found them excellent too, made such a difference to get free drinks than get ripped of by charter airlines charging at least 60p for one of those tiny cans of soft drink.........

 

[Olaf]

MMFan, it wouldn't have been a problem to get up for the restroom. They're keeping the seatbelt sign on and telling you to stay in your seats because of lawsuits. We're sue happy over you know. There have been several cases where people were injured because of turbulence (hitting the roof) and the airlines have had to shell it out. They're just covering their backsides.

 

[WDWfan uk]

I have just flown with AA to New York on a 777 and we liked them - the announcement we heard both ways was: in the interest of security, passengers are asked to remain in their own cabins and not to move to other cabins nor congregate in the aisles and remain seated unless absolutely necassary....... however, in practise people went to the loos and stood in line for them just as they do on any airline and the crew didn't take any notice of this at all.
We thought they were very good crews on both flights and will use this airline again.

 

[joanuk]

Hi Peebee

We are flying to MCO via Miami at Easter. When you clear customs there do you have to collect your luggage first? If so do you then have to check it in again or can it go straight onto the connecting flight (Another AA one - well American Eagle actually)
I did ask when we booked but they weren't very clear , just said to mention at check in we were going straight through.

Joanuk

 

[Peebee]

Hi Joanuk,

When we went through Miami last year we actually changed airlines, and so had to take our luggage to be checked in again elsewhere in the terminal. However, I don't expect that to be that case when sticking with the same airline - when i've done that through New York it was a case of picking up the bags, going through the customs check, and then immediately placing them on a conveyer belt for reloading!

We shall find out for sure in just over a month now , so i'll be sure to post when we get back and confirm exactly how the process went.

Peebee

 

[Rain]

Hi,
I am flying with United/BMI on a shared code flight 29th November
we change planes in Dulles Washington, can the people who have done this trip tell me if you have to collect baggage in Dulles before going through customs etc and boarding the next flight?
Many thanks

 

[Kevin Gale]

We fly into Washington and cleared customs there so we did have to collect our baggage first.

Once through customs there was a collection point where our bags where taken from us to be put on the domestic connection to MCO.

The only thing to do then was "check-in" at the desk near the departure gate where we were given our boarding passes (and try out a U.S. McDonalds etc).

The whole process was quite efficient.

 

[Scottish_Maleficent]

We are flying via Chicago with United next July - Will this be the same process for us........doing customs etc in Chicago???
I suppose that woild mean less time at mco - But do you still have to do the double baggage thingy????

 

[Kevin Gale]

I guess that if you're flying in international and then transferring to domestic then you would expect to go through customs and that you would need your luggage with you, so probably yes you'll have the same.

I hadn't considered this when we booked our flights but it worked out fine.