Miami

[RDP]

What is the earliest flight arrival time you can get to Miami from any Uk airport?

 

[chmurf]

From LHR it seems one of the earliest is
UA9546 LHR-FRA (takes off at 6:25)
UA8849 FRA-MIA
arrival time is 14:25

some flights from LHR land sooner, but they take off the previous day with a huge layover. I don't think anyone would want a 30+ hours trip to MIA

From MAN there is an Iberia flight landing in MIA at 15:20

Now here is a basic calculation

Flight time from the UK to MIA is roughly 9 hours

Most European Airports have noise limit regulations and do not operate between midnight and 5/6am (very limited traffic)

So let's say minimum take off time westbound is 6am, with a 10/11hr flight including boarding, and taxiing, and a 5hrs jet lag. Then your minimum time to MIA, from anywhere in the UK is a little over 12 (noon)

That's the minimum as per time constraints. But I doubt airlines will have their customers flying TATL from as early as 6am. Granted that the check in time is scheduled for 3 hours prior to departure.
That would mean large staff from 3am.
I guess they will only hire them starting at 8am. with a departure time of 11am, so a basic minimum landing time in MIA of around 14:00 which relate to the schedules found on kayak and posted above

You can arrive sooner, but that would mean taking off the previous day and spending one night enroute at a connecting point.

 

[RDP]

From LHR it seems one of the earliest is
UA9546 LHR-FRA (takes off at 6:25)
UA8849 FRA-MIA
arrival time is 14:25

some flights from LHR land sooner, but they take off the previous day with a huge layover. I don't think anyone would want a 30+ hours trip to MIA

From MAN there is an Iberia flight landing in MIA at 15:20

Now here is a basic calculation

Flight time from the UK to MIA is roughly 9 hours

Most European Airports have noise limit regulations and do not operate between midnight and 5/6am (very limited traffic)

So let's say minimum take off time westbound is 6am, with a 10/11hr flight including boarding, and taxiing, and a 5hrs jet lag. Then your minimum time to MIA, from anywhere in the UK is a little over 12 (noon)

That's the minimum as per time constraints. But I doubt airlines will have their customers flying TATL from as early as 6am. Granted that the check in time is scheduled for 3 hours prior to departure.
That would mean large staff from 3am.
I guess they will only hire them starting at 8am. with a departure time of 11am, so a basic minimum landing time in MIA of around 14:00 which relate to the schedules found on kayak and posted above

You can arrive sooner, but that would mean taking off the previous day and spending one night enroute at a connecting point.

Thanks, may have to start looking at indirect if the prices keep going up. The idea was, if I could get into Miami early enough to offset the the drive to Orlando and arriving in Orlando the same time as if I had flow direct, it may be worth thinking about.

 

[chmurf]

you'll find many indirect flights arriving at MCO in the 17:00/18:00 period.

United through EWR will land you at 17:20
US Airways through PHL lands at 18:30

Now consider this

when you land on one of those indirect, you have already cleared the immigration and customs at the point of entry.
So you proceed straight to the rental car once you get your suitcases.

If you land in MIA, you'll need to clear immigration, in a busy airport and possibly with a larger amount of passengers.

even landing at 14h00 in MIA that leaves you a rough 4 hours to clear customs, pick up the car, drive all the way up to Orlando ... well Lewis Hamilton would probably be able to pull that one out ... probably ...

Now if you're thinking about budget, think about tolls and gas. It's cheaper in Florida than it is over here, but it's still expensive.
And as mentionned on other threads, your MIA-MCO leg might even turn out to be inexpensive (or even lower the price of your LHR/LGW/MAN - MIA flight)

 

[WiganTony]

If you have a look at this website and add in your flight and date requirements, once you get the results use the time bar option, you can see which flights get you there the earliest.

It may also be worth checking for flights to Tampa and Jacksonville, which are a shorter journey down to Orlando. I seem to remember a few years ago some really good connecting flight prices into Jacksonville and Palm Beach West airports.