Orlando International - A disappointment

[Sharon/Mark]

Hi
Just returned from another great vacation to WDW, (highlights have to be - Osbourne Lights, Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and lunch at Beaches & Cream!) However wanted to 'vent my spleen' a little regarding the poor organisation at Orlando International, quite frankly it was down right poor, first checking in! Yes alright perhaps I expected as we had booked PE with Virgin for it to be slick - and it only took 15 minutes at Gatwick - an hour of queuing later with no real form of organisation we got to the check in desk to be told our flight had been delayed - fine that happens! We were given a new boarding time and told to be in the departure lounge half an hour before that, which we were but there was a further delay - no announcements! another hour passes still no information - do people not realise all we are looking for is a little reassurance, but most of the staff just seem to avoid eye contact with the growing number of people surrounding there desk! I realise they probably have a difficult job (I worked in the travel industry myself for 10 years) but sticking your head in the sand isn't the solution people want to be informed even if its a sorry no news but as soon as some does we will let u know kind of speech! This is not the first time this has happened, we seem to have problems at check in every year and I am still a little miffed about the lack of seating in the departure lounge it is poor to say the least. Anyway next year we are going to Sanford for the first time and have already pre-booked the exe lounge for a treat! But I won't say anymore as I am travelling with Travel City Direct and I am seem some of the less than complimentary threads regarding them! Fingers crossed then!

 

[stubb]

Hi

we have just come back 5 of us went with tcd flew on 1st dec very cheap flights as it was a last minute thing £900 for 5! we flew into sanford hardly any queuing. One week later our son and gf flew out with virgin (he had an exam so came out later) £800 for 2,delays on the way out delays on the way back. they did have seat back tvs which we did not have we also used the guest house which is worth the money we also pre booked our seat at lake buena vista no queues there either. Now in aug 2005 we went with tcd and had a dreadful flight and check in experiance so I think its just luck sometimes, we would never go again in august the flight prices are just too expensive.

michelle

 

[Goofyish]

Must agree that the departure area for the Virgin planes is a little small - last December there were people waiting for two Virgin flights (Manchester and Gatwick), and a BA flight

 

[Boo Boo Too]

I thought that Orlando was really quite nice for an airport: quite modern, light and airy and with quite a few shops and food outlets... (Chicago only has a small concessions stand - and nothing else - when you get through security...). The only thing that frustrated me was having to claim your luggage then send it into another black hole for an hour or so before finally getting it back, but that was when arriving at MCO...

Sounds like most of your complaints are with Virgin (the delays and how they managed them) rather than the airport itself.

Pre-bookable Airport Lounges are a great way to spend some extra time (especially if you get delayed)

Boo

 

[wayneg]

We travel a lot, with connections we take upto 20 flights a year. Most airlines are poor with delays. I have been stuck in Turkey with a 11 hour delay, Amsterdam 9 hours, Sanford 4 hours, Chicago 4 hours. All of them poor facilities for the delayed passengers and the airlines treat you like dirt.
One of the worst was an Easyjet flight from Liverpool from arriving at the airport there was no info on the departure board for our flight, all others were fine just our flight. The staff were constantly being asked for info which did not help anybody, why not write on a piece of paper something, even if its "we have no further info at this time, we will update in 30 mins"
Personally I have found Virgin and Orlando Int about the best from all our travels with only 1 delay in 13 departures from there. That was with Ted (United Airlines) this Aug and they kept us reasonably well informed.
Just watch for the long delay now Virgin back to Manchester Jan 6th.

 

[Boo Boo Too]

Agree with you wayneg.

I think that flying is a fairly unique type of travelling... safety has to be of paramount importance and air/mainternance crew need to be 100% satisfied that everything is safe each time the plane flies - if they have any reservations, they will delay the flight. Also you regularly have passengers who hold up flights (which always amazes me!) - yes they can be offloaded, but it takes time to find their checked baggage etc. Unfortunately ANY little delay (maintenance/passengers/bag loading/catering loading) has a knock on affect to that flight, other flights at that airport (due to delaying "take-off slots"), and other flights that the plane will become later in the day. Very much a "butterfly effect"... However, what is inexcusable is the lack of communication - as wayneg said, if they can't do anything else, at least they should let you know that they will update you in 30 minutes...

As an aside, we have been doing quite a few US internal flights recently and the scheduling of those is quite interesting. We always book quite a few months in advance and it is AMAZING how regularly AA/UA cancels or reschedules flights... I think that we have rarely ended up on exactly the same flight that we have booked! Fortunately, in this e-ticket/email day and age, AA and UA are good at keeping us updated about these schedule changes...

Generally with air travel you just have to find ways to cope with delays and disturbances: they are annoying, but they are very common. Always have good insurance (to cover any lost/delayed baggage and any expenses incurred by long delays), haveways to keep yourself occupied (book, music, magazines etc) and try to "go with the flow". I think airport lounge access can be a great way to keep away from the crowds, noise and stress

Boo

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Sharon/Mark,
it sounds like it was more a Virgin problem that OIA?

Did you not consider chacking in at Downtown Disney?

It is always better to stay landside at OIA for the shops and food courts and also the restautrants at the Hyatt.

the reason I gather for the second check in of your bags is so not to cause so much problems on the shuttle train and trying to get through the concourse.

Now for BAD airports, Boston Logan...........