Virgin Atlantic meals on LHR - MIA route

[UKDEB]

Our flight leaves at 9.20am, so do we get breakfast/lunch, rather than the lunch/tea combination of our usual LGW - MCO route?

 

[wilma-bride]

Good question Deb - always worth knowing if you need to have that bacon butty beforehand

I will be waiting anxiously for the answer

 

[UKDEB]

Also, can anyone give me a walkthrough of MIA once disembarking and clearing Customs and Immigration? Where do we go to reclaim baggage and for rental car shuttles?

 

[UKDEB]

Good question Deb - always worth knowing if you need to have that bacon butty beforehand

That's an easy one - one always needs a bacon butty beforehand.

 

[Hilary]

I last flew Virgin LHR to MIA three years ago, so may be out of date here (that's the disclaimer part over with!), but DH did it just last month, so I can check with him later

Food - had the lunch-first-then-ice-cream-then-tea-before-landing package that you get LGW / MCO.

Airport - can't remember the layout other than the lack of MCO double-baggage system! There's a Dollar desk inside the terminal and then all the rental shuttles are outside to take you to the various depots. When we rented with Dollar the shuttle bus was a complete bun fight and was the main thing that put me off MIA (temporarily - we're planning this route later in the year), but DH went with Budget last month and had no problems getting that shuttle at all. I think you're using Hertz this time, aren't you? From Googling, I think the rental depots are all about a similar four or five minute bus ride from the airport.

Make sure you get decent directions BACK to the depot at the end of the trip, as it's not as easy to do as following the big airport 'rental return' signs!

BTW DH said there were some road works last month around the area between the airport and the Budget depot (so may not affect Hertz) that tested their navigational skills!

 

[UKDEB]

Thanks, Hil. Yes, we've booked with Hertz for this trip. Whilst we've never flown into MIA before, we did have to drop our hire car there when we took a cruise from Miami last year so I know just what you mean about finding the rental car depots. There were a lot of roadworks there then, too, and we had a bit of trouble reaching our destination. Very odd place and set-up - not what we'd been expecting at all. I thought we'd accidentally stumbled across downtown Beirut .

I'd be interested to know how long it took your dh to clear the airport and how long to collect the car.

 

[scottishsue]

Deb........ we always fly into MCO. From what I can remember I don't think it took long to clear the airport at all, and collecting the car was a LOT easier than in Miami !!

Seemed pretty straight forward and quite quick really. Seem to remember Keith commenting on how efficient they were - and he doesn't say that very often !

 

[wicket2005]

Meal wise I would say lunch then dinner but not flown Virgin. Flying the last two years at 8.20 am that is what we have been given. If you think about it by the time the plane has got in the air, then duty frees, drinks, it will be time for lunch.

 

[islandmum]

you wont get breakfast on that route at that time ... by the time they would be able to serve meals it would be 10.30 at least and way out of breakfast time ... so you'll get the obligatory drinks and pretzels, lunch, ice cream, then tea sandwhich (usually some kind of focaccia roll) and muffin.

 

[GemmaPixie]

https://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/us/manageyourflights/index.jsp

If you go on the website and 'update your booking' you can select your meals. Then you will know what you get.

 

[paulh]

got diverted to miami once and hils right about the scramble for the hire busses
Paulh

 

[Hilary]

Very odd place and set-up - not what we'd been expecting at all. I thought we'd accidentally stumbled across downtown Beirut .

LOL! Exactly!

I'd be interested to know how long it took your dh to clear the airport and how long to collect the car.

I'll try to find out later for you

 

[Hilary]

I'd be interested to know how long it took your dh to clear the airport and how long to collect the car.

Just checked with DH about his trip last month - he said it took them about 40 minutes from disembarking to clear immigration, customs and baggage reclaim, straight onto the car rental shuttle bus for about 10 minutes to the depot, and then about 20 minutes sorting out the car before driving away.

 

[UKDEB]

Thanks, Hil.

 

[wilma-bride]

Not far off our estimation then Debs - thanks for the info Hilary