Florida Guide > Travelling
Direct or In-Direct Flights
This is always a quandary and there are for and againsts about both flight options.
In- Direct Flights
Our nearest airport is Birmingham (UK) so if we want to fly from here on a scheduled flight we do not have the option of flying directly into Orlando International.
When the girls were younger we regularly flew from Birmingham with Continental Airlines and their fares were reasonably priced. This meant that both the outbound and return flights flew via Newark and we used to manage to arrange that our stopovers at Newark were not too long. However we felt we always needed to have a two hour window to transfer from one flight to another. On the outbound flight you could need this to go through immigration at Newark and on the return we needed this in case our first flight was delayed. The latter did happen a couple of times and we had to sprint through Newark to our plane that had waited for us and closed the doors as soon as we got on board!
The break although it added to our travelling day could be quite a useful break for small children. On the way out the girls, never very keen on plane meals, used to delight in going to the Chinese or to another outlet at Newark whose name I cannot remember to have orange chips!
On the return journey the time was usually spent buying non Orlando souvenirs from the Newark gift shops.
Direct Flights
In recent years we have increasingly started flying from Manchester (UK) airport with Virgin Atlantic. My parents if they travel on their own always treat themselves to Premium Economy and usually manage to get seated in the upstairs “bubble”. Because they go to our villa at least twice a year they manage to save quite a few air miles and they usually use them to buy Miles Plus Money fares. If you do travel with Virgin be sure to join their Flying Club, membership is free and you can accumulate air miles. I also use their buy before you fly service where you can order duty free goods before you fly and they are delivered to you on the aircraft.
Now the girls are older they just want to get there so if ticket prices are comparable we tend to fly direct. Virgin and some other airlines tend to always have flight sales in January for that years flights and sometimes in May and September. We tend to arrive at Orlando on the way out at about 3. 00pm as opposed to 6 or 7pm if we fly in-direct.
An advantage of flying with Virgin is that on the return journey for a cost of $10 per person you can leave your luggage at Downtown Disney early in the morning and get your boarding cards so you can go straight to the boarding gate when you get to the airport.
It has to be a personal choice for which type of flight you choose they both have their advantages.
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